Thread: The 100-hour no-sleep challenge.

lol! I did.

Originally Posted by sloth

I appreciate that you have conviction in what you are doing. I don't expect, or wish for my post here to change your mind about it. If you were that weak minded you wouldn't have started this project in the first place, and I'd have no respect for you.

Win. Sappy, asshole win. Thank you so much!

[sighs and settles into a lotus stance]
My work here is done.

Tune in next month for the next attempt!

Dang... I can't sleep tonight... This means I am going to go 40 hours without sleep for no reason whatsoever (I have a very set schedule for sleep and stuff nowadays). I would love to try more, but I have to drive too much for my job. I also love lucid dreaming, and am sad that I couldn't get to sleep to try it tonight, since most of my lucid dreams are in succession. If I have one a night, I have a high chance for another that night. If I had one the night before, I have an even higher chance for another. I had 2 yesterday and now I can't sleep.


This happens every month at least once... I am going to take this chance to watch Sword Art Online, but it is just reminding me of LDing.

Originally Posted by Signet

Win. Sappy, asshole win. Thank you so much!

[sighs and settles into a lotus stance]
My work here is done.

Tune in next month for the next attempt!

lol!

Well, I was going to take a shower and type this up when I got done with it, but there's a guy in the (communal) bathroom showering to the tune of... polka music.

Yeah. I'll type it up now.

First, to set the mood:


Here's the rub: I'm so conflicted about life and tired of living that I'm seeing the sun rise following a sleepless night for the second time since Thursday morning. 'Cause I was up all that night, too. About life. Derping around on 4chan/b/ and trying to not give in to temptation and (worse yet) careless apathy.

And look at me! Awake another night.
So today I basically said "Screw it. This is going to be an existential nightmare anyways, so I may as well be awake for it, right?

So here's the plan:
1. Watch the sun rise
2. Go to my classes
3. Play Saints Row the Third
4. Eat lunch
5. Play Saints Row the Third
6. Talk to the Anglican Priest / Electronica Sequencer / Professor about God's plan for my life and my amazing ability to sit on my hands
7. Go to dinner
8. Play Saints Row the Third
9. Chat on Facebook with the only motivating person I know (yeah, it's a girl. big woop.)
10. Play Saints Row the Third
11. Surf the 'web until the waves crash me on the distant shores of the cyber-world.

...

...does any of this sound like incoherent ramblings to you? 'Cause I know I should get some Z's,
but I just
can't
get life
to work.

So this is me starting my challenge again, but with a twist.
Not only am I going to try to stay awake for one hundred hours non-stop, but I've already been short on sleep lately [see also: last Thursday], and the upcoming All-Dorm Crazy-Fest-On-The-Lakeside falls within the allotted time.
AND... I am to decide what path to take in life while I'm at it.
I know, I know. "You should have a level head, not a sleepy one, when you make big decisions" and all that crap. So what.

If you're willing to stick around, I'd really appreciate having some friends here to tell to and ask about my current situation in life.

As it is, I've been awake since: Sun, Sep 8th @ 9:30 AM
AND the night of the 5th and 6th was sleepless as well.



Well... shall we begin?

It's getting upwards of 40 hours, so if the past two 88-hour runs are accurate then my energy levels should be leveling off soon.

...doesn't anyone have questions? Heck, it's not even about the sleep anymore; I'm trying to get my head on straight, mostly by screwing it up.

No one has questions because what you're doing is idiotic. No one really cares that you have so little self respect for your body that you would try go 100 hours without sleep. The consequences of such actions are far worse than what meets the eye, I can assure you that problems will appear later in your life, you just won't realized what caused them because they're too subtle.

Originally Posted by dutchraptor

No one has questions because what you're doing is idiotic. No one really cares that you have so little self respect for your body that you would try go 100 hours without sleep. The consequences of such actions are far worse than what meets the eye, I can assure you that problems will appear later in your life, you just won't realized what caused them because they're too subtle.

What, and sitting on my hands doing nothing for my life, running away from what tasks I need to do, is going to be better?
I'm not putting myself through this just for kicks - not this time. I've been there and it wasn't the most fun.
I'm trying to make sense of some issues and questions running around in my head.
So sue me if I'm desperate enough to care more about my soul and future than a few night's sleep! I haven't been able to sleep regardless of whether or not I want to, so all I'm doing is sharing what's going on to misunderstanding people like you.

