Sweet dreams are made of this

I’ve read several books​ ​about​ ​sleep recently,​ ​and​ ​their​ ​authors​ ​all​ ​tell​ ​me​ ​the same​ ​three​ ​things.​ ​The​ ​first​ ​is​ ​that,​ ​in​ ​the modern​ ​world,​ ​it’s​ ​hard​ ​to​ ​get​ ​enough sleep.​ ​The​ ​second​ ​is​ ​that​ ​sleep​ ​is​ ​very important.​ ​Every​ ​night,​ ​we​ ​pass​ ​out.​ ​Every morning,​ ​we​ ​regain​ ​consciousness, half aware​ ​that​ ​time​ ​has​ ​passed.​ ​For​ ​a moment,​ ​we​ ​might​ ​have​ ​the​ ​impression we’ve​ ​just​ ​been​ ​flying​ ​through​ ​the​ ​air,​ ​or that​ ​we’re​ ​about​ ​to​ ​be​ ​executed.​ ​The whole​ ​thing​ ​is​ ​totally​ ​weird.​ ​That’s​ ​the​ ​third thing.

Before​ ​I​ ​get​ ​into​ ​the​ ​weirdness,​ ​I’ll​ ​say something​ ​about​ ​the​ ​importance​ ​of​ ​sleep. Authors​ ​tend​ ​to​ ​think​ ​that​ ​what​ ​they’re writing​ ​about​ ​is​ ​important.​ ​But​ ​sleep authors​ ​are​ ​a​ ​breed​ ​apart.​ ​They’re​ ​like sleep​ ​salesmen.​ ​And​ ​I’ve​ ​never​ ​come across​ ​a​ ​sleep​ ​salesman​ ​quite​ ​as dedicated​ ​as​ ​Matthew​ ​Walker.​ ​An Englishman,​ ​he​ ​is​ ​the​ ​director​ ​of​ ​the sleep​ ​and​ ​neuroimaging​ ​laboratory​ ​at the​ ​University​ ​of​ ​California,​ ​Berkeley.​