One potenÂtial drawÂback of genius, it seems, is restÂlessÂness, a mind perÂpetÂuÂalÂly on the move. Of course, this is what makes many celÂeÂbratÂed thinkers and artists so proÂducÂtive. That and the extra hours some gain by sacÂriÂficÂing sleep. Voltaire reportÂedÂly drank up to 50 cups of cofÂfee a day, and seems to have sufÂfered no parÂticÂuÂlarÂly ill effects. Balzac did the same, and died at 51. The cafÂfeine may have had someÂthing to do with it. Both Socrates and Samuel JohnÂson believed that sleep is wastÂed time, and “so for years has thought grey-haired Richard BuckÂminÂster Fuller,” wrote Time magÂaÂzine in 1943, “futuÂrifÂic invenÂtor of the DymaxÂion house, the DymaxÂion car and the DymaxÂion globe.”
EngiÂneer and visionÂary Fuller intendÂed his “DymaxÂion” brand to revÂoÂluÂtionÂize every aspect of human life, or—in the now-slightÂly-datÂed parÂlance of our obsesÂsion with all things hacking—he engiÂneered a series of radÂiÂcal “lifeÂhacks.” GivÂen his views on sleep, that seemÂingÂly essenÂtial activÂiÂty also received a DymaxÂion upgrade, the tradeÂmarked name comÂbinÂing “dynamÂic,” “maxÂiÂmum,” and “tenÂsion.” “Two hours of sleep a day,” Fuller announced, “is plenÂty.” Did he conÂsult with speÂcialÂists? MedÂical docÂtors? BiolÂoÂgists? NothÂing as dull as that. He did what many a mad sciÂenÂtist does in the movies. (In the search, as VinÂcent Price says at the end of The Fly, “for the truth.”) He cooked up a theÂoÂry, and testÂed it on himÂself.
“Fuller,” Time reportÂed, “reaÂsoned that man has a priÂmaÂry store of enerÂgy, quickÂly replenÂished, and a secÂondary reserve (secÂond wind) that takes longer to restore.” He hypothÂeÂsized that we would need less sleep if we stopped to take a nap at “the first sign of fatigue.” Fuller trained himÂself to do just that, forÂgoÂing the typÂiÂcal eight hours, more or less, most of us get per night. He found—as have many artists and researchers over the years—that “after a half-hour nap he was comÂpleteÂly refreshed.” Naps every six hours allowed him to shrink his total sleep per 24-hour periÂod to two hours. Did he, like the 50s mad sciÂenÂtist, become a tragÂic vicÂtim of his own experÂiÂment?
No danÂger of mergÂing him with a fly or turnÂing him invisÂiÂble. The experiment’s failÂure may have meant a day in bed catchÂing up on lost sleep. Instead, Fuller kept up it for two full years, 1932 and 1933, and reportÂed feelÂing in “the most vigÂorÂous and alert conÂdiÂtion that I have ever enjoyed.” He might have slept two hours a day in 30 minute increÂments indefÂiÂniteÂly, Time sugÂgests, but found that his “busiÂness assoÂciates… insistÂed on sleepÂing like othÂer men,” and wouldn’t adapt to his eccenÂtric schedÂule, though some not for lack of tryÂing. In his book BuckÂyÂWorks J. BaldÂwin claims, “I can perÂsonÂalÂly attest that many of his younger colÂleagues and stuÂdents could not keep up with him. He nevÂer seemed to tire.”
A research orgaÂniÂzaÂtion looked into the sleep sysÂtem and “notÂed that not everyÂone was able to train themÂselves to sleep on comÂmand.” The point may seem obviÂous to the sigÂnifÂiÂcant numÂber of peoÂple who sufÂfer from insomÂnia. “Bucky disÂconÂcertÂed observers,” BaldÂwin writes, “by going to sleep in thirÂty secÂonds, as if he had thrown an Off switch in his head. It hapÂpened so quickÂly that it looked like he had had a seizure.” BuckÂminÂster Fuller was undoubtÂedÂly an unusuÂal human, but human all the same. Time reportÂed that “most sleep invesÂtiÂgaÂtors agree that the first hours of sleep are the soundÂest.” A ColÂgate UniÂverÂsiÂty researcher at the time disÂcovÂered that “peoÂple awakÂened after four hours’ sleep were just as alert, well-coorÂdiÂnatÂed physÂiÂcalÂly and resisÂtant to fatigue” as those who slept the full eight.
Sleep research since the forÂties has made a numÂber of othÂer findÂings about variÂable sleep schedÂules among humans, studyÂing shift workÂers’ sleep and the so-called “biphaÂsic” patÂtern comÂmon in culÂtures with very late bedÂtimes and siesÂtas in the midÂdle of the day. The sucÂcess of this sleep rhythm “conÂtraÂdicts the norÂmal idea of a monophaÂsic sleepÂing schedÂule,” writes Evan MurÂray at MIT’s CulÂture Shock, “in which all our time asleep is lumped into one block.” BiphaÂsic sleep results in six or sevÂen hours of sleep rather than the sevÂen to nine of monophaÂsic sleepÂers. PolyphaÂsic sleepÂing, howÂevÂer, the kind pioÂneered by Fuller, seems to genÂuineÂly result in even less needÂed sleep for many. It’s an idea that’s only become wideÂspread “withÂin roughÂly the last decade,” MurÂray notÂed in 2009. He points to the redisÂcovÂery, withÂout any clear indebtÂedÂness, of Fuller’s DymaxÂion sysÂtem by colÂlege stuÂdent Maria Staver, who named her method “UberÂman,” in honÂor of NietÂzsche, and spread its popÂuÂlarÂiÂty through a blog and a book.
MurÂray also reports on anothÂer blogÂger, Steve PavliÂna, who conÂductÂed the experÂiÂment on himÂself and found that “over a periÂod of 5 1/2 months, he was sucÂcessÂful in adaptÂing comÂpleteÂly,” reapÂing the benÂeÂfits of increased proÂducÂtivÂiÂty. But like Fuller, PavliÂna gave it up, not for “health reaÂsons,” but because, he wrote, “the rest of the world is monophaÂsic” or close to it. Our long block of sleep apparÂentÂly conÂtains a good deal of “wastÂed tranÂsiÂtion time” before we arrive at the necÂesÂsary REM state. PolyphaÂsic sleep trains our brains to get to REM more quickÂly and effiÂcientÂly. For this reaÂson, writes MurÂray, “I believe it can work for everyÂone.” PerÂhaps it can, proÂvidÂed they are willÂing to bear the social cost of being out of sync with the rest of the world. But peoÂple likeÂly to pracÂtice DymaxÂion Sleep for sevÂerÂal months or years probÂaÂbly already are.
RelatÂed ConÂtent:
The PowÂer of PowÂer Naps: SalÂvador Dali TeachÂes You How Micro-Naps Can Give You CreÂative InspiÂraÂtion
Bertrand RusÂsell & BuckÂminÂster Fuller on Why We Should Work Less, and Live & Learn More
EveryÂthing I Know: 42 Hours of BuckÂminÂster Fuller’s VisionÂary LecÂtures Free Online (1975)
Josh Jones is a writer and musiÂcian based in Durham, NC. FolÂlow him at @jdmagness
