Why do we need 8 hours of sleep and did we always sleep that way?

Turns out, we didn’t.

“People in the western world...experienced what is referred to as a segmented...sleep,” said Roger Ekirch, a historian and professor at Virginia Tech. https://trib.al/Sce2eGn ">https://trib.al/Sce2eGn&q...
So when our ancestors woke up in the middle of the night in this biphasic sleep pattern, what did they do?

“Sex, particularly if you and your spouse were interested in conceiving a child." https://www.lx.com/science-tech/heres-why-ill-never-try-segmented-sleeping-again-after-doing-it-for-an-entire-month/34786/">https://www.lx.com/science-t...
"My plan was this: I would go to bed at 11 p.m. like I usually do. Get up at 3:30 a.m. for an hour, and then go back to bed at around 4:30 a.m. for a 4-hour second sleep."

Find out how segmented sleep worked out for him: https://www.lx.com/science-tech/heres-why-ill-never-try-segmented-sleeping-again-after-doing-it-for-an-entire-month/34786/">https://www.lx.com/science-t...
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