In the family of primates, chimpanzees sleep an average of 9.5 hours a day, tamarins 13 hours, and even nocturnal monkeys sleep a full 17 hours. So why do humans, whom science recognizes in the primate family, sleep less than apes or chimpanzees? Let’s look at the ideas of the scientific world looking for the answer to this question.
While sleep is known to be essential for immunity, memory, and all of our other health conditions, research by evolutionary anthropologist David Samson of the University of Mississauga in Toronto has found an alternative answer to why humans sleep less than other primates. To find the answer, ‘contemporary non-industrial societies’ were examined for which the most relevant evidence could be found.
Humans may have adapted to sleep poorly over time
Samson’s study included the Hadza hunter-gatherers in Tanzania as well as various human populations in places such as Madagascar and Guatemala. brought under scrutiny. With research published in 2018, he showed that over time, people reduce the time of sleep outside of REM, which is the deepest sleep state. In research published in 2021, he presented a hypothesis for why this was necessary.
In research published in the Annual Review of Anthropology, Samson suggested that human sleep is shortened for safety reasons. Because humans, unlike primates, slept on the ground, not in trees. While some of the people staying in the small shelters were sleeping, some of them were on guard to be vigilant against predators.
But the difference between primates is not yet clear:
Evolutionary ecologist Isabella Capellini from Queen’s University also expressed her agreement. In his 2008 research, Capellini revealed that mammals at risk of prey sleep less on average. But Capellini disagrees that humans sleep very differently from primates.
Capellini’s main reason for opposing Samson is that primates’ sleep time is usually compiled from studies of captives. The ecologist says there is no clear information yet on how long animals sleep in the wild. She, on the other hand, states that captive animals can sleep less because they are under stress or they can sleep more because they are just bored.
So why humans sleep less than primates still continues to be debated. In order to end this discussion, it is emphasized that more studies on primates found in the wild are necessary. So, how much sleep do we actually want as individuals?
Let’s get over everything, are we getting enough sleep?
David Samson, in his research on Hadza people who live by primitive methods today, asked 37 individuals in 2017 how they felt about their sleep. Thirty-five out of 37 people answered this question that they slept ‘enough’. The average sleep time in this population was 6.25 hours. But the total time spent in bed with constant awakenings was more than 9 hours.
A study conducted with 500 participants in Chicago in 2016 revealed that the amount of time people spent in bed was equal to the amount of sleep they had, and that they slept at least as much as Hadza people. Another survey conducted in 2020 showed that 87% of adults in the US felt ‘unrested’ at least one day a week.
So why was this disorder and lack of sleep caused? Samson and his colleague Gandhi Yetish from the University of California attributed stress and the disorganized biological clock as the source of our sleep problems. In addition, Samson offered as an alternative reason that today’s order is a test of our habit, since we slept together as a community in primitive times.
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