The School of Life｜你最大的问题，也许只是睡眠不足

Your Biggest Problems Might Just Be Sleep Deprivation

To a surprising, and almost humiliating extent, some of the gravest problems we face during a day can be traced back to a brutally simple fact: that we have not had enough sleep the night before.

The idea sounds profoundly offensive. There are surely greater issues than tiredness. We are likely to be up against genuine hurdles: the economic situation, politics, problems at work, tensions in our relationship, the family…

These are true difficulties. But what we often fail to appreciate is the extent to which our ability to confront them with courage and resilience is dependent on a range of distinctly 'small' or 'low' factors: what our blood sugar level is like, when we last had a proper hug from someone, how much water we've drunk – and how many hours we've rested.

We tend to resist such analyses of our troubles. It can feel like an insult to our rational, adult dignity to think that our sense of gloom might in the end stem, centrally, from exhaustion. We'd sooner identify ourselves as up against an existential or socio-cultural crisis than see ourselves as sleep-deprived.

Yet we should be careful of under- but also of over-intellectualising. To be happy, we require large serious things (money, freedom, love), but we need a lot of semi-insultingly little things, too (a good diet, hugs, rest).

Anyone who has ever looked after babies knows this well. When life becomes too much for them, it's almost always because they are tired, thirsty or hungry. With this in mind, it should be no insult to insist that we never adopt a truly tragic stance until we've first investigated whether we need to have an orange juice or lie down for a while.

Probably as a hangover from childhood, 'staying up late' feels a little glamorous and even exciting; late at night is when (in theory) the most fascinating things happen. But in a wiser culture than our own, some of the most revered people in the land would – on a regular basis – be shown taking to bed early. There'd be competitions highlighting sensible bedtimes.

We'd be reminded of the pleasures of already being in bed when the last of the evening light still lingers in the sky. Our problems would not thereby disappear, but our strength to confront them would at points critically increase.

词汇表
sleep deprivation [ˌdeprɪˈveɪʃn] 睡眠不足，睡眠剥夺
humiliating [hjuːˈmɪlieɪtɪŋ] 丢脸的，羞辱性的
grave [ɡreɪv] 严重的，重大的
brutally simple [ˈbruːtəli] 极其简单的
profoundly [prəˈfaʊndli] 深刻地，极度地
offensive [ əˈfensɪv] 冒犯的，无礼的，令人不快的
be up against 面临，遭遇
hurdle [ˈhɜːdl] 障碍，困难
confront [kənˈfrʌnt] 面对，遭遇，对抗
resilience [rɪˈzɪliəns] 适应力，恢复力，韧性
be dependent on [dɪˈpendənt] 依赖，取决于
distinctly [dɪˈstɪŋktli] 明显地，清楚地
blood sugar level 血糖水平
insult [ˈɪnsʌlt] 侮辱，辱骂，冒犯
rational [ˈræʃnəl] 理性的，合理的
dignity [ˈdɪɡnəti] 尊严，自尊
gloom [ɡluːm] 忧郁，沮丧，阴暗
stem from [stem] 源于，由…造成
exhaustion [ɪɡˈzɔːstʃən] 疲惫，筋疲力尽
existential or socio-cultural crisis [ˌeɡzɪˈstenʃl][ˌsəʊsiəʊ] 存在主义或社会文化危机
sleep-deprived [dɪˈpraɪvd] 睡眠不足的，剥夺睡眠的
under-/over-intellectualising [ˌɪntəˈlektʃuəlaɪzɪŋ] 缺乏理智/过度理智化
insultingly [ˈɪnsʌltɪŋli] 侮辱地，冒犯地
stance [stɑːns] 立场，姿态，态度
hangover [ˈhæŋəʊvə(r)] 遗留物，宿醉
glamorous [ˈɡlæmərəs] 迷人的，富有魅力的
revered [rɪˈvɪəd] 受尊敬的，受崇敬的
sensible bedtimes [ˈsensəbl ˈbedtaɪms] 合理的就寝时间
linger [ˈlɪŋɡə(r)] 逗留，徘徊，留存
at points 在某些时候，在某些方面
critically increase [ˈkrɪtɪkli] 大幅增加

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