Plague of the Sleepless Society Thank Yo (1)
Plague of the Sleepless Society:
Thank You, Thomas Edison
Martin Witherspoon
The Plague of the Sleepless Society: Thank you, Thomas Edison
People certainly take for granted how important sleep actually is and the impact that losing
just a few hours of sleep has on us. Every day we are finding out more information about sleep;
though, we still only know little about sleep. Surprisingly, over a third of the people in America are
sleep deprived, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. Our minds are constantly
on, even in states of unconsciousness; however, it needs some time to rest. Several technological
revolutions: the First Industrial Revolution (FIR), the Second Industrial Revolution (SIR) and the
Digital Revolution, are to blame for a generous portion of the sleep deprivation. Since these
revolutions, though, there has been a dramatic and exponential growth in productivity; however,
inventions that were products of such revolutions are sole contributors, to what is now considered, a
“public health epidemic” of sleep deprivation. This ultimately negates the increase of productivity
that it induced in many ways, all the while harming our society.
To fully understand how losing sleep contributes to the decrease in productivity, we must
first understand what sleep is. Sleep is a stage of altering consciousness where the nervous system
lies dormant and all voluntary muscles are inhibited. Sleep is often misconceived as a stage of low
brain activity, when in actuality “…there are parts of the brain that are more active when asleep”
(Kresser). Sleep is universally shared amongst almost every organism in the animalia kingdom. One
might ask, “Why do we sleep?” Scientists have pondered this question for centuries. What they do
know is that the bottom line is, you have to sleep and without sleep there are some very damaging
effects on the brain. There is no widely accepted conjecture but there are a few theories. There are
three prominent theories, according to neuroscientist Russel Foster’s TED talk. The first is the
restoration theory. The restoration theory, in layman’s terms: we restore, rebuild and replace what
we burn in the day, during the night. There is a lot of evidence to support the restoration theory.
One piece of evidence: there is a collection of genes that shows to only be on while a person is
sleeping. These genes are closely associated with restoration and metabolic processes. The second
theory is the energy conservation theory. This theory essentially says you sleep to save calories.
According to neuroscientist Russell Foster, “If you compare an individual who has slept at night, or
stayed awake and hasn't moved very much, the energy saving of sleeping is about 110 calories a
night.” That is the calorie equivalent of a hotdog bun. A hotdog bun is not much of a reward when
it comes to the “complicated and demanding behavior” of sleep. The third theory is the brain
processing and memory consolidation theory. This theory says that when we sleep we process our
thoughts and our memories we saw throughout the day. Foster also says that when you try to teach
an individual a task, then sleep-deprive the individual, you “smash” their ability to learn such task.
Also, “our ability to come up with novel solutions to complex problems is hugely enhanced by a
night of sleep” (Foster). Our neural and synaptic connections are also strengthened after we sleep.
That’s the three central theories on why we sleep. Realistically we sleep because of a combination of
all three theories. Seeing these theories, one might imagine the detrimental effects of not sleeping.
That brings us to one of the most important inventions ever created – the lightbulb.
The incandescent lightbulb revolutionized the world in a big way. It ultimately took 12 hour
days and made them 24 hour days. We were no longer slaves to the sun. Since days were longer
people could work longer. We were able to safely light a room without fear of setting our homes
ablaze. That’s only a few things that the lightbulb has done. Since people could work longer hours,
that increased productivity. More hours translates to more work being done. On the contrary, longer
days means shorter nights, which in turn means that people were sleeping less. But it’s not because
people are choosing to sleep less. We function off of a circadian rhythm called the light-dark cycle.
All eukaryotic organisms have circadian rhythms. The Campbell Biology AP Edition textbook defines
circadian rhythms as “internal clocks that regulate cyclic processes” and have “intervals that are
approximately 24 hours” (Wilbur 778). We have a biological time clock that depends on light-dark
cycles. It tells us when we should be awake and when we should be asleep. We quite literally depend
on when the sun rises and when it sets. The invention of the lightbulb disrupts our natural pattern.
One of the things that trigger your body to go to sleep is the setting of the sun. But how could your
body go to sleep when there’s always light around you? Even when the sun goes down it’s still
virtually there with a deceiving similitude. Especially since incandescent lightbulbs’ light spectrum is
nearly identically to the suns. We are constantly on! When do we sleep? Our body does not know.
This is one of the big causes of sleep deprivation and this invention is The Industrial Revolution’s
contribution to it. In fact, the lightbulb is also indirectly responsible for another huge cause of sleep
deprivation.
