Editing 1345: Answers
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | [[Cueball]] claims that humans are driven by their curiosity, which is never-ending. [[Megan]] responds by noting that everyone spends approximately eight hours per day in an unconscious state of | + | {{Incomplete|The claim of Many Scientists deserves some references}} |
+ | [[Cueball]] claims that humans are driven by their curiosity, which is never-ending. This appears to be a riff on the recurring philosophical question of what separates humanity from the rest of the animals. [[Megan]] responds by noting that everyone spends approximately eight hours per day in an unconscious state of sleep, but no one has yet pinned down the biological purpose of sleep. Despite this obvious mystery, most people aren't "losing sleep over it".... This implies that Cueball's observed curiosity has a perceptible and proximate limit. | ||
− | + | Of course many scientists are in fact busily investigating the reasons that animals {{w|sleep}}, although that inquiry has not resulted in satisfying answers. Some popular hypotheses are to to allow the brain a period to consolidate memories and to give the body a chance to repair itself. The title text quotes William Dement accurately: people sleep "because we get sleepy."[http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/05/sleep/max-text] This of course is dodging the underlying issue. That this non-explanation is the best answer that a leading sleep researcher can provide, shows how little anyone knows about the subject. This may be an oblique reference to the French playwright Moliere [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dormitive_principle], who created a satirical character who claimed to have discovered the answer to a popular question: The reason opium makes someone sleepy, said the character (a doctor), was that it contained a "dormitive principle" (i.e., something that makes someone sleepy). | |
− | + | In his comic [[203|Hallucinations]], Randall expressed similar surprise at the lack of interest in the nature of sleep. | |
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− | In [[203 | ||
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==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
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{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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