mamajoan

The server that hosts our bug-tracking database is down. Literally *everything* that I need to do at work today involves the bug database. Translation: I can't do any work.

I know I generally spend more of the day goofing off than working anyway, but at least I like to know that there's some work I should and could be doing. And since I'm going on vacation next week, I was kinda hoping to be productive this week. I guess it's not Meant To Be. Welcome to Monday.

So, just killed some time having an interesting discussion with a couple of co-workers about the biological purpose of sleep. Co-worker A claims that the only reason humans sleep is that we can't function properly during nighttime, because it's too dark for us to see. So we shut down for convenience's sake, and wake up again when it's light enough for us to get stuff done. If we lived on a planet where it was daylight all the time, says he, we wouldn't need to sleep.

But wait, say I and Co-worker B, humans (and other creatures) NEED sleep to rest and revitalize our bodies. Are you saying that on this theoretical always-light planet the creatures wouldn't need rest at all? At which point, of course, Co-worker A starts fudging and says that maybe they would stop and rest, like the equivalent of an afternoon siesta, but it wouldn't be sleep as we know it. Whatever.

Seems to me the big flaw in his reasoning is that, if we have evolved to adapt to our surroundings, and if there weren't another reason to need sleep, we would have evolved the ability to see in the dark. I think I'll go point that out to him.