Since the invention of the lightbulb there have been thousands upon thousands of
inventions that use one revolutionary device that emulates a design that was first done by the
famous Thomas Edison on the lightbulb. This device is the transistor. For those who are not exactly
tech-savvy and don’t know what a transistor is, David Haviland does a fine job explaining it in his
article for the Nobel Prize:
The transistor is a three terminal, solid state electronic device. In a three terminal device we
can control electric current or voltage between two of the terminals by applying an electric
current or voltage to the third terminal. This three terminal character of the transistor is
what allows us to make an amplifier for electrical signals, like the one in our radio. With the
three-terminal transistor we can also make an electric switch, which can be controlled by
another electrical switch. By cascading these switches (switches that control switches that
control switches, etc.) we can build up very complicated logic circuits… These logic circuits
can be built very compact on a silicon chip with 1,000,000 transistors per square centimeter.
We can turn them on and off very rapidly by switching every 0.000000001 seconds. Such
logic chips are at the heart of your personal computer and many other gadgets you use
today. (Haviland)
Haviland then continues with,
The transistor was not the first three terminal device. The vacuum tube triode preceded the
transistor by nearly 50 years. Vacuum tubes played an important role in the emergence of
home electronics and in the scientific discoveries and technical innovations which are the
foundation for our modern electronic technology. Thomas Edison's lightbulb was one of
the first uses of vacuum tubes for electrical applications. (Haviland)
Accordingly, it is safe to say that Thomas Edison’s use of the vacuum tube in his lightbulb led to the
transistor. Transistors are fundamental to modern technology. They’re used in everything from
computers to cell phones, to calculators and they’re even in cars. More importantly, transistors made
possible for LED technology. LED is becoming more commonly used and is beginning to appear
more in more in people’s lives. Incandescent lightbulbs are beginning to be replaced by LED ones.
Television manufacturers are beginning to get rid of their archaic displays and replacing them with
LED ones. The majority of cell phones and tablets have LED displays. So why are LED lights
causing sleep deprivation? Well, according to professional Chris Kresser in his article How Artificial
Light Is Wrecking Your Sleep, and What to Do about It. , “It is well established that short-wavelength or
‘blue’ light is the most melatonin-suppressive; this is the type of light typically emitted by devices
such as televisions, computer screens, and cell phones. To produce white light, these electronic
devices must emit light at short wavelengths, close to the peak sensitivity of melatonin suppression.”
For those who don’t know, melatonin is the hormone that is responsible for putting you to sleep.
More specifically, melatonin is “a hormone that is secreted by the pineal gland and that is involved
in the regulation of biological rhythms and sleep” (Wilbur 993). This means that the light from these
devices are responsible for a big part of melatonin suppression, which in turn contributes to why
people aren’t sleeping. What Kresser discusses about melatonin suppression also ties into how
lightbulbs are causing sleep deprivation. He states, “Along with blue light emitted from electronic
devices, research has shown that being exposed to normal levels of room lighting can have similar
negative effects on melatonin. One study showed that one hour of moderately bright light exposure
(1000 lux) was sufficient to suppress nocturnal melatonin to daytime levels.” There is an enormous
amount of evidence that concludes that LED light specifically is a big contributor to sleep
deprivation. Even a separate study done by the University of Haifia concludes that, “Exposure to
the light of 'white' LED bulbs appears to suppress melatonin five times more than exposure to the
light of high-pressure sodium bulbs that give off an orange-yellow light, according to new research”
(Science Daily). All of this research concludes that all artificial light, but especially LED, has a
massive contribution to why people are not sleeping.
Now that we have an understanding of how exactly sleep deprivation is being caused, we
must now discuss the impact it has. As stated previously sleep deprivation negatively impacts
productivity. But what exactly is productivity or what does it mean in this context? In the context of
this paper, productivity is being used quite loosely and not very specific to business or economy like
it often is. For now, let’s define productivity simply as how well, how efficient and how much
someone or something can do at a particular task. After previously discussing why we sleep one
might assume that productivity would be impeded by sleep loss. But as Jeff E. Biddle and Daniel S.
Hamermesh points out in their co-written addition to the Journal of Political Economy titled Sleep and the
Allocation of Time, “One basic indicator of its [sleep duration] importance as an economic variable
might, however, be its relationship to time supplied to the labor market” (Biddle & Hamermesh
924). Time spent in the labor market correlates with how much a person works and how well they
work. Further along in Biddle and Hamermesh’s article there is a graph that shows that the fewer
people sleep, the fewer hours they work, which is interesting. What is even more interesting is that
their research also concludes that the more people sleep, the lower income they have. This is shown
on a table that they include on page 938 of their article. However, they do admit that “while our
results do suggest the existence of this most basic of economic effects on the demand of sleep, they
are not overwhelming (Biddle & Hamermesh 938). They do however believe that “…they are strong
enough, though…” (938). Out of all of their extensive research we can conclude that “The demand
for sleep is a function of the individual’s wage rate…” (936) and that “sleep affects productivity, as
evidence from other fields strongly suggests…” (941). Biddle and Hamermesh’s research shows how
“as much as 1 hour”, as they would say, can affect productivity and it also gives you an idea of how
this could possibly effect the economy.