Originally Posted by Signet

What, and sitting on my hands doing nothing for my life, running away from what tasks I need to do, is going to be better?
I'm not putting myself through this just for kicks - not this time. I've been there and it wasn't the most fun.
I'm trying to make sense of some issues and questions running around in my head.
So sue me if I'm desperate enough to care more about my soul and future than a few night's sleep! I haven't been able to sleep regardless of whether or not I want to, so all I'm doing is sharing what's going on to misunderstanding people like you.

just stop it.... get yourself straight.... stop with that nonsense.... just relax and forget about everything ...and stop doing this it's not smart.....not sleeping is not going to get you anywhere...just stop it and go to sleep you will be smarter when you rest....as I watched sometime some show in which some guy was awake for few days and he fell unconscious and it can be really dangerous ...go to sleep!!!

Originally Posted by Karloky

just stop it.... get yourself straight.... stop with that nonsense.... just relax and forget about everything ...and stop doing this it's not smart.....not sleeping is not going to get you anywhere...just stop it and go to sleep you will be smarter when you rest....as I watched sometime some show in which some guy was awake for few days and he fell unconscious and it can be really dangerous ...go to sleep!!!

Please. If I could justly say so: LURK MORE.
I'm not here to get yelled at for being "bad" to myself. GET A SPINE.
I'm trying to figure some of my issues out, and they were making it hard to sleep anyways. READ THE POSTS.
This is not about whether or not I'm being self-destructive, and I request that if you're going to be a dauntless whiner about it... GO AWAY.

Seriously. Grow a pair so that you'll have the guts to ask me about the circumstances before doling out your condemnation.

Originally Posted by Signet

Please. If I could justly say so: LURK MORE.
I'm not here to get yelled at for being "bad" to myself. GET A SPINE.
I'm trying to figure some of my issues out, and they were making it hard to sleep anyways. READ THE POSTS.
This is not about whether or not I'm being self-destructive, and I request that if you're going to be a dauntless whiner about it... GO AWAY.

Seriously. Grow a pair so that you'll have the guts to ask me about the circumstances before doling out your condemnation.

sorry... I understand well .... I have some problems too ... I wouldn't dare to say that they are even a tiny that big but they are also a big burden ....and I know how it is not to sleep ... and I guess I would rather choose to sleep then to be awake all the time.... but I can understand it if you have some problems.... please don't get mad.... I understand that it can be really hard and frustrating sometimes when you have worries problems.... etc. I was just trying to say that maybe you should get some sleep because it would be better for your health ....but then again I think you will be very hmmm... upset because of me saying you something like that so I apologize I didn't mean no harm to anyone or wasn't trying to be mean....

Originally Posted by Signet

What, and sitting on my hands doing nothing for my life, running away from what tasks I need to do, is going to be better?
I'm not putting myself through this just for kicks - not this time. I've been there and it wasn't the most fun.
I'm trying to make sense of some issues and questions running around in my head.
So sue me if I'm desperate enough to care more about my soul and future than a few night's sleep! I haven't been able to sleep regardless of whether or not I want to, so all I'm doing is sharing what's going on to misunderstanding people like you.

No, it's a blatant call for attention and it doesn't matter what you call it. I'm sure you might have trouble falling asleep, well no need to to go advertize it here. Every single aspect of this thread points towards the opposite of what you just said.
This for example

Heck, it's not even about the sleep anymore; I'm trying to get my head on straight, mostly by screwing it up.

You know exactly what's going on and still persisting with it.
You wondered why no one had any questions and I told you why. Despite what you say, your posts are still largely worded as if you're just doing this for the attention (even if it isn't true) and people get bored of that after a while.

If you really had trouble sleeping and all then that is what thread would have evolved into, especially considering you don't "sit on your hands doing nothing, running away from tasks you need to do".

Originally Posted by dutchraptor

No, it's a blatant call for attention and it doesn't matter what you call it. I'm sure you might have trouble falling asleep, well no need to to go advertize it here. Every single aspect of this thread points towards the opposite of what you just said. [snip]
If you really had trouble sleeping and all then that is what thread would have evolved into, especially considering you don't "sit on your hands doing nothing, running away from tasks you need to do".

The trouble with sleeping comes from the issues that I really wouldn't mind some help with.
That's clearly no good since all you're doing is being a pompous, misunderstanding, apathetic asshole.
I will admit to anyone that I tend to be an attention whore, but I will also add that I'm not really trying to get attention right now. I have some things I need to work out, the lack of sleep has been coinciding with my old 100-hour challenge, and I thought that someone here might have advice.

But oh no. You have to assume that this is all about attention and ruining my body... excuse me? That's coincidental. Did you read the posts?

Originally Posted by Karloky

[post]

Sorry, me neither. I'm just a bit snappy 'cause life isn't making the most sense lately. (And a couple people here and in real life have been calling me an idiot over this whole 'sleep' thing.)
I have gotten some sleep lately but like I said... life is still screwy.

