Tuesday, April 9, 2013

The Truth About Nocturnal People - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com

The Truth About Nocturnal People - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com: "Misconceptions About Nocturnals

The biggest misconception about nocturnals is that they are lazy. The assumption is that because they sleep all day, night owls don't get anything done. In fact, most nocturnal people are highly productive. Their minds and bodies are more active and alert at night, and without the distractions of the daytime world, they can easily concentrate on the tasks in front of them and get more done."

Publisher's Response: to a post which can be found at: http://voices.yahoo.com/the-truth-nocturnal-people-183708.html

An excerpt from a website which clearly has published an opinion, with significant scientific  evidence supporting their own personal conclusions. It is interesting, factually based, yet it is not what one would consider absolute truth. I am neither disrespecting the author nor I am condemning the topic.

The one point I would like to make regards how a teenager might react to such a post. A teenager perhaps by definition is already undergoing a paradigm-shift if you will in that is already shaping their world view. With my inclusion of this specific post, I feel I am required to point out that circadian rhythms or cycles are subject to change and dysfunction.

Sleep disorders are rapidly becoming a new social ill, and the effect that late night computer usage has on people in general is well documented and is a significant stumbling for teenagers and adults alike who spend a great deal of time immersing themselves in the anti-social internet web world.

A helpful tool is the Flux app which attempts to normalize the negative influence of the color quality of the light which is emitted from today's laptops and iphone or other smart phone, and tablet devices. It is not a cure yet is rather a helpful solution. 

f.lux: software to make your life better

Alexa Traffic Rank for http://stereopsis.com/flux/: 54,943stereopsis.com/flux/Share
Is your computer keeping you up late? f.lux is free software that warms up your computer display at night, to match your indoor lighting:

http://stereopsis.com/flux/  

The real answer for teenagers is recognizing their their circadian cycles are changing, and while it is difficult to get a teenager to go to sleep at a reasonable time, that even if a compromise solution is reached, say absolute lights and no internet usage after say midnight (better 11pm) then normal sleep cycles can be restored.