To differ away from the economic vantage point of productivity, there is another area of
discussion where lack of sleep negatively affects productivity – athletics. It is well known that
athletes exert a lot more energy than the average person. Wouldn’t you think that since sleep is
supposedly a means of energy restoration then that athlete’s would need more of it? As logical as
that thinking is, that is surprisingly not the reason why athlete’s need more sleep. Elizabeth Quinn’s
article Sleep Deprivation and Athletes really helps to understand how and why athletes need more sleep.
A study done by Dr. Eve Van Cauter from the University of Chicago Medical School does so very
thoroughly. Quinn discusses how Dr. Cauter conducts a study on different men of different age
groups to see how different durations of sleep affects them. Her findings were rather interesting. Dr.
Cauter discovered that “…after four hours of sleep per night (the sleep deprivation period), they
[the test subjects] metabolized glucose least efficiently” (Quinn). In my earlier definition of
productivity, I define it partly as “how efficient someone… is at a particular task” (5). Already it’s
clear that lack of sleep causes inefficiency, and therefore, by my definition of productivity,
unproductiveness. However, there is more to discuss. Quinn adds, “Levels of cortisol (a stress
hormone) were also higher during sleep deprivation periods, which has been linked to memory
impairment, age-related insulin resistance, and impaired recovery in athletes.” Keep in mind these
things for the later point of medical issues. To get back to the point, Quinn ingeniously points out
that, “This study [Dr. Cauter’s] is interesting because it shows that sleep deprivation can negatively
impact physiology that is critical for athletic performance (Quinn). The reason physiology is
emphasized is because the most we know about sleep deprivation involves brain and immune
function. Physiological change is rather a new and a seldom discussed topic when talking about
consequences of sleep-deprivation. Quinn also reports, “…after only one week of sleep restriction,
young, healthy males had glucose levels that were no longer normal and showed a rapid
deterioration of the body's functions. This reduced [the] ability of the body to manage glucose…”
In addition, Quinn states, “Those who are sleep deprived may experience slower storage of
glycogen, which prevents storage of the fuel an athlete needs for endurance events beyond 90
minutes” eventually leading to a change in metabolic function (Quinn). These findings go even
further to show how unproductive losing sleep can be and it introduces a new concept of
productivity – biological productivity. Elizabeth Quinn’s article conjointly with Dr. Cauter’s research
perfectly elucidates exactly how impactful sleep deprivation can be, not only to a person’s health but
as well as the productiveness in something that could be a person’s hobby, lifestyle and even career.
Sleep deprivation causes a lot more damage than most believe it does. Not so surprisingly, it
is true that sleep deprivation can cause, and is a huge risk factor for, many medical issues and
ailments. Michael J. Breus Ph.D. opens up with a strong and similar assertion that fits perfectly with
the theme of this. Dr. Breus asserts, “Not sleeping enough and not sleeping well is not OK. As a
matter of fact, there is quite a price to pay. It may surprise you to learn that chronic sleep
deprivation, for whatever reason, significantly affects your health, performance, safety, and
pocketbook” (Breus). It is becoming to seem unanimous upon experts, from all different fields, that
it is vital that we do not lose any sleep. At the end of Dr. Breus’ very laconic article, he has a list of
medical conditions that can be induced because of sleep deprivation. Among these are obesity,
diabetes, osteoporosis, cancer, heart disease, depression, and injury from an accident just to name a
few. Now, how do these things affect productivity one might ask? To answer, consider these
hypothetical situations: Is it more likely for an obese man to do better at his job if here were not
obese? Would a person who suffers from osteoporosis not be able to do more at work? How more
efficient might a person be at doing their job if they did not have to deal with depression? The
point is that these things are somewhat preventable and by simply sleeping an extra hour or two can
decrease risk factors significantly. Interestingly, Dr. Breus included “injury from an accident.” In the
book Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation: An Unmet Public Health Problem, in Chapter 4 there is a
section titled “Work Related Injuries.” In this section, it discusses a series of studies that were
conducted that all came to the same conclusion. They concluded that, “…highly fatigued workers
were 70 percent more likely to be involved in accidents than were workers reporting low fatigue
levels, after adjustment for other risk factors” and “Workers with chronic insomnia were also far
more likely than those who were good sleepers to report industrial accidents or injuries” (149).
Proving this thesis even further, you can infer that since these workers were injured because they
were deprived of sleep, and it is ok to make the assumption that they were also not as productive as
well. These thorough examples clarify just how much a, misconceived as harmless, all-nighter can
depreciate productivity.
