Why do we sleep? | Russell Foster 

Sleep is the most important part of life. As someone who has been doing it properly for a few months now, i can guarantee to anyone that its the easiest and most efficient way to becoming happier and healthier, in all aspects of life.

Everything a TED talk should be. Erudite, entertaining and eloquent.

Watching this at 2am lol

As a construction worker, waking up between 3-5am is completely normal. Addiction is a huge issue in this field of work. This talk is really making me wonder if lack of sleep is one of the most underlying issues. P.S. I have to up for work in 5 hours lol

This is what I call a TED talk - informative, structured, entertaining.

who watches Ted talks before they sleep ?

It's always so impressive when a speaker does not continually have to refer to notes all the time. That means they know their stuff... thank you for this very informative video!

Iv'e said for years that sleep is incredibly important and that A LOT of our problems stem from how busy our lives have become. We also work too much, many work WAY too much. We did not evolve to be this way! We did not evolve to spend our days toiling in mediocrity. People wonder why some folks snap... place them in a cubicle they hate for 8-12 hours a day and watch how fast a percentage of them fall apart! Some areas in the world the work week and hours per day have been shortened. I TRULY believe that going forward as a species, we need to reduce our work hours and improve our sleep. Essentially we should focus on doing more quality work, more resourcefully, while trimming the fat! Perhaps less of the monotonous work and more fulfilling to create less stress and depression within our bodies. (Think Star Trek for example, work isn't for monetary gain but for social status, most basic needs are free) Perhaps as our tech advances we will be able to achieve this. But it could also swing radically in the opposite direction if we continue to deplete our Earths resources and throw off the balance of the ecosystem. Only time will tell.

"TEENAGERS ARE NOT LAZY" like honey for my ears... I knew it😏

Great presentation, really good advice. Sleep is more than rest for the body and brain. The brain works all night, figuring out things from the day before. When faced with a big decision, often the best thing to do is "sleep on it," and the answer will come in the morning. I have heard of scientists working on complicated problems for months, and the answer comes to them in a dream.

That was one of the best TED Talks I've heard. It seems like so many presenters are talking but nothing is being said. This guy was on point every single sentence and it resonated immensely!

one of the very few ted talks that has "wowed" me throughout the whole time. I mean the majority of ted talks is great, but talks like this one I consider the icing on the cake. Great job Mr Foster!

That is why i take naps and go to sleep when i need to. Not getting enough sleep is a terrible feeling. It makes me not want to be productive i just lay in my bed the whole day.

Wow! One of the most informative talks on TED! So much to learn, and I'm glad I almost always sleep very well, albeit pretty long. Much obliged, Professor Forster.

Watching this while drinking caffeine in a well lit room at 2:30 AM

As an inventor I have been aware of the connection between sleep and problem solving for many years. I consume the essential elements of a problem when awake and then "sleep on it". By consciously engaging in this process I have been able to consistently arrive at answers to problems that escaped intense deliberate cogitation. I was also fortunate enough to retire at age 55. I haven't used an alarm clock for years and get up in the morning when I damn well feel like it.

Fascinating. As a depression-sufferer from a family of mentally ill, the information you offer is eye-opening. Thank you.

I think of wakefulness as a necessary evil. Sleep is the natural state. Ask any cat.

Ironically, I'm currently watching this video when I should be sleeping haha

This is perhaps the best talk I've ever seen on the internet. Finding this gem makes social media worth it.

Mr. Foster really delivered a well constructed and instructive talk! I very much enjoyed it!

TED is finally getting better at showing the charts.

Lots of information packed in a single 20 min video. That's what we need

Thank you so much Russel and TED. I slept very poorly for the last 30 years. It is truly a daily fight to get some good hours of sleep. Good luck to you all.

This videos reveals how important sleep is for us. We have come to know a lot of reasons why we need sleep and what are the consequences of an inadequate sleep. Inspite of this if we think actually what happens to our body that we sleep and why we cannot control sleep, we find no answers.

I worked 12 hour night shifts for nearly 4 years. Have always been a night owl and my body didn't resist very much trying to sleep during the day. The problem was all the loud people during the day. People cutting grass, honking horns, construction...and during the summer children running around screaming constantly. I miss my night shift (and the $8/hr shift differential!) but it does feel nice to be up and awake when the rest of the world is now.

The professor is way more eloquent and his content is absolutely to wow on! Amazingly explained!

Fantastic, eloquently delivered.

