In the primate family, chimpanzees sleep an average of 9.5 hours a day, tamarins 13 hours and even monkeys 17 hours at night. Well, what science accepts in the primate family Why do humans sleep less than monkeys or chimpanzees? Let’s look at the ideas of the scientific world in search of the answer to this question.

While sleep is known to be essential for our immunity, memory and all our other health problems, research by evolutionary anthropologist David Samson of the University of Toronto Mississauga has found an alternative answer to why humans sleep less than other primates. To find the answer, the most suitable evidence can be found’contemporary non-industrial societies‘ was investigated.

Humans may have adapted over time to sleep less

As part of his work, Samson has studied several human populations in places such as Madagascar and Guatemala, as well as Hadza hunter-gatherers in Tanzania. With the research he published in 2018, it is the deepest sleep state of humans over time. reduces non-REM sleep time showed. In research published in 2021, he presented a hypothesis as to why this was necessary.

In research published in the Annual Review of Anthropology, Samson found that human sleep shortened for security reasons. suggested. Because, unlike primates, humans slept on the ground, not in trees. While some people who stay in the small shelters sleep, some are be wary of predators in front of kept watch.

But the difference between primates has not yet been fully explained:

Queen’s University evolutionary ecologist Isabella Capellini also expressed her agreement with this idea. Capellini in his research in 2008 in danger of prey mammals revealed that he slept less on average. But Capellini said people sleep He disagrees that it’s all so different from primates.

The main reason Capellini is against Samson is that primate sleep time is usually: with the investigations of the prisoners due to compilation. The ecologist says there is no clear information yet about how long animals sleep in the wild. On the other hand, he states that captive animals may sleep less because they are under stress or sleep more because they are just bored.

So why humans sleep less than primates is still debated. To end this discussion, it is necessary to research primates in the wild. that further research is needed emphasis is placed. So, how much sleep do we actually want as individuals?

Let’s get over everything, are we getting enough sleep?

In his 2017 study of the Hadza people, who now live according to primitive methods, David Samson asked 37 people how they felt about their sleep. 35 out of 37 people answered this question. have slept ‘enough’ gave the answer. The average sleep time in this population is 6.25 am had been measured. But the total time spent in bed with constant waking was over 9 hours.

In a 2016 study conducted in Chicago with 500 participants, the amount of time people spent in bed was equal to the amount of sleep they spent in total. that you sleep at least as much as the Hadza people had revealed. Another survey conducted in 2020 found that 87% of adults in the U.S. showed that he felt ‘restless’ for at least one day.

So why was this disorder and lack of sleep caused? Samson and his colleague Gandhi Yetish of the University of California are the cause of our sleep problems. stress and disorganized biological clock tied up. In addition, Samson suggested as an alternative reason that today’s order is a test of our habit, since in primitive times we slept together as a community.