Nobody really ‘sleeps’, or really needs ‘sleep’; ‘sleep’ is a social construct

[ This is a work of _satire_, created in the (probably vain) hope that it might encourage more careful and nuanced discussions of certain topics. ]

‘Sleep’ isn't real. It's an idea created by humans.

Let's consider supposed types of ‘sleep’, described by words like ‘slumbering’, ‘napping’, or ‘dozing’. These words are created by humans, and the differences between them are created by humans; none of these things exist outside of humans talking about them. And this applies to any supposed type of ‘sleep’ - which means it applies to the idea of ‘sleep’ in general.

People disagree on whether or not a person is/was ‘sleeping’. One person sees another with their eyes closed, and breathing in a certain way, and will say “Oh, you're sleeping.” But the other person might subsequently claim that they weren't sleeping - that they merely had their eyes closed, that they were consciously regulating their breathing, that they chose not to respond to the first person's remark for various reasons. Clearly both were right in some sense, but since the two perspectives contradict each other, and can't both be physically true simultaneously, it must be that ‘sleep’ isn't real, but just an idea.

‘Sleep’ is like ‘money’: it's something that certainly has effects on people's lives, but only due to humans _acting_ as though it's real, even though it's not.

In fact, it's an oppressive concept: it's used to limit us, to control us. The insistence that ‘sleep’ is used to convince us that there is sometimes no choice but to be passive objects, rather than active subjects. For example, many workers and unions use it to try to hide their own laziness, and make it seem like such laziness is an inevitable part of being human, so that they don't have to compete with workers who aren't willing to let themselves be defined by such a limited concept.

We need to abolish ‘sleep’. It only serves to limit human capacity. We need to encourage people to resist the social constructs of ‘sleep’ being imposed upon them. ‘Sleep’ isn't part of being human. Nobody _needs_ ‘sleep’!

☙

🏷 politics,satire,sociology

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