This video is depriving me of sleep

We sleep so we can download the universe update. thats why when you dont sleep, your consciousness starts to break down and senses start misfiring. Gotta get that update bro.

Been watching TED talks for a while now but. Hurray! for this one. Thank you Sr. Greetings from El Sañvador.

This guy is awesone, love his approach and demeanor.

He is so adorable😭

Watching this at 5am... I haven't been to bed yet :(

What a charming man. Seems to be really witty and warm at heart. I'd love to have him in the family, as an uncle or something.

This was GREAT & very informative. You had my attention and thank you Mr. Russell Foster for this clip and presentation.

People say I look very young for my age and at 40 I appreciate this and have always attributed to my respect for proper sleep, a respect I learned in the military due to the misery and downright violent behavior I displayed after going long periods with little or no sleep

I'm watching this at 2 in the morning

This is how ted talks should be... I’ve seen the quality go way down. Excellent speaker. Great visuals and well laid out. A+

What an excellent and thought provoking presentation!

very informative, thanks for rejecting the philosophy of early to bed early to rise ;) and the quote at the last was amazing

Great talk. It'd be interesting to hear if there is any science about afternoon naps. Like whether it's better to nap in the middle of the day or try to stay awake and then go to bed earlier.

This talk was outstanding. Very much appreciated.

Hvala za Srpski prevod.Super ste.

I use to work 10:30 Pm to 8-9:00 Am as a shelf stocker at a local grocery store. While doing that work I also attended the local community college. Needless to say it didn't go well. I was forced to decide between sleep and homework/studying. I only managed to pass 3 out of 4 classes, chemistry being the one I failed to complete because so much studying was required and I just fell behind. I have since quit that job and continue to take classes and quitting that job was one of the best decisions I've made in some time.

Watching this video in 2019. I recently watched Matt Walker's TED talk, as well -- and yikes! Both are great and really get me (well, scared to be honest) thinking. I think we need a follow up TED talk about not just how to get to sleep (e.g.cool temperature -- which literally never works for me BTW -- dark room, no lights before bedtime, etc.) because the scope of the problem is so much bigger. "No tech 30 minutes before bedtime " is not typically an option for me.... when I am often falling asleep in bed, on my couch, or at my desk, doing work for classes or my job at my computer or on my phone. What about those of us who take our jobs home with us and have professional development we are required to maintain? Our education and our work never ends. What about parents? Their jobs never end. How can these people possibly get enough sleep? It's not as simple as turning out the lights and creating that perfect environment, even though we know we need 8 ish hours (plus or minus). How are we supposed to get all of our responsibilities done AND get adequate sleep....? Both are just not possible in today's society, unfortunately. I think that's the larger problem we need to address.

Great presentation.Strongly agree with tha man.I sleep 9 -10h every night,work 6h -5days a week (hate to work) and the rest is for pleasure.Feeling great,happy and don't care about little things.

Great talk. I needed reminding of that. Thank you.

"Sleep is for the weak" -Patrick Starfish from Spongebob Squarepants

Sleep is probably my favorite thing to do

I'm watching this falling asleep and those cuts to the bright white diagrams are blasting my eyes. Can't even look at them. Well heck.

This TED talk is an eye-opener.

Now makes sense why most of the people act really stupid, 5 hrs of sleep, alcohol and tabaco. In third world countries like Mexico the 50 hrs shift per week is really bad because they want you work more but in reality you do less since most of the time you think about sleeping and actually not being there.

Reality is a nice place to visit but I wouldnt want to live there 24/7 - yay sleep.

Russel, i'm from Brazil and here we have a man stoic and compromissed to human desenvolviment neurocientist called Eslen Delanogare. A podcast with you and him can be a divisor of waters for most of us who knows how great can be our lifes with balance. Amazing TED! Informative and Entertaining.. Come to Brazil

brilliant speech thank you so much dr foster

ought to watch this through the end but as suggested I better off to sleep since it's 2am now...

What a great thing to watch at 12:30 to then sleep 6 hours and realize I should have slept longer.

some great points and spoken very well

What a wonderfully charming way of teaching.

Reminds me of Stephen Fry for some reason!

I blame the high demand either Work , School , Social or technology. too much of either one of them or more will reduce sleep. for me personally i spend to much time on technology :/

Incredibly informative!

Great presentation... in fact so great I fell asleep towards the end, I just couldn't help it lol

1,798,000th subscriber!