Now serves for some clarification and a union of previous information. We start off in the
First Industrial Revolution which is around the time when scientists begin to really implement
vacuum tube technology. Everything after this seems to have a very distinct domino effect. At the
same time, there is an underlying and perpetual series of causes and effects. After the first domino
falls it strikes the second, and now we have our first long-lasting incandescent lightbulb. We now
have all sun, all the time. This struck the beginning of The Plague of the Sleepless Society. We are now in
the late SIR also known as the Technological Revolution. Times are changing. We are beginning to
adapt to life with the second sun, as it is in our nature to adapt. Then, ever so rapidly, we are in the
times of the digital revolution. One of the biggest triumphs in modern day physics happens; the
transistor is born. With technology this advanced, but yet so simple, it created an entirely new realm
of possibilities. People like John Bardeen and Walter Brattain had a eureka moment of their own
when they “realized the power of this new technology” (Haviland). We are still early in the digital
revolution, though. Our first computers came before the transistor nonetheless; however, they still
used outmoded technology such as unnecessarily gargantuan vacuum tubes. As time progressed the
dominoes are still falling one by one; speeding up each time as if it is a cascade of some sort. It’s
important to understand that the plague is not the plague yet. It’s more of an outbreak at this point;
almost every home has lightbulbs at this point. But time is still progressing. There is this sort of
silent behind the scenes technological race going on. As new technologies begin to come about, such
as the integrated circuit, which was preceded by the transistor, we begin to merge into and get closer
to present day, or what is known as the Information Age. Don’t even think that the domino’s
stopped dropping for a second; the dominoes haven’t begun to stop accelerating. One invention
leads to the next, and the next, and the next. Computers, early cell phones, and the internet were the
main driving forces of this new age. Now the dominoes’ rate of acceleration is no longer logistic; it is
now completely exponential. One of the first culprit’s in this new age was the personal computer.
This began the infectious trend of digital communication. Cell phones were around for quite some
time now; they just lie dormant while they wait until it’s time for their contribution. As time
progresses the CDC (Center of Digital Contamination) has now declared the outbreak an epidemic.
No longer is this a domino effect. This is now a ripple effect. The new technologies are slowly
beginning to steal seconds away from people’s sleep. It’ll soon be minutes, then hours. Personal
computers are beginning to appear in every home. All while this is taking place, there is absolutely
no doubt that productivity is skyrocketing. Things are becoming more automatic and more
computerized day-by-day. Computer chips are starting to get smaller and smaller. Cell phones are
now getting more advanced and steadily more popular. During this time LED technology has been
around for quite some time now. But now technology allows for it to be implicated in televisions,
computers and cell phones. More and more we are being exposed to devices emitting artificial light
that not only throws off our natural body clock, but now a vital hormone that puts us to sleep, is
being suppressed as well. Technology is advancing faster than our bodies and minds can adjust to
them. This is causing us to lose sleep. In turn, the loss of sleep ultimately is causing a decrease in
productivity. This has been proven with extensive economical, biological and medical research.
In summation, the very technologies that have achieved wonders in the advancement of
societies, as well as tremendously increased productivity, are the same technologies that are
decreasing such productivity while at the same time destroying our societies. It is illustrated and
explained previously just how three simple, yet critical inventions, can have such a ripple effect on us
and future technologies. Though be careful, never were these three inventions denied of their value;
in fact, most likely 50% of the world’s population would not be in existence if they did not exist.
However, consider these questions: Is partaking in this race for technological advancement worth
your individual well-being? Or better yet, is it worth the well-being of the human race? The answer is
no. This is affecting us somehow and we can’t ignore the facts. Let’s not do what we’re good for
doing. We’ve already sat and stood by while our ozone layer disintegrated. We sat idly by while the
ice caps melted as we just counted the rising sea levels. While it’s in our nature to destroy and
consume, can we at least be a little selfish and not bring ourselves down as well? Thank you,
Thomas Edison. But beware of the double entendre. You surely deserve praise for creating arguably
one of the most important inventions in human history; however having someone to blame for
something makes it that much easier to sleep at night. As to those who deliberately chose not to
speak truth, as you believe sleep is not important. Let this be your wake-up call.
Works Cited
Breus, Michael J., PhD. "Chronic Sleep Deprivation and Health Effects." WebMD. WebMD, n.d.
Web. 09 Apr. 2014. .
Colten, Harvey R., and Bruce M. Altevogt. "Chapter 4." Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation: An
Unmet Public Health Problem. Washington, DC: Institute of Medicine, 2006. N. pag. Print.
Foster, Russel. "Why Do We Sleep?" June 2013. TED Talk. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.
.
Haviland, David B. " ." The Transistor. Nobelprize.org, 19 Dec. 2002. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.
.
Kresser, Chris. "How Artificial Light Is Wrecking Your Sleep, and What to Do about It." Chris
Kresser. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2014. .
Quinn, Elizabeth. "Sleep Deprivation and Athletes." About.com Sports Medicine. N.p., 04 Sept.
