Night Owls vs Morning People

[Shu]

I've never thought about this before, but I found an interesting article that really struck a chord with me due to my differences with people around me. I am a late night person, by late night I mean every night despite how long of a work day and no matter how early I get up, I stay up till around 12:00am till 4:00am. After reading the below article it made me think..

http://theweek.com/article/index/209165/night-owls-vs-morning-people-whos-smarter

Are you the type who stays up late to finish your work, or do you get up early to make a fresh start on the day? If it's the former, you may be pleased to learn new research has found that those with higher IQs tend to be nocturnal night-owls. But if it's the latter, you might have good reason to distrust the claim. Here's an instant guide

Is there solid science behind this finding?
Sleep researchers tend to divide people into two groups, explains zoologist Robert Alison in the Winnipeg Free Press, based on whether they exhibit "morningness" or "eveningness." A recent study claims that eveningness is an evolutionary advancement that marks out "more intelligent individuals," while "those with lower IQs tend to restrict their activities primarily to daytime."

How can that be?
Researchers from the London School of Economics say that human beings used to all be day-oriented, and that eveningness is an "evolutionarily novel preference" made by people with "a higher level of cognitive complexity." Basically, smart people evolve to stay up later.

I want to get more intelligent. Can I just start staying up late?
It isn't that simple. Several studies have shown that your sleep preferences are at least 50 percent genetic, and that your chronotype — that is, the time of day you are at your physical and mental peak — changes with your age. Generally speaking, "eveningness" peaks in the late teens and early 20s.

Are there any downsides to "eveningness"?
Night owls tend to be less reliable, more emotionally unstable, and more likely to have problems with addictions and eating disorders, according to a 2008 study by psychologist Marina Giamnietro. They are also more likely to drink alcohol and smoke, says Dutch psychiatrist Walter van den Broek at his Dr. Shock blog. Another study found that undergrad "evening types" had lower GPAs than those who awake early in the morning.

Is there any advantage to being a morning person?
Early risers tend to be more conscientious, persistent, and apt to cooperate, says van den Broek, a self-described morning person. They also "cope better with academic requirements and receive better grades." And when you think about it, adds Ace Burpee in the Winnipeg Free Press, "there are no sayings about late birds getting some sort of way better tasting worm."

I think this is almost all true, though I can't say anything about IQ. I drink and smoke, or code or whatever, but my mind is always wired to stay up later. I can't stand going to bed anything less than 11:00pm. The most I sleep is around 7-8 hours, anything beyond that and I'm totally exhausted.

I have seen some pretty dumb people at night too, so it's hard for me to ... back this study I guess. Though again, those people were hopped up on Aderol or some other upper to actually keep them up.

I would say though I have seen the more interesting people at night... tatoo'ers, artists, and other folks. Where as early risers are number crunchers usually or people that have to do a lot of work in a day.. at a slower rate. I'm going with this study is possibly true for IQ's.

What do you think? Early risers have a lower IQ or not? (my thoughts are completely opinion driven, so I don't care what approach you take)

 

[Will Graham]

I am pretty sure the reason I stay up late is because I have an internet connection, nothing more. Then I wake up so late in the day that it is my morning and I don't feel tired till very late at night.

 

[Squid]

I'm an early riser I sleep early and wake up early, I still only manage to get 6 - 7 hours sleep doing this. I don't think I am a boring person because i am an early riser though I probably do have a lower IQ than a lot of people but how on earth can you blame that on waking up early lmfao, I have a low IQ coz I am a lazy shit.

Also some of the more retarded, whinging arseholes i have met are the ones who stay up all night. (Not all of you night owls are ofc, just some)

 

[Richard B Riddick]

Toss in circadian rhythms and polyphasic sleep.

Maybe an interesting discussion will ensue.

I don't think it matters.

Internet connections are faster at night when everyone's asleep, which may be one reason why coders and similar types have pre-dominantly been night-owls by demographic. If I remember right, EA Games had a lawsuit awhile back when programmers weren't paid overtime for the 20-30 hour straight days they were putting in. And, the original MIT hackers are credited with coding for 30 hours straight, and sleeping 10 hours. That being the normal "working day" for them. So, maybe it has something to do with optimizing producitivity or represents the optimum lifestyle choice?