"Sleep. Those little slices of death. How I loathe them." ~ Edgar Allan Poe

Odlično predavanje. Izvedela sem ogromno informacij ki mi bodo pomagale v naprej. :) Pozdravi iz Slovenije :)

thank you so much wonderful talk

I say every morning when i go into work. "Why am i here again, I was having such a good dream... Ah well back to this one"

I've been testing out sleep deprivation several days on, quite interesting how the body reacts. Watching your lucid dreams unfold before you in wake life, quite weird at times when you are in a drunken type of haze. Breaking 10 days, now thats hard. You'll start seeing what the matrix is.

I LOVE sleep!! It is one of my favorite of the basic needs. Eating is also top notch pass time. But sleep, that's the best. Oh, & taking a big dump in the morning. That is like the trophy for having a good nights sleep.

Wow did not expect a Jim Butcher reference in a TED talk... awesome!

Wow, nearly fell asleep watching this, he did a good job.

@15:06 “what’s the last thing most of us do before going to bed?” I dont want to say,...........................but it rhymes with tank!!!!

Up at 2 watching this when I have to wake up at 9 (not so bad). Foster's over-all presentation is just great; of course the content, but also his stage-presence. "This is donated by a social-scientist, and they said they didn't know what it was and indeed how to use it," fucking perfect.

Listening to Ted talks about things like this make me feel good.

I can't sleep at night, I am actually afraid to go to bed at night around 12pm ,because I know I am going to lay on bed twist and turn and couldn't fall asleep until 3 or 4am and wasting my time worrying about my future, will I be rich, can I keep my job,can I achieve my dreams, can I have a better relationship.... etc. then I am extremely tired when I wake up 7 am to go to work and face the unfriendly busy dirty busy dirty traffic mean cheap pollution environment no hope world ,no friends, no one I like ,no loved ones, no support world, no one I have common interest world , this thing have been troubling me for 10 years, I am afraid to go to doctor, cause I am afraid if the doctor can't solve this problem for me who is going to help me. I am watching this 2 am at night, cause I can't sleep.

Watching at 6 am. I need to sleep or I'll go crazy very soon.

excellent talk thanks for sharing

thank you for your advice.

Dang I need to watch this for a quiz tomorrow and here I am dozing off

In some special operations courses I've seen where I work, after three days of sleep deprivation, people start to have hallucinations. Dangerous hallucinations.

podrian traducir los demas videos de Russell foster, se los agradecería bastante!!

In the early eighties when I was a young adult I could not pay my electric bill and spent 2 months without electricity. I began to go to sleep at dusk and awake shortly before sunrise every day. That was almost the only time in my life I slept so perfectly. Although as a small child I had very good sleeping habits that changed. The stability in my life in general was also disrupted. I went from top of class to bottom. I did not sleep properly and it affected my life in profound ways. I have learned to manage myself a bit. But I still do not sleep properly much of the time. I believe it is due to a combination of a rebellious nature, life instability and finally the stress of working odd hours because my position does not allow for selective work hours. I am thankful just to be employed.

The irony of the fact that I'm watching this whilst very sleep deprived, haven't slept all night in the past two days :/

why are we watching this late night XD

I'm so glad I watched this before midnight. In fact I finished watching it at 9:55 p.m. Good night.

Well it all make sense now !! Thanks for the very interesting talk

I should be sleeping but I find this too interesting. Oh the irony.

Oh the Irony of watching this video at 3:00am!!

I love this video! It helped and helps me better understand the importance of sleep.

Interesting stuff. I often wake up on my own, BUT I'm always eager to see the time to see how much MORE time I have to sleep. Even when I do get 8-9 hours, I always want more.

We get less sleep partly due to the Greed of people and because of this a vast majority of stores and bushiness require late shifts messing with sleep.

luckily I wake up before my alarm has a chance to go of and I almost always have because the sun wakes me earlier.

learning from tedtalk enlightens my knowledge and vision. Thanks

God bless you again. I could nev get up for school and wasnt happy til i worked second shift.

Watching this after being awake for 24 hours. lol

There is a sad thing about the sugestion given by this man. As i do believe what he is saying, in this world for a lot of people you need to work so much to pay the bills. The government a long time ago calculated how much time a person can work in a given day but have just enough time for enjoyment. How can you get enough sleep?

This is REALLY IMPORTANT. Especially what he said about the link between patterns of sleep disruption and mental illness. Sleepwalking in early life can be a precursor to later disorders. Metaphysical. 📿+🔬

well presented and an ideal representation of what ted talk should be like