2013. Web. 20 May 2014.
.
Reece, Jane B., Lisa A. Urry, Michael L. Cain, Steven A. Wasserman, Peter V. Minorsky, and Robert
B. Jackson. AP Edition Campbell Biology. Ed. Beth Wilbur. 9th ed. San Francisco, CA: Pearson
Benjamin Cummings, 2011. Print.
University of Haifa. "Exposure to 'white' light LEDs appears to suppress body's production of
melatonin more than certain other lights, research suggests." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 12
September 2011. .
Biddle, Jeff E., and Daniel S. Hamermesh. "Sleep and the Allocation of Time."Journal of Political
Economy 98.5, Part 1 (1990): 922-43. JSTOR. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.
.
Thank You, Thomas Edison
Martin Witherspoon
The Plague of the Sleepless Society: Thank you, Thomas Edison
People certainly take for granted how important sleep actually is and the impact that losing
just a few hours of sleep has on us. Every day we are finding out more information about sleep;
though, we still only know little about sleep. Surprisingly, over a third of the people in America are
sleep deprived, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. Our minds are constantly
on, even in states of unconsciousness; however, it needs some time to rest. Several technological
revolutions: the First Industrial Revolution (FIR), the Second Industrial Revolution (SIR) and the
Digital Revolution, are to blame for a generous portion of the sleep deprivation. Since these
revolutions, though, there has been a dramatic and exponential growth in productivity; however,
inventions that were products of such revolutions are sole contributors, to what is now considered, a
“public health epidemic” of sleep deprivation. This ultimately negates the increase of productivity
that it induced in many ways, all the while harming our society.
To fully understand how losing sleep contributes to the decrease in productivity, we must
first understand what sleep is. Sleep is a stage of altering consciousness where the nervous system
lies dormant and all voluntary muscles are inhibited. Sleep is often misconceived as a stage of low
brain activity, when in actuality “…there are parts of the brain that are more active when asleep”
(Kresser). Sleep is universally shared amongst almost every organism in the animalia kingdom. One
might ask, “Why do we sleep?” Scientists have pondered this question for centuries. What they do
know is that the bottom line is, you have to sleep and without sleep there are some very damaging
effects on the brain. There is no widely accepted conjecture but there are a few theories. There are
three prominent theories, according to neuroscientist Russel Foster’s TED talk. The first is the
restoration theory. The restoration theory, in layman’s terms: we restore, rebuild and replace what
we burn in the day, during the night. There is a lot of evidence to support the restoration theory.
One piece of evidence: there is a collection of genes that shows to only be on while a person is
sleeping. These genes are closely associated with restoration and metabolic processes. The second
theory is the energy conservation theory. This theory essentially says you sleep to save calories.
According to neuroscientist Russell Foster, “If you compare an individual who has slept at night, or
stayed awake and hasn't moved very much, the energy saving of sleeping is about 110 calories a
night.” That is the calorie equivalent of a hotdog bun. A hotdog bun is not much of a reward when
it comes to the “complicated and demanding behavior” of sleep. The third theory is the brain
processing and memory consolidation theory. This theory says that when we sleep we process our
thoughts and our memories we saw throughout the day. Foster also says that when you try to teach
an individual a task, then sleep-deprive the individual, you “smash” their ability to learn such task.
Also, “our ability to come up with novel solutions to complex problems is hugely enhanced by a
night of sleep” (Foster). Our neural and synaptic connections are also strengthened after we sleep.
That’s the three central theories on why we sleep. Realistically we sleep because of a combination of
all three theories. Seeing these theories, one might imagine the detrimental effects of not sleeping.
That brings us to one of the most important inventions ever created – the lightbulb.
The incandescent lightbulb revolutionized the world in a big way. It ultimately took 12 hour
days and made them 24 hour days. We were no longer slaves to the sun. Since days were longer
people could work longer. We were able to safely light a room without fear of setting our homes
ablaze. That’s only a few things that the lightbulb has done. Since people could work longer hours,
that increased productivity. More hours translates to more work being done. On the contrary, longer
days means shorter nights, which in turn means that people were sleeping less. But it’s not because
people are choosing to sleep less. We function off of a circadian rhythm called the light-dark cycle.
All eukaryotic organisms have circadian rhythms. The Campbell Biology AP Edition textbook defines
circadian rhythms as “internal clocks that regulate cyclic processes” and have “intervals that are
approximately 24 hours” (Wilbur 778). We have a biological time clock that depends on light-dark
cycles. It tells us when we should be awake and when we should be asleep. We quite literally depend
on when the sun rises and when it sets. The invention of the lightbulb disrupts our natural pattern.
