Bonus topic: people who sleep while cuddling are monsters. T/F?

The New Yorker just finished up a series on the science of sleep, suggesting that essentially, we’re all doing a terrible job of it.

According to the article, not getting enough quality sleep reduces our ability to do all kinds of things well — to the point where most people are never really operating at 100% — and even carries health risks long term.

So let’s say you have two solutions:

1) You can get an injection that permanently reduces the amount of sleep you need in a night by half. You’ll still sleep about as well as you do now, you can just get by with, say, 3.5 hours per night instead of 7.

2) You can take a pill once a week that allows you to fall asleep immediately whenever you decide to, and wake up feeling refreshed and alert. You can do this as many times per day as you prefer, so you could theoretically break up that sleep however is most efficient or practical for your schedule. But, you still need to get the same amount per day to keep from feeling tired, only now you can be sure that you’ll be fully recharged when you wake up.

Which way of sleeping would make your life easier, more productive or more satisfying?

If choosing less sleep, how would you use the extra time? What could you do that you couldn’t now?

If choosing better sleep, how would you schedule your day? How would it affect your daily life for the better?

Kids today think “basically, TV sucks”.

A bit of research from an AdAge article entitled “Televisions Are No Longer the Screen of Choice for Kids” suggests that interactivity is becoming a requirement for those brought up in the age of touchscreens.

According to a research report from Miner & Co. Studio, televisions are no longer the screen of choice for kids who have ready access to tablets and smartphones. More than half (57%) of parents surveyed said their children now prefer to watch video on a handheld device rather than on TV.

Mobile devices are so popular with kids that nearly half of the 800 parents quizzed by Miner & Co. reported that they confiscate their kids’ tablets when they act up and make them watch TV instead, thereby fostering a sort of Pavlovian response that equates TV with punishment. (That these parents simply don’t restrict their kids’ access to video altogether when they misbehave suggests that they’re raising a generation of spoiled content junkies, but that’s another story.)

Some kids are so obsessed with the small screen that they’ll even forego treats for another few minutes with their portable video device. When given the choice between spending quality time with the tablet or having dessert, 41% of the parents surveyed said their kids would pick the screen over the snack.

Is this unique to kids with low attention spans, and something they’ll grow out of, or a permanent generational shift?

What, if any, real benefits come from consuming video on a portable device vs a static television screen? Are there benefits to TV that are being lost?

What other side effects will come from kids growing up with touchscreen technology?

KISS has an army. do you?

From a profile by Chuck Klosterman on his favorite band, KISS:

“One thing I’ve learned in my life is that — creatively — it’s better to have one person love you than to have 10 people like you. It’s very easy to like someone’s work, and it doesn’t mean that much; you can like something for a year and just as easily forget it even existed. But people remember the things they love. They psychologically invest in those things, and they use them to define their lives.”

Is this true for individuals on a purely social level, or only when it comes to creators and their work?
Would you be happier with fewer “friends”, but more very close ones?
What kind of people, or in which situations, is the opposite actually true?