Why We Sleep

Chapter 15 shifts the focus from the negative impacts of insufficient sleep on the individual to society. The author focuses on four examples. The first is on the workplace. Employers often “overvalue employees who undervalue sleep” (297) thinking they are more productive. However, one study found that insufficient sleep costs most nations 2% of their gross domestic product (GDP). Walker attributes these costs to the fact that sleep-deprived individuals work less, are slower to complete tasks, generate less innovation, and are more unethical. Walker points to several organizations, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Nike, NASA, and Google, who have changed their work policies and practices to value well-rested employees. For example, NASA adopted a nap culture after seeing the benefits naps had on astronauts’ task performance and alertness.

The second is “the inhumane use of sleep loss in society” (305). To Walker, one of the worst uses of sleep deprivation is as a form of government sanctioned torture. He strongly argues for its abolition on two grounds. First, sleep deprivation results in emotional instability, inaccurate memory recall, and higher rates of lying. As such, it “places an individual into the least useful brain state for the purpose of credible intelligence gathering” (306).