One of the things that trigger your body to go to sleep is the setting of the sun. But how could your
body go to sleep when there’s always light around you? Even when the sun goes down it’s still
virtually there with a deceiving similitude. Especially since incandescent lightbulbs’ light spectrum is
nearly identically to the suns. We are constantly on! When do we sleep? Our body does not know.
This is one of the big causes of sleep deprivation and this invention is The Industrial Revolution’s
contribution to it. In fact, the lightbulb is also indirectly responsible for another huge cause of sleep
deprivation.
Since the invention of the lightbulb there have been thousands upon thousands of
inventions that use one revolutionary device that emulates a design that was first done by the
famous Thomas Edison on the lightbulb. This device is the transistor. For those who are not exactly
tech-savvy and don’t know what a transistor is, David Haviland does a fine job explaining it in his
article for the Nobel Prize:
The transistor is a three terminal, solid state electronic device. In a three terminal device we
can control electric current or voltage between two of the terminals by applying an electric
current or voltage to the third terminal. This three terminal character of the transistor is
what allows us to make an amplifier for electrical signals, like the one in our radio. With the
three-terminal transistor we can also make an electric switch, which can be controlled by
another electrical switch. By cascading these switches (switches that control switches that
control switches, etc.) we can build up very complicated logic circuits… These logic circuits
can be built very compact on a silicon chip with 1,000,000 transistors per square centimeter.
We can turn them on and off very rapidly by switching every 0.000000001 seconds. Such
logic chips are at the heart of your personal computer and many other gadgets you use
today. (Haviland)
Haviland then continues with,
The transistor was not the first three terminal device. The vacuum tube triode preceded the
transistor by nearly 50 years. Vacuum tubes played an important role in the emergence of
home electronics and in the scientific discoveries and technical innovations which are the
foundation for our modern electronic technology. Thomas Edison's lightbulb was one of
the first uses of vacuum tubes for electrical applications. (Haviland)
Accordingly, it is safe to say that Thomas Edison’s use of the vacuum tube in his lightbulb led to the
transistor. Transistors are fundamental to modern technology. They’re used in everything from
computers to cell phones, to calculators and they’re even in cars. More importantly, transistors made
possible for LED technology. LED is becoming more commonly used and is beginning to appear
more in more in people’s lives. Incandescent lightbulbs are beginning to be replaced by LED ones.
Television manufacturers are beginning to get rid of their archaic displays and replacing them with
LED ones. The majority of cell phones and tablets have LED displays. So why are LED lights
causing sleep deprivation? Well, according to professional Chris Kresser in his article How Artificial
Light Is Wrecking Your Sleep, and What to Do about It. , “It is well established that short-wavelength or
‘blue’ light is the most melatonin-suppressive; this is the type of light typically emitted by devices
such as televisions, computer screens, and cell phones. To produce white light, these electronic
devices must emit light at short wavelengths, close to the peak sensitivity of melatonin suppression.”
For those who don’t know, melatonin is the hormone that is responsible for putting you to sleep.
More specifically, melatonin is “a hormone that is secreted by the pineal gland and that is involved
in the regulation of biological rhythms and sleep” (Wilbur 993). This means that the light from these
devices are responsible for a big part of melatonin suppression, which in turn contributes to why
people aren’t sleeping. What Kresser discusses about melatonin suppression also ties into how
lightbulbs are causing sleep deprivation. He states, “Along with blue light emitted from electronic
devices, research has shown that being exposed to normal levels of room lighting can have similar
negative effects on melatonin. One study showed that one hour of moderately bright light exposure
(1000 lux) was sufficient to suppress nocturnal melatonin to daytime levels.” There is an enormous
amount of evidence that concludes that LED light specifically is a big contributor to sleep
deprivation. Even a separate study done by the University of Haifia concludes that, “Exposure to
the light of 'white' LED bulbs appears to suppress melatonin five times more than exposure to the
light of high-pressure sodium bulbs that give off an orange-yellow light, according to new research”
(Science Daily). All of this research concludes that all artificial light, but especially LED, has a
massive contribution to why people are not sleeping.
Now that we have an understanding of how exactly sleep deprivation is being caused, we
must now discuss the impact it has. As stated previously sleep deprivation negatively impacts
productivity. But what exactly is productivity or what does it mean in this context? In the context of
this paper, productivity is being used quite loosely and not very specific to business or economy like
it often is. For now, let’s define productivity simply as how well, how efficient and how much
someone or something can do at a particular task. After previously discussing why we sleep one
might assume that productivity would be impeded by sleep loss. But as Jeff E. Biddle and Daniel S.
