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The article explores the intersection of work, dreams, and societal structures in a dystopian future. It presents a disturbing scenario where technological advancements are used to exploit workers' unconscious minds for profit.
Work and Exploitation
- Overwork and Death: The text highlights the pervasive issue of overwork, leading to serious health consequences and even death. The term "karoshi" is introduced as a Japanese word for death from overwork.
- Dream Labor: The introduction of "dream-auditing" presents a chilling new form of exploitation, where workers' dreams are mined for information that can be used to improve productivity.
- Debt and Indentured Servitude: The characters are trapped in cycles of debt, forcing them to accept increasingly exploitative jobs to survive.
Dreams and Consciousness
- Dream Manipulation: The concept of "dream-auditing" raises ethical questions about the manipulation of individual consciousness and the potential for psychological harm.
- Loss of Self: The characters' immersion in their work, both waking and sleeping, leads to a loss of self and a sense of being consumed by the system.
Societal Structures
- Capitalism and Exploitation: The text critiques the capitalist system, which prioritizes profit over human well-being and perpetuates cycles of exploitation.
- Surveillance and Control: The use of technology to monitor and control workers' behavior, both waking and sleeping, reflects a pervasive surveillance culture.
- Loss of Agency: The characters' inability to resist the demands of their jobs and the societal structures that support them highlights a loss of agency and autonomy.
Conclusion
The text paints a disturbing picture of a future where technological advancements are used to further exploit workers and erode their humanity. It serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked capitalism and the importance of protecting individual rights and autonomy.
Now that she’s working from home, Kendra King takes an early afternoon nap on most days, typically for about 20 to 30 minutes.
“A lot of times, I don’t go in to take a nap, but instead to lay down and rest,” said King, a writer in Philadelphia. “Then I end up drifting off and wake up feeling energized and fresh to continue on my day.”
King didn’t realize she had settled naturally into the napping routine that sleep experts recommend. Or that researchers say short naps improve motor skills, enhance memory, and boost creativity, even though she has felt it.
“I’m definitely more creative after napping,” she said.
That’s because so-called power naps lasting less than 30 minutes allow the brain to rest in a way that makes you more alert, experts say. The naps are not so long that you slip into deeper sleep that would leave you groggy after waking up.
“We know it’s an easy, helpful way to quickly boost your alertness, your concentration, your productivity, your creativity, and your mood. It’s a royal flush,” said James Maas, who spent 48 years studying sleep as a Cornell University professor.
Where naps fit into the circadian rhythm
Maas, author of “Sleep for Success! Everything You Must Know About Sleep But Are Too Tired to Ask,” said nearly everyone experiences an afternoon lull in their energy. It comes down to the body’s circadian rhythm, which includes two periods of drowsiness every 24 hours, once at night and again between about 2 and 4 p.m.
In a typical night, people go through several 90-minute sleep cycles spread over five stages, from light to deep sleep, with the deepest falling toward the middle. Daytime sleep follows the same cycle, which is why Maas doesn’t recommend hour-long naps. Waking up from such deep sleep can take up to an hour to return to normal, thanks to what’s called sleep inertia.
Shorter naps only include stage-two sleep, which is particularly helpful for alertness and memory, said Sara Mednick, a sleep researcher at the University of California-Irvine.
“It’s like putting yourself into low-power mode just for a little bit and letting your body recuperate,” said Mednick, author of “Take a Nap! Change Your Life.”
Her research has found that naps work better than caffeine and a placebo to improve cognitive functioning. In fact, that afternoon cup of coffee is the least effective of all three.
“We showed better effects with the placebo on performance than with the caffeine,” she said. “So if you think you’re getting caffeine, you’re going to perform better than if you actually get caffeine.”
How to start
Find a quiet, dark, and cool space and set a timer for 15 or 20 minutes, which is a good starting point until you see how your body adjusts.
Even if you feel like you haven’t slept, you still get benefits, Mednick said. People don’t feel like they are asleep until they have reached deeper, slow-wave sleep in stage three.
“Your brain is still alerting you to the world around you when you’re in stage-two sleep,” she said. “But that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re not getting the benefits of sleep.”
Experts say short naps don’t interfere with nighttime sleep, as long as they’re not too late in the day. Aim for taking a nap around 6 or 7 hours after waking up, and try to nap at the same time every day.
Mednick recommended saving longer naps for the weekends, or when you have time to sleep a full 90 minutes. After about half an hour, you enter slow-wave sleep, which helps the body repair muscle tissue. REM, or rapid-eye movement, sleep comes at the end of the cycle; it’s associated with fanciful dreams and helps process emotions.
The only people who should avoid napping are those who have trouble sleeping at night, Maas said. Senior citizens in particular should be vigilant because they tend to nap for too long during the day.
Don’t like napping?
Mednick’s research also has shown that napping is not for everyone. About half the people she has tested didn’t get anything out of it.
“I’d say to those people who really don’t like to nap, ‘Listen to your body.’”