Signet, he doesn't think that you are thinking this consciously (though some do), but a lot of people like "class clowns" and "valedictorians" both have the same drive to be noticed, one is easier though, and one is socially acceptable.

Read this quote today while studying lucid dreaming (I research LDing every day):
"sleep deprivation is an illegal torture method outlawed by the Geneva Conventions.
Need another motivation to get more sleep?"

I thought it was pretty funny and a good point

Originally Posted by BrandonBoss

Read this quote today while studying lucid dreaming (I research LDing every day):
"sleep deprivation is an illegal torture method outlawed by the Geneva Conventions.
Need another motivation to get more sleep?"

That just makes this whole thing even funnier.

I've been following this thread, and I'm a little confused. There seems to be much ado about nothing going on here.

Isn't 100 hours a relatively safe amount of time to go without sleep? That's all of 4 days. I think I was awake almost that long during at least one finals week (and at least one party week after finals), and I think 100 hours is likely topped by truckers, soldiers, sailors, first-year doctors, apparently p.o.w.'s, and many others quite often. Isn't the record like, 11 days (and that guy was fine afterward)? Yes, it might bring on some hallucinations or some other neural interruption, but nothing permanent or terribly serious; nothing a good night's sleep might cure.

I think there might me a bit too much lecturing going on here; I personally don't think Signet is taking all that much of a risk. Though I still have no idea how sleep deprivation will help his problems (sounds like solving the problem of a hole in the yard by digging deeper), it likely won't do much harm to try and maybe we'll see some interesting posts from him as the 100th hour approaches. You might want to ease up on the righteousness guys, at least until Signet decides to go for 300 hours.

But that's not why I'm posting:

Originally Posted by Signet

I have gotten some sleep lately but like I said... life is still screwy.

Does this mean the challenge is over?

Originally Posted by Sageous

I've been following this thread, and I'm a little confused. There seems to be much ado about nothing going on here.

Isn't 100 hours a relatively safe amount of time to go without sleep? That's all of 4 days. I think I was awake almost that long during at least one finals week (and at least one party week after finals), and I think 100 hours is likely topped by truckers, soldiers, sailors, first-year doctors, apparently p.o.w.'s, and many others quite often. Isn't the record like, 11 days (and that guy was fine afterward)? Yes, it might bring on some hallucinations or some other neural interruption, but nothing permanent or terribly serious; nothing a good night's sleep might cure.

I think there might me a bit too much lecturing going on here; I personally don't think Signet is taking all that much of a risk. Though I still have no idea how sleep deprivation will help his problems (sounds like solving the problem of a hole in the yard by digging deeper), it likely won't do much harm to try and maybe we'll see some interesting posts from him as the 100th hour approaches. You might want to ease up on the righteousness guys, at least until Signet decides to go for 300 hours.

But that's not why I'm posting:



Does this mean the challenge is over?

I don't understand how someone could be awake for 11 days lolz .... when I am awake for only one or two days without a sleep and I accidentally lay down I instantly fall asleep lol

anyway I am not here to be awake but for dreaming and lucid dreaming

Originally Posted by Karloky

anyway I am not here to be awake but for dreaming and lucid dreaming

That's seems a good point, but it also flags the reason I've been following this thread: lucidity is about being awake during a dream, which is more counter-intuitive to me than staying awake for 100 hours. However, since both efforts are basically the same -- maintaining waking-life self-awareness in spite of your body's interest in cancelling it with sleep -- a lucid dreamer attempting to stay awake might experience things a little differently than others might, and if that happens I was hoping that Signet would share, even if what he finds has nothing to do with his overall goals. It could have been some enlightening stuff.

Unfortunately, he may have soured on sharing his progress, given the censure he's been handed -- which is why I suggested that 100 hours is not that long a time to do without sleep (yes, 264 hours is an unimaginable time, I agree, but Signet isn't going for the record here). I don't blame him.

Originally Posted by Sageous

I've been following this thread, and I'm a little confused. There seems to be much ado about nothing going on here.

Isn't 100 hours a relatively safe amount of time to go without sleep? That's all of 4 days. I think I was awake almost that long during at least one finals week (and at least one party week after finals), and I think 100 hours is likely topped by truckers, soldiers, sailors, first-year doctors, apparently p.o.w.'s, and many others quite often. Isn't the record like, 11 days (and that guy was fine afterward)? Yes, it might bring on some hallucinations or some other neural interruption, but nothing permanent or terribly serious; nothing a good night's sleep might cure.