Hamermesh points out in their co-written addition to the Journal of Political Economy titled Sleep and the
Allocation of Time, “One basic indicator of its [sleep duration] importance as an economic variable
might, however, be its relationship to time supplied to the labor market” (Biddle & Hamermesh
924). Time spent in the labor market correlates with how much a person works and how well they
work. Further along in Biddle and Hamermesh’s article there is a graph that shows that the fewer
people sleep, the fewer hours they work, which is interesting. What is even more interesting is that
their research also concludes that the more people sleep, the lower income they have. This is shown
on a table that they include on page 938 of their article. However, they do admit that “while our
results do suggest the existence of this most basic of economic effects on the demand of sleep, they
are not overwhelming (Biddle & Hamermesh 938). They do however believe that “…they are strong
enough, though…” (938). Out of all of their extensive research we can conclude that “The demand
for sleep is a function of the individual’s wage rate…” (936) and that “sleep affects productivity, as
evidence from other fields strongly suggests…” (941). Biddle and Hamermesh’s research shows how
“as much as 1 hour”, as they would say, can affect productivity and it also gives you an idea of how
this could possibly effect the economy.
To differ away from the economic vantage point of productivity, there is another area of
discussion where lack of sleep negatively affects productivity – athletics. It is well known that
athletes exert a lot more energy than the average person. Wouldn’t you think that since sleep is
supposedly a means of energy restoration then that athlete’s would need more of it? As logical as
that thinking is, that is surprisingly not the reason why athlete’s need more sleep. Elizabeth Quinn’s
article Sleep Deprivation and Athletes really helps to understand how and why athletes need more sleep.
A study done by Dr. Eve Van Cauter from the University of Chicago Medical School does so very
thoroughly. Quinn discusses how Dr. Cauter conducts a study on different men of different age
groups to see how different durations of sleep affects them. Her findings were rather interesting. Dr.
Cauter discovered that “…after four hours of sleep per night (the sleep deprivation period), they
[the test subjects] metabolized glucose least efficiently” (Quinn). In my earlier definition of
productivity, I define it partly as “how efficient someone… is at a particular task” (5). Already it’s
clear that lack of sleep causes inefficiency, and therefore, by my definition of productivity,
unproductiveness. However, there is more to discuss. Quinn adds, “Levels of cortisol (a stress
hormone) were also higher during sleep deprivation periods, which has been linked to memory
impairment, age-related insulin resistance, and impaired recovery in athletes.” Keep in mind these
things for the later point of medical issues. To get back to the point, Quinn ingeniously points out
that, “This study [Dr. Cauter’s] is interesting because it shows that sleep deprivation can negatively
impact physiology that is critical for athletic performance (Quinn). The reason physiology is
emphasized is because the most we know about sleep deprivation involves brain and immune
function. Physiological change is rather a new and a seldom discussed topic when talking about
consequences of sleep-deprivation. Quinn also reports, “…after only one week of sleep restriction,
young, healthy males had glucose levels that were no longer normal and showed a rapid
deterioration of the body's functions. This reduced [the] ability of the body to manage glucose…”
In addition, Quinn states, “Those who are sleep deprived may experience slower storage of
glycogen, which prevents storage of the fuel an athlete needs for endurance events beyond 90
minutes” eventually leading to a change in metabolic function (Quinn). These findings go even
further to show how unproductive losing sleep can be and it introduces a new concept of
productivity – biological productivity. Elizabeth Quinn’s article conjointly with Dr. Cauter’s research
perfectly elucidates exactly how impactful sleep deprivation can be, not only to a person’s health but
as well as the productiveness in something that could be a person’s hobby, lifestyle and even career.
Sleep deprivation causes a lot more damage than most believe it does. Not so surprisingly, it
is true that sleep deprivation can cause, and is a huge risk factor for, many medical issues and
ailments. Michael J. Breus Ph.D. opens up with a strong and similar assertion that fits perfectly with
the theme of this. Dr. Breus asserts, “Not sleeping enough and not sleeping well is not OK. As a
matter of fact, there is quite a price to pay. It may surprise you to learn that chronic sleep
deprivation, for whatever reason, significantly affects your health, performance, safety, and
pocketbook” (Breus). It is becoming to seem unanimous upon experts, from all different fields, that
it is vital that we do not lose any sleep. At the end of Dr. Breus’ very laconic article, he has a list of
medical conditions that can be induced because of sleep deprivation. Among these are obesity,
diabetes, osteoporosis, cancer, heart disease, depression, and injury from an accident just to name a
few. Now, how do these things affect productivity one might ask? To answer, consider these
hypothetical situations: Is it more likely for an obese man to do better at his job if here were not
obese? Would a person who suffers from osteoporosis not be able to do more at work? How more
efficient might a person be at doing their job if they did not have to deal with depression? The
point is that these things are somewhat preventable and by simply sleeping an extra hour or two can
decrease risk factors significantly. Interestingly, Dr. Breus included “injury from an accident.” In the
book Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation: An Unmet Public Health Problem, in Chapter 4 there is a
section titled “Work Related Injuries.” In this section, it discusses a series of studies that were
conducted that all came to the same conclusion. They concluded that, “…highly fatigued workers
were 70 percent more likely to be involved in accidents than were workers reporting low fatigue
levels, after adjustment for other risk factors” and “Workers with chronic insomnia were also far
more likely than those who were good sleepers to report industrial accidents or injuries” (149).
