Off-Topic - Time

ꕤ British Library 'Beaujolais-Drill-Dombes. Thizy and surroundings. Armorial and genealogical notes. Book decorated with 380 engravings and written by the scattered notes left by Étienne Mulsant, etc. ' Author: BILLET, H. Contributor: MULSANT, Martial Étienne. Place of Publishing: Lyon Date of Publishing: 1899 ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- The first documented record for staying awake is 11 days, and it goes back to 1964 (Randy Gardner - here). During the Stanford University (California, USA) experiment: "On the eleventh day, when [the subject, Randy Gardner] was asked to subtract seven repeatedly, starting with 100, he stopped at 65. When asked why he had stopped, he replied that he had forgotten what he was doing"  [as above] LOL ... I'm forever forgetting what I'm doing, even with regular sleep.  And I'd have no hope with the backwards count, even with sleep.  The other record (almost 19 days awake in rocking chair marathon) sounds positively crazy ... and maybe fun: The record for the longest period without sleep is 18 days, 21 hours, 40 minutes during a rocking chair marathon. The record holder reported hallucinations, paranoia, blurred vision, slurred speech and memory and concentration lapses. [here] I'd been awake for over a couple of days straight, wondering how long I'd last staying awake without going nuts, so I found myself check out how long I had (after experiencing anxiety that I maybe wouldn't be able to sleep at all). It looks like just short of 3 days is my limit (or close to it, I think ... it's hard to go back & count the time, as I can't remember the time frame). Unlike the experiment guy, I wasn't going for the record ... I was just wired from being on the computer and listening to music.  After passing the initial sleep 'wall' it feels like you can go on forever.   And it's like flying.  While stationary.  Rather cool. More 'sleep walls' or 'sleep dips' recur, but can be bypassed for those that want to, I guess.  LOL After a few sessions of extensive wakefulness periods, it is as if the duration of one's 'days' is altered:  a 'day' is no longer 24 hours, as in the feeling for time changes. Normal time frames feel too short/fast. That's an enduring feeling, for me. Long stretches without sleep come with a sort of depressing side-effect, the longer you go without sleep (well, for me).  But it's not enduring ... I hope. The other side-effect is a sore, cramping 'mouse-hand'. Even with long stretches without sleep, natural sleep periods don't extend beyond the range of normal. So that's kind of cool.  It's a gain in time. Although it's apparently also a loss in terms of wear and tear, and probably not recommended.  ;) ꕤ