I’ve been diving deep into the science of circadian rhythm for the book I’m writing with my sister. I’ve always thought this was a relatively frivolous concept, but this opinion has dramatically changed:
Humans have evolved for millions of years, but we have only had lightbulbs for 140.
Over these millions of years, a rhythm has been coded into our cells – highly tied to the sun. It was pitch dark when the sun went down, and we went to sleep. This is how we evolved and why our bodies run on a 24-hour clock.
Railroads were popularized just 120 years ago. Air travel was just 65 years ago, so the idea of people traveling out of their time zone is new. 99.99% of humans who lived on this earth went to bed simultaneously in a similar geographic location throughout their lives.
We have systematically decimated the schedule that the miraculous machines of our bodies are encoded to run on – and then throw up our hands in confusion as to the reasons why so many people experience fatigue, insomnia, brain fog, sluggishness, or anxiety.
I’m not suggesting we go back to the stone age and ban artificial light or phone screens. For that matter, I’m not suggesting we ban all drugs. But I think we as a society step back and appreciate how evolutionarily disruptive these inventions are… how important our evolutionarily ingrained circadian rhythms are to our health and happiness.
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Calley Means 