Kevin's Watch

Thinking is hard work and most of us will work hard to avoid that!

People are extremely averse to change and if there is one thing that thinking properly about any subject will do is necessitate change.

We have spoken about this in a number of threads about how our world is changing and the changes that will be necessary to cope with that. Teaching people how to think and reflect, will, IMO, be absolutely necessary in the coming years if we want a society of any sort of quality. That there are forces that do not want us thinking at all, that want us in a constant stimulus/response state, is a given. Thinking people won't consume as much, won't be a prone to political spin, won't swallow the media's latest tripe whole etc. etc. etc. A thinking public is the very last thing many powerful people/institutions/leaders want.

Obviously, I spend way, way too much time thinking!

u.

I did read this story yesterday that says how the brain works reading a book and on a mobile device are different.
www.pri.org/stories/2014-09-18/your-pap ... same-thing

I don't know. To me, that's like saying 'breathing is hard work.' We all think. Some of us just do it differently. Even passively processing information is still thinking. And the way things are going, the ability to process that information might be more of a survival trait than idle wonder, introspection, or even creative speculation.

I love my brain, I really do. It's like the Swiss army knife of brains; it can do everything. Just wish it came with an off switch sometimes. I'm a bit envious of people who seem to go through most of life slightly zoned out. Y'know, I got into Zen Buddhism for the whole 'answers to the universe' thing, but mostly it's been good for that. Learning to stop spinning the plates.

It's pretty much why I don't like the whole 'mindfulness' movement. Sometimes, we don't have to be fully aware of every moment of our waking lives. There are reasons evolution gave us the ability to elide over the unimportant or unpleasant seconds that compose the majority of our days. I don't need to be in touch with my inner self to wash the dishes any more than I need to intensely analyze the culturohistorical reason I like rocky road. Fun to do sometimes, probably important to do occasionally, but as with all things, best in moderation.

The TV at night thing is something I also have come across. I reckon 50% of the people I work with keep it on all night, citing that they 'won't sleep if I don't' as the reason for doing so. One guy demands to have the radio on all the time because he says he gets anxious in the absence of any noise [I believe him - he's not just making excuses]. This is going to be a serious problem in the future - or at least is going to significantly alter the way our minds develop.

[Just seen U.'s post above - sorry U. Repeat 'Must read all posts before posting. Must read all posts before posting. Must.......' ]

It can be really hard to turn off your brain.

peter wrote:The TV at night thing is something I also have come across. I reckon 50% of the people I work with keep it on all night, citing that they 'won't sleep if I don't' as the reason for doing so. One guy demands to have the radio on all the time because he says he gets anxious in the absence of any noise [I believe him - he's not just making excuses]. This is going to be a serious problem in the future - or at least is going to significantly alter the way our minds develop.

I know a lot of people who do that, and my wife does it sometimes when she can't sleep - she will go in the spare room, turn the TV on and watch it until she falls asleep.

When she does I remind her of an article we read in a magazine on a flight somewhere. Apparently sleep researchers took a large sample of sleepers and measured their sleep quality based on things they did before going to bed or while sleeping to determine the impact on the quality of sleep.

I can't find anything through Google that has the same survey, but if I recall right, watching TV at night was in the top 3 things that impact sleep quality.

It was an interesting list. Things like reading books was on there - if you stop reading at a point where a storyline is not resolved, you tend to get your brain working on the problem as you try to sleep, so you should always read to a point where you feel that any questions are resolved.

michaelm wrote:

peter wrote:The TV at night thing is something I also have come across. I reckon 50% of the people I work with keep it on all night, citing that they 'won't sleep if I don't' as the reason for doing so. One guy demands to have the radio on all the time because he says he gets anxious in the absence of any noise [I believe him - he's not just making excuses]. This is going to be a serious problem in the future - or at least is going to significantly alter the way our minds develop.

I know a lot of people who do that, and my wife does it sometimes when she can't sleep - she will go in the spare room, turn the TV on and watch it until she falls asleep.

When she does I remind her of an article we read in a magazine on a flight somewhere. Apparently sleep researchers took a large sample of sleepers and measured their sleep quality based on things they did before going to bed or while sleeping to determine the impact on the quality of sleep.

I can't find anything through Google that has the same survey, but if I recall right, watching TV at night was in the top 3 things that impact sleep quality.

It was an interesting list. Things like reading books was on there - if you stop reading at a point where a storyline is not resolved, you tend to get your brain working on the problem as you try to sleep, so you should always read to a point where you feel that any questions are resolved.

But that takes away half the fun.

