The sleep paradox: why do humans sleep so little when we need it so much? By Nathaniel J. Dominy

The sleep paradox: why do humans sleep so little when we need it so much? A new book brings together ethnography, neurobiology and primatology to argue that how much our species sleeps is an evolutionary trade-off, with lessons for how each of us can sleep better. By Nathaniel J. Dominy https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01478-9?utm_source=Live+Audience&utm_campaign=677edada85-nature-briefing-daily-20260511&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-33f35e09ea-50432164 Why humans sleep so little On the basis of the sleeping habits of closely related animals, biological anthropologist David Samson estimates that humans require roughly 2.5 hours more sleep than we tend to get each day. This “human sleep paradox” is the focus of his book, The Sleepless Ape. Using ethnography, neurobiology and primatology, Samson argues that the amount of sleep our species gets reflects an evolutionary trade-off. Short, high-quality bouts of sleep helped our ground-sleeping ancestors to stay alert to predators, with the bonus of more waking hours for social interaction and learning — something that reshaped the trajectory of our evolution.