Last week William Deresiewicz gave a talk about the the disadvantages of elite universities and on the flaws in the current college admissions process. His essay titled, "The Disadvantages an Elite Education" despite many generalizations really spoke to me ut when he was speaking to my class his discussion of the flaws of the college admissons process seemed more reasonable and more connected to my life.
Deresiewicz talked about the lack of free time and the need to stack extra curriculars and extremely time consuming AP classes to get into the elite institutions of today's university system in the United States. He talked about this need for free time but what he never mentioned was the need for sleep. The National Sleep Foundation says that for a teenage mind to stay active and healthy many people need 9 hours and 15 minutes of sleep and some can properly function with 8 hours 30 minutes. I can't speak for my classmates but I don't remember the last time I got close to 8 hours on a school night while still completing my homework and going to extra-curriculars. Even on weekends I find myself loosing sleep because I have such a strict structured schedule.
Deresiewicz talks about mental health being sacrificed, about free time and fufillment of life being sacraficed, about social time being sacraficed, but does he spend enough time talking about the sacrifice of sleep and the dangerous conditions it can cause. In an article in Time Magazine titled "The Power of Sleep" the issue of sleep deprivation and the benefit of a good nights rest is explored. The article talk about what the brain is doing while asleep--things like maitaining hormone balance and cleaning the brain of toxins that can build up without rest. The question I ask is do we value these education programs that are supposed to make us better thinkers over the health of the brain itself?
That question is a bit confusing. It almost sounds like you are assuming that the brain is damaged if you don't get enough sleep. One of the negative effects of sleep deprivation is that your brain may not have fully processed information and did not create functional memories. Another is that you may feel a bit sluggish and think a lot slower. Your brain isn't going to get hurt in any way, but the idea of a "healthy brain" can mean a lot of things. Let me pick your brain, what do you think "a healthy brain" means?
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