I saw a report recently about the blue light from phones/iPads impacting sleep quality, or encouraging insomnia, or something. I think I only saw the headline and was too sleepy to click through....

aliantha wrote:I saw a report recently about the blue light from phones/iPads impacting sleep quality, or encouraging insomnia, or something. I think I only saw the headline and was too sleepy to click through....

I think I saw that too, but it was wider than just phones, it included backlit reading devices too, so people reading books before going to bed are not helping themselves to sleep.

Good old paper seems to be the way to go before bed!

michaelm wrote:

aliantha wrote:I saw a report recently about the blue light from phones/iPads impacting sleep quality, or encouraging insomnia, or something. I think I only saw the headline and was too sleepy to click through....

I think I saw that too, but it was wider than just phones, it included backlit reading devices too, so people reading books before going to bed are not helping themselves to sleep.

Good old paper seems to be the way to go before bed!

Or an "old-fashioned" iInk e-reader.

aliantha wrote:iInk e-reader

They're the best, and if the book is bad you can always exchange them for a kindling...

michaelm wrote:

aliantha wrote:I saw a report recently about the blue light from phones/iPads impacting sleep quality, or encouraging insomnia, or something. I think I only saw the headline and was too sleepy to click through....

I think I saw that too, but it was wider than just phones, it included backlit reading devices too, so people reading books before going to bed are not helping themselves to sleep.

Good old paper seems to be the way to go before bed!

Well, in the modern world, pretty much all our artificial light is significantly bluer than before. This may well include your light-bulb. [Definitely does, unless you are using an incandescent...or a candle]. It MAY include even things like Paperwhite, since I THINK they work with blue-emitting LED's. Yellow is added to, which makes it appear white, but a lot of blue is still in there.

A book and candle-light...that's cozy, and best blue-dodge.

I'm not sure if it was the color of the light or just staring at the light. Either way, I tend to lower the level of lights as I go through the evening and try to sit with minimal light on if I read.

In the past I have had trouble sleeping, but for the most part I don't. I also so almost none of the things that are purported to lead to bad sleep.

michaelm wrote:I'm not sure if it was the color of the light or just staring at the light. Either way, I tend to lower the level of lights as I go through the evening and try to sit with minimal light on if I read.

In the past I have had trouble sleeping, but for the most part I don't. I also so almost none of the things that are purported to lead to bad sleep.

It's something to do with the screen light itself. With working from home, I am often tempted to "check in" on my e-mail to see if anything is going on. Aside from the issue of not disconnecting from work, checking one's e-mail/texts/anything using a computer screen seems to stimulate the brain in such a way as to make restful sleep difficult.

Orlion wrote: It's something to do with the screen light itself. With working from home, I am often tempted to "check in" on my e-mail to see if anything is going on. Aside from the issue of not disconnecting from work, checking one's e-mail/texts/anything using a computer screen seems to stimulate the brain in such a way as to make restful sleep difficult.

Light in general, but blue in particular, affects the release of melatonin. [so I've heard...I haven't checked for deep/real research on it].
Blue is good during the day...but bad as twilight approaches and after.
[[as far as sleep is concerned]].
And like I said almost all our light sources emit more blue. Including every device that has a flat screen AFAIK.

Vraith wrote:

Orlion wrote: It's something to do with the screen light itself. With working from home, I am often tempted to "check in" on my e-mail to see if anything is going on. Aside from the issue of not disconnecting from work, checking one's e-mail/texts/anything using a computer screen seems to stimulate the brain in such a way as to make restful sleep difficult.

Light in general, but blue in particular, affects the release of melatonin. [so I've heard...I haven't checked for deep/real research on it].
Blue is good during the day...but bad as twilight approaches and after.
[[as far as sleep is concerned]].
And like I said almost all our light sources emit more blue. Including every device that has a flat screen AFAIK.

Not to mention bedside alarm clocks, whose displays have all switched over from red to blue, or so it seems...

I've read that bedrooms should never be painted blue, but always in softer [more nocturnal?] colours.

In respect of reading, I have read fictional books at night that have had me so gripped, so wired, that on putting them down I've been unable to sleep because my mind was so active. It doesn't happen often and is a sign that a book is really doing it's stuff when it does!

peter wrote:In respect of reading, I have read fictional books at night that have had me so gripped, so wired, that on putting them down I've been unable to sleep because my mind was so active. It doesn't happen often and is a sign that a book is really doing it's stuff when it does!

Whenever I get one like that I'll generally just keep reading. Sometimes I end up reading to the early hours just to get to a satisfying break in the book, but at least I fall asleep after that.

I find that just over two hours is my reading max, no matter how good a book is. In the case of the best books I start to get torn between needing to stop reading and not wanting to - I just seem to loose my ability to focus properly beyond a couple of hours.