Nope, pretty much everything I've ever read has always pointed that sleep is absolutely beneficial except in a select few. We're not talking about taking years of your expected life (or even the same amount of damage nicotine or processed food might cause). Sleep deprivation is bad, it's not terrible but there is no need to put yourself through it. Unless signet is suffering from fatal insomnia, there is nothing stopping him from sleeping a short amount every few days (it's pretty much impossible to go without sleep unless you have a serious disorder, a lot of insomniacs suffer from micro-sleep sessions and they often don't even know).

It's almost certain that there would be lasting repercussions from extended sleep deprivation. Think about it, sleep plays a large role in restoring both physiological and mental functions, in the day time the aminergic system is activated which is said to play a major part in bodily functions like thermo-regulation and metabolism, and in the night time the acetylcholine system is activated which restores mental function, consolidates memories and weakens unnecessary synapses to preserve memory. This at first sounds fairly innocent but if you investigate it you can see a whole heap of things that immediately start screwing up.
By not sleeping, you are never giving the aminergic system a rest. The bodies cells never get a chance to go dormant and stop working, your body drops in temperature because your thermo-regulation starts to slowly fail. Since your neurons are constantly on in unnatural amounts of serotonin they start to lose their sensitivity.
Brain cells can't be repaired because the high metabolic activity causes the enzymes in your body to break down. Stress hormones are increased while growth hormones are decreased stopping the production of new brain cells etc etc

Interestingly sleep deprivation can help alleviate depression temporarily, since the serotonin levels in the brain are higher it simulates the effects of common SSRI anti depressants. The downside is that your cognitive functions are severely impaired even after a single sleepless night, probably leading you to make much more irrational decision. Even worse is that you suffer the side effects of sleep deprivation right afterwards which probably indirectly affects stress and depression.

I'm no neuroscientist but I've read a lot on the subject lately and it becomes quite clear just how essential sleep can be. Maybe your right that three or four days isn't enough to do any serious harm, it certainly isn't beneficial that much is clear.

^^ Agreed on all points, no question, no argument.

However, my point was that Signet's 4-day experiment does not seem to amount to "extended sleep deprivation." Indeed, it doesn't even seem close.

If Signet were going for 300 hours, or perhaps trying to sleep only, say, two hours per week on an ongoing permanent basis, then I would have chimed right in alongside you, saying very similar things. But he's not. Indeed, if this 100 hour test is a one-time event, I can't see it doing much harm at all -- on its own, anyway (Signet's other issues could cause unwelcome side-effects, and he should be prepared for that, as I assume he is).

Did I misunderstand something? Is Signet actually trying to do without sleep altogether? If that's the case, then my post, and opinion, would be pretty much wrong.

Originally Posted by Sageous

That's seems a good point, but it also flags the reason I've been following this thread: lucidity is about being awake during a dream, which is more counter-intuitive to me than staying awake for 100 hours. However, since both efforts are basically the same -- maintaining waking-life self-awareness in spite of your body's interest in cancelling it with sleep -- a lucid dreamer attempting to stay awake might experience things a little differently than others might, and if that happens I was hoping that Signet would share, even if what he finds has nothing to do with his overall goals. It could have been some enlightening stuff.

Unfortunately, he may have soured on sharing his progress, given the censure he's been handed -- which is why I suggested that 100 hours is not that long a time to do without sleep (yes, 264 hours is an unimaginable time, I agree, but Signet isn't going for the record here). I don't blame him.

well it is staying awake but not exhausting your body...... it about your mind staying awake while sleeping....and if you get exhausted I think there is not a chance you maintain normal mental and physical functions and it could be even harder to focus on anything etc. I think it would be easier to lucid dream or anything when you are fully rested and get a nice amount of sleep like for 7 to 8 hours..... when I am tired I don't have any dream recall when I used to sleep for about 6 hours sometime 5 or less in some period.... I didn't have any dream recall till I didn't rest a little... so I think sleep and rest is very important for what we tend to achieve here as well as for our normal life...

^^ All true. However, I wasn't saying that sleep dep and LD'ing were the same thing.

As you clearly described, they are not at all. It is the necessity in both pursuits to maintain waking-life self-awareness that is essentially the same, even if physical conditions are dramatically different. A person well-versed in LD'ing might have a unique ability to maintain their self-awareness during the throes of sleep dep, and perhaps also a unique point of view for interpreting their experience. Plus, an accomplished LD'er might have an advantage in dealing with the negative effects of sleep dep.

Yes, different things, but in the end it's all about staying self-aware when it is not meant to be present.

... just sayin'!

Sageous, given how long ago this thread was started, this is certainly not a one time experiment.

Signet, how often do you do this experiment? How many times have you done this?