Evidence continues to emerge, both scientific and historical, suggesting that the way in which the majority of us currently sleep may not actually be good for us.<\/p>\n
In 2001, historian Roger Ekirch of Virginia Tech published a paper that included over 15 years of research. It revealed an overwhelming amount of historical evidence that humans used to in fact sleep in two different chunks. (1<\/a>)<\/p>\n In 2005, he published a book titled\u00a0\u201cAt Day\u2019s Close: Night in Times Past,\u201d\u00a0<\/em>that included more than 500 references to a disjointed sleeping pattern. It included diaries, medical books, literature and more taken from various sources which include Homer\u2019s Odyssey all the way to modern tribes in Nigeria and more.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not just the number of references \u2013 it is the way they refer to it, as if it was common knowledge.\u201d \u2013 <\/strong>Ekrich (source<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Ekirch\u2019s research found that we didn\u2019t always sleep for an average of 8 hours straight. Instead we would sleep in two shorter periods throughout the night. All sleep would occur within a 12 hour time frame that started with 3 or 4 hours of sleep, followed by being awake for 3 hours or so and then sleeping again until the morning.<\/p>\n There was also some research done in the early 1990\u2032s by psychiatrist Thomas Wehr. He conducted an experiment where 14 people were put into complete darkness for 14 hours a day for an entire month. By the fourth week the participants were able to settle into a very distinct sleeping pattern. The pattern was the same as Ekirch suggested of how we were meant to sleep; the subjects slept for approximately 4 hours, woke for another few and then went back to sleep until morning. (2<\/a>)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cEkirch found that references to the first and second sleep started to disappear during the late 17th Century. This started among the urban upper classes in northern Europe and over the course of the next 200 years filtered down to the rest of Western society. By the 1920\u2032s the idea of a first and second sleep had receded entirely from our social consciousness.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>(source<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\nWhat Was Found In The Research<\/h3>\n
Possible Reasons As To Why It Was Like This<\/strong><\/h3>\n