Its quieter at night & easier to focus on tasks without disruption or distraction. That may also have something to do with it..

I think it has much more to do with circumstances than it does genetics. Staying up late and having the lighting (and necessary circumstances) to really be productive at night is a recent development. Its too recent a behavioral pattern for the trait to be ingrained genetically.

edit - Also... there's a man in cambodia who supposedly hasn't slept in 30+ years. I think it may have been medically verified. Can't recall...

http://english.vov.vn/Home/A-man-sleepless-for-39-years/20121/134440.vov

 

[Sepalcure]

In regards to myself, I'm a night owl. I rarely go to sleep before 10:00 pm and if I do then I'm either feeling very lethargic or just not feeling well.
I've never thought of the times I go to bed as having any bearing on my IQ levels at all. I don't smoke and I don't habitually drink so that's not true for me. I guess some people would say I'm not always reliable or that I'm "selectively reliable." Haha, I'll help you if it's within my power to do so. Hrm I'm definitely more of a procrastinator though, that's my biggest thing. But I wouldn't say that I'm emotionally unstable. So I dunno ... I took this with a grain of salt.

 

[Bambi]

Ive never been a moring person in my life, Tom tried 'being funny' and waking me up one morning, i needed to be up, but what I take objection to is people making me get out of bed, when I'll get out when I have to and not a moment sooner, I went abit mad, and he's not done it since, I think its mostly because I actually spoke to him about it later and said that Im just not a mornign person I wil be snappy and unreasonable in a morning if you think youre being 'cute' by coming in full force with the kids, trying to make me get up. Its getting my back up just thinking about it. Poor boy just leaves me alone first thing now haha. Hes very much a morning person, suits me as he can get up with the kids, but then, I won't need a power nap and can still stay up longer in an evening and still get on with my day. So I guess in terms of productivity, as a night person, I can certainly get more done. I can't physically have an early night even if Im tired, i just wont sleep, my body clock just cant compute trying to go to sleep before a certain time of night.

I dunno what I make of those findings, though, by all accounts my sleeping habits should make me a fucking genius, Im not stupid by any measure, I just lack common sense which makes me appear to be a bit thick sometimes, plus I don't feel like I have anything to prove to anyone about myself either

 

[Sepalcure]

The common sense thing really, is me to a tee. I've always joked that at some point I was a ditzy blonde and just dyed my hair black. I'm honestly like one of those stereotypical Valley girl sometimes. I have my slow moments. But in terms of being bookish and intelligent--I'm pretty fecking smart, if I do say so myself. But like Kelly, I'll be damned if anyone tries to wake me up around 7 in the morning. It's like re-imagining the Night of the Living Dead with me; I'm a literal zombie minus the whole "I'll eat your brains" shenanigans around 7. I need at least 8-9 hours of sleep. But in terms of being sensible and having street smarts, oh poor me, I have very little. Lol, it's something my friends and I can joke about all the time. I totally make fun of myself for it but my sleeping patterns, as I said before, have little to no bearing on my intelligence. 'Cause even as a tot I had a willingness to read and learn as much as I could. It's just not I've gotten lazier.

 

[PhoenyxAngel]

I'm a night owl

But honestly, I stay up late because I have the internet. Without it....well, I'll stay up till about 2 am so I guess that's still late. But I don't really work in the morning or anything like that, and most of my classes are afternoon/evening/night classes. I don't do morning classes. Not sure if this says anything about my IQ, or if I just prefer the night and hate waking up in the morning.

 

[AuronX]

I'm definitely a night owl, but I've seen both sides of the deal. As a kid I always went to bed by 8 and was up again no later than 7--usually 6--purely out of a habit of following the same schedule as my parents. However, on this schedule my dreams were unclear (which should really not happen on 9-10 hours of sleep), I routinely woke up in the morning still feeling full from dinner the night before, and I struggled with my school studies. Through my teen years I gradually began to stay up later and later, and eventually hit a spot that I have stuck with continually for no apparent reason except that it fits me. I go to bed anywhere from midnight to 1:00am and am awake again at 8:30am, my dreams are startlingly clear and realistic, and I don't wake up still feeling the last night's meal. I also started doing much better in school as soon as I took on the new schedule, and now that I have a job, I find that I can handle a work day much easier than if I go to bed earlier. Even if I happen to be up much later, I still wake up around 8:30, and even if I'm tired all day after that, come 9:00pm or so, I snap back awake and can operate until midnight again, whether I'm on the internet or no.