Proving this thesis even further, you can infer that since these workers were injured because they
were deprived of sleep, and it is ok to make the assumption that they were also not as productive as
well. These thorough examples clarify just how much a, misconceived as harmless, all-nighter can
depreciate productivity.
Now serves for some clarification and a union of previous information. We start off in the
First Industrial Revolution which is around the time when scientists begin to really implement
vacuum tube technology. Everything after this seems to have a very distinct domino effect. At the
same time, there is an underlying and perpetual series of causes and effects. After the first domino
falls it strikes the second, and now we have our first long-lasting incandescent lightbulb. We now
have all sun, all the time. This struck the beginning of The Plague of the Sleepless Society. We are now in
the late SIR also known as the Technological Revolution. Times are changing. We are beginning to
adapt to life with the second sun, as it is in our nature to adapt. Then, ever so rapidly, we are in the
times of the digital revolution. One of the biggest triumphs in modern day physics happens; the
transistor is born. With technology this advanced, but yet so simple, it created an entirely new realm
of possibilities. People like John Bardeen and Walter Brattain had a eureka moment of their own
when they “realized the power of this new technology” (Haviland). We are still early in the digital
revolution, though. Our first computers came before the transistor nonetheless; however, they still
used outmoded technology such as unnecessarily gargantuan vacuum tubes. As time progressed the
dominoes are still falling one by one; speeding up each time as if it is a cascade of some sort. It’s
important to understand that the plague is not the plague yet. It’s more of an outbreak at this point;
almost every home has lightbulbs at this point. But time is still progressing. There is this sort of
silent behind the scenes technological race going on. As new technologies begin to come about, such
as the integrated circuit, which was preceded by the transistor, we begin to merge into and get closer
to present day, or what is known as the Information Age. Don’t even think that the domino’s
stopped dropping for a second; the dominoes haven’t begun to stop accelerating. One invention
leads to the next, and the next, and the next. Computers, early cell phones, and the internet were the
main driving forces of this new age. Now the dominoes’ rate of acceleration is no longer logistic; it is
now completely exponential. One of the first culprit’s in this new age was the personal computer.
This began the infectious trend of digital communication. Cell phones were around for quite some
time now; they just lie dormant while they wait until it’s time for their contribution. As time
progresses the CDC (Center of Digital Contamination) has now declared the outbreak an epidemic.
No longer is this a domino effect. This is now a ripple effect. The new technologies are slowly
beginning to steal seconds away from people’s sleep. It’ll soon be minutes, then hours. Personal
computers are beginning to appear in every home. All while this is taking place, there is absolutely
no doubt that productivity is skyrocketing. Things are becoming more automatic and more
computerized day-by-day. Computer chips are starting to get smaller and smaller. Cell phones are
now getting more advanced and steadily more popular. During this time LED technology has been
around for quite some time now. But now technology allows for it to be implicated in televisions,
computers and cell phones. More and more we are being exposed to devices emitting artificial light
that not only throws off our natural body clock, but now a vital hormone that puts us to sleep, is
being suppressed as well. Technology is advancing faster than our bodies and minds can adjust to
them. This is causing us to lose sleep. In turn, the loss of sleep ultimately is causing a decrease in
productivity. This has been proven with extensive economical, biological and medical research.
In summation, the very technologies that have achieved wonders in the advancement of
societies, as well as tremendously increased productivity, are the same technologies that are
decreasing such productivity while at the same time destroying our societies. It is illustrated and
explained previously just how three simple, yet critical inventions, can have such a ripple effect on us
and future technologies. Though be careful, never were these three inventions denied of their value;
in fact, most likely 50% of the world’s population would not be in existence if they did not exist.
However, consider these questions: Is partaking in this race for technological advancement worth
your individual well-being? Or better yet, is it worth the well-being of the human race? The answer is
no. This is affecting us somehow and we can’t ignore the facts. Let’s not do what we’re good for
doing. We’ve already sat and stood by while our ozone layer disintegrated. We sat idly by while the
ice caps melted as we just counted the rising sea levels. While it’s in our nature to destroy and
consume, can we at least be a little selfish and not bring ourselves down as well? Thank you,
Thomas Edison. But beware of the double entendre. You surely deserve praise for creating arguably
one of the most important inventions in human history; however having someone to blame for
something makes it that much easier to sleep at night. As to those who deliberately chose not to
speak truth, as you believe sleep is not important. Let this be your wake-up call.
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Haviland, David B. " ." The Transistor. Nobelprize.org, 19 Dec. 2002. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.
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