mind *SPLODE*
I was listening to Backstory this weekend, the episode on the history of time in the US. Aside from interesting discussions of Daylight Savings Time, the evolution of time zones (hint: it was the railways), and the shot clock, they talked about something that BLEW MY TINY MIND.
Up until electric lights, people would go to bed at eight or nine, then wake up around midnight or one AM. This was called first sleep. They'd putter around for a while--have sex, visit neighbors, pray, meditate--then go back to sleep (second sleep) and wake up at dawn. I looked into this, and yes, there is a theory with a growing body of evidence that segmented sleep is how historical people slept. The industrial revolution imposed strict time adherence on us, and electric lights meant people stayed up later and later, but before, people slept in two segments.
First off, this means that people who have a type of insomnia that means they wake up in the middle of the night...are adhering to a historical pattern, not failing their biology somehow.
But think about this a bit more. I feel like I have to reevaluate my entire knowledge of history and literature. As
jethrien pointed out, this makes perfect sense out of Matins, the prayer service monks did in the middle of the night. Whenever I've heard it discussed, it's always been with the context of well, you'd have to give up ever sleeping a full night's sleep to be a monk. But what if they were just awake at that time of the night? Then it makes perfect sense. Because if your monks are awake at that hour, that would have to be the hour of most potential for straying from the path. Of course you'd want them to be praying.
And then think of all the literature about the witching hour. I mean, I knew before that there was incredible danger outside at night before outdoor lighting. That's one thing--but it's something entirely different if most people are awake at that time of heightened unreality.
It literally never occurred to me that sleeping through the night was a modern construction, resulting from the industrial revolution. I thought it was just biology. I'm telling you. Mind blown.
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Up until electric lights, people would go to bed at eight or nine, then wake up around midnight or one AM. This was called first sleep. They'd putter around for a while--have sex, visit neighbors, pray, meditate--then go back to sleep (second sleep) and wake up at dawn. I looked into this, and yes, there is a theory with a growing body of evidence that segmented sleep is how historical people slept. The industrial revolution imposed strict time adherence on us, and electric lights meant people stayed up later and later, but before, people slept in two segments.
First off, this means that people who have a type of insomnia that means they wake up in the middle of the night...are adhering to a historical pattern, not failing their biology somehow.
But think about this a bit more. I feel like I have to reevaluate my entire knowledge of history and literature. As
jethrien pointed out, this makes perfect sense out of Matins, the prayer service monks did in the middle of the night. Whenever I've heard it discussed, it's always been with the context of well, you'd have to give up ever sleeping a full night's sleep to be a monk. But what if they were just awake at that time of the night? Then it makes perfect sense. Because if your monks are awake at that hour, that would have to be the hour of most potential for straying from the path. Of course you'd want them to be praying.
And then think of all the literature about the witching hour. I mean, I knew before that there was incredible danger outside at night before outdoor lighting. That's one thing--but it's something entirely different if most people are awake at that time of heightened unreality.
It literally never occurred to me that sleeping through the night was a modern construction, resulting from the industrial revolution. I thought it was just biology. I'm telling you. Mind blown.
The Dreamwidth copy of this post has
comments. Comment there or here.