Latest revision |
Your text |
Line 8: |
Line 8: |
| | | |
| ==Explanation== | | ==Explanation== |
− | [[Cueball]] claims that humans are driven by their curiosity, which is never-ending. [[Megan]] responds by noting that everyone spends approximately eight hours per day in an unconscious state of {{w|sleep}}, but no one has yet pinned down the biological purpose of sleep. Despite this obvious mystery, most people aren't "losing sleep over it." This implies that Cueball's observed curiosity has a perceptible and proximate limit.
| + | {{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}} |
− | | |
− | This is not to suggest that scientists ''aren't'' researching sleep; scientists frequently conduct {{w|Sleep study|sleep studies}} — we just haven't found any satisfactory answers yet. Some popular hypotheses are to allow the brain a period to consolidate memories and to give the body a chance to repair itself.
| |
− | | |
− | The title text quotes {{w|William Dement}}: people sleep "because we get sleepy." ([https://web.archive.org/web/20160618161328/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/05/sleep/max-text Secrets of sleep]). This of course is dodging the underlying issue. That this non-explanation is the best answer that a leading sleep researcher can provide, shows how little anyone knows about the subject. This may be an oblique reference to the [[:wikt:dormitive principle|dormitive principle]] of the French playwright Molière, who created a satirical character who claimed to have discovered the answer to a popular question: The reason opium makes someone sleepy, said the character, a doctor, was that it contained a "dormitive principle" (i.e., something that makes someone sleepy).
| |
− | | |
− | In [[203: Hallucinations]], Randall expressed similar surprise at the lack of interest in the nature of sleep.
| |
− | | |
− | The phrase "and nobody knows why" is commonly appended to urban legends, as in [http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/duckecho.asp A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one knows why]. The implication is that something mysterious is going on and scientists are puzzled. [[1186: Bumblebees]] is another "nobody knows why" example.
| |
| | | |
| ==Transcript== | | ==Transcript== |
| :[Cueball and Megan are talking.] | | :[Cueball and Megan are talking.] |
− | :Cueball: Humans are defined by our curiosity, our hunger for answers. | + | :Cueball: Humans are defined by our curiosity, our hunger for answer. |
| :Megan: We all spend a third of our lives lying down with our eyes closed and '''''NOBODY KNOWS WHY.''''' | | :Megan: We all spend a third of our lives lying down with our eyes closed and '''''NOBODY KNOWS WHY.''''' |
| :Cueball: Touché. | | :Cueball: Touché. |
| | | |
| {{comic discussion}} | | {{comic discussion}} |
− | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
| |
− | [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
| |