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Hunter gatherers with no access to technology still only sleep 6.5 hours a night

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I am not too surprised... all countries are relatively close to the equator (Score: 2, Interesting)

by tanuki64@pipedot.org on 2015-10-20 19:16 (#R399)

The closer you are to the equator, the less is the difference between day time and night time over the year. In spring and summer, where the days are long, I also need very little sleep. 5-6 hours. Absolutely within the range of above mentioned societies. In autumn and winter sometimes even 9hrs are not enough for me. Fortunately I can 'extend' the days with certain light sources.

And that is exactly what the article says:
Hunter-gatherers sleep an hour more in the winter than they do in the summer.
Even though:
It appears that their sleep time may have more to do with temperature than with light.
Maybe. The temperature in my bedroom is almost constant over the year... so no own experience here.

But I really would like to know, if there is a correlation of distance from the equator and sleep time.
Namibia is farthest away from the equator. Could it be that there the sleeping time is more in the 7.1 hour range? While in Tanzania, which is closest to the equator, the time is more in the 5.7 hour range?

Re: I am not too surprised... all countries are relatively close to the equator (Score: 1)

by lmariachi@pipedot.org on 2015-10-20 21:35 (#R3NJ)

My room varies tremendously in temperature (40°-115°F between late night winters and midday summers - it's in a steel warehouse) and it is impossible to sleep late when it's hot. Conversely, it's hard to get out from under the covers when it's cold. A preindustrial society wouldn't be able to do much about the temperature but they would have a way of insulating themselves from light so as not to be woken by the sunrise shining on their faces. I suspect that's why the authors went with temperature as the main factor.

Re: I am not too surprised... all countries are relatively close to the equator (Score: 1)

by evilviper@pipedot.org on 2015-10-20 22:15 (#R3R8)

Pre industrial societies have access to fire, too. It would be very easy for them to maintain warmer temperatures.

Re: I am not too surprised... all countries are relatively close to the equator (Score: 1)

by lmariachi@pipedot.org on 2015-10-21 18:01 (#R6RD)

People living in the tropics would be more interested in making things cooler than warmer, I reckon.

Re: I am not too surprised... all countries are relatively close to the equator (Score: 1)

by evilviper@pipedot.org on 2015-10-21 19:11 (#R6ZQ)

Body temperature is 99F, unless the weather is higher than that (which it isn't at NIGHT when people want to sleep), you dont need cooling for comfort.

It is modern society that has made mechanical cooling critical. If you dont live in a huge tight structure that has lots of thermal mass and which blocks airflow, it will cool off quickly at night. If you arent obese, your body will handle high temperatures quite well. If society doesnt frown on you runing around in nothing but a loin cloth, you'll be much more comfortable in much higher (nearing 99F) temperatures.

And even very primitive man knows it stays nice and cool in caves, moist and/or shaded locations, etc. A little shade and evaporative cooling is easy to manage.

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2015-10-21 19:11
You would be mistaken. Body temperature is 99F, unless the weather is higher than that (which it isn't at NIGHT when people want to sleep), you dont need cooling for comfort.

It is modern society that has made mechanical cooling critical. If you dont live in a huge tight structure that has lots of thermal mass and which blocks airflow, it will cool off quickly at night. If you arent obese, your body will handle high temperatures quite well. If society doesnt frown on you runing around in nothing but a loin cloth, you'll be much more comfortable in much higher (nearing 99F) temperatures.

And even very primitive man knows it stays nice and cool in caves, moist and/or shaded locations, etc. A little shade and evaporative cooling is easy to manage.

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2015-10-21 19:14
You would be mistaken. Body temperature is 99F, unless the weather is higher than that (which it isn't at NIGHT when people want to sleep), you dont need cooling for comfort.

It is modern society that has made mechanical cooling critical. If you dont live in a huge tight structure that has lots of thermal mass and which blocks airflow, it will cool off quickly at night. If you arent obese, your body will handle high temperatures quite well. If society doesnt frown on you runing around in nothing but a loin cloth, you'll be much more comfortable in much higher (nearing 99F) temperatures.

And even very primitive man knows it stays nice and cool in caves, moist and/or shaded locations, etc. A little shade and evaporative cooling is easy to manage.

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