I'm sure that it is partially just a genetic thing that everyone has to figure out for themselves, but I know for me that it has a lot to do with creativity. The later hours of the day, my imagination seems to just explode, and suddenly I can do all sorts of creative things that I love doing without the distraction of other objects on my to do list. It's a time every day where I feel very motivated, energized, and just happy with life in general, which does wonders for enabling me to get through the next day sane.

Last night is actually a good example of this. About a week ago, while I was at work I began to hear a little tune in my head that I thought would make a good background for a new composition. Only problem was, I couldn't think of anything else that worked with it. Just last night then, suddenly the whole thing came to me. Just BAM, and there was my composition. Lyrics even came immediately. So now today, I was motivated to get through work because I was so excited to finally have a great new song to orchestrate when I got home.

This kind of thing just doesn't happen in the morning. All of the day's tasks are on my mind, and I'm dragging to just wake up and get moving. Hard to be creative right then.

 

[Abstract Debauchery]

I'm a night owl as well. I have to be as I work overnights. I wake up at 4pm everyday and go to sleep at 8 in the morning. What I can agree with this article on is that it does make me somewhat unreliable. Need me to be somewhere at 1pm? Fuck you, I'm sleeping. Need me to be somewhere at 5pm? Fuck you, I just woke up. There are exceptions, but those are rare. If anyone needs me to be somewhere or do something for them, most of the time they're shit out of luck unless I like them enough to do so. (Example: Raye tells me there is some kind of emergency and she needs me to be somewhere, I'll more than likely be there.)

And I can also agree to a certain extent about us being "emotionally unstable". I'm paranoid by nature. I honestly can't help it. Everyone else who works the nightshift where I work, save for one person, is a full fledged honest asshole. There's a reason we work the nightshift, and it's usually due to lack of fucks we all give. A lot of the people there are angry, rude, and can be annoyed at the drop of a dime.

However, a lot of them are very intelligent. They go to college, they work hard, they get their shit done. I'm the same way in that regard. I work overnights, I stay up all night, and I go to school, do my work, get it done in time, and I maintain a 3.8 GPA. The way that I look at it is; the early bird may get a worm, yes. However, the bird that was already up hours before hand got plenty of them before that asshole showed up.

I don't see being a night owl as a weakness in the slightest. I view it as a strength... albeit a strength that most people take for granted and piss down the drain.

 

[Dr. Percival Cox]

I much prefer the night to the morning. I feel better and I find I almost naturally have more energy. I never really fret about not getting a lot of sleep. I feel if you had an enjoyable night, then a lack of sleep is more than worth it.

Here recently, I've begun getting up around 7-8 AM because of my recent employment having me working mornings. I'm not exactly a morning person but if I'm getting paid for it, then I'll be as chipper and perky as they want me to be. I do have a habit of snapping at people when they asking me too many questions early in the morning but not at work. Just my loved ones.

 

[kryceks]

I'm usually a night person. I stay up till about 3 or 4 in the morning on the Internet, watching movies or doing something productive. But I usually can't sleep in past 10pm. I work second shift so I usually don't have to be up really early, at least not until Fall when I go back to school. Then I have to be up for 8am classes. I'll be tired as all hell, but when I get home, I still can't fall asleep until 1 or 2 in the morning.

It surprises me that studies show night owls have higher IQs. I suppose that if an evening person is well rested, they can be more focused on their studies and their logic. But I don't see why a well rested morning person can't do the same. I think that people just function differently during during different times.

 

[L]

I don't feel very smart, even though I feel like just about everyone else in the world is a mongoloid. But that sure was something to read haha.

i don't mean to rain on anyone's parade, but i feel like this is about as legit as the staring at breasts thing

 

[Lirael]

I go to sleep around 12 and wake up between 7:30 and 9am, so I'd consider myself a morning bird. I am certainly conscientious and apt to co-operate - my employers have praised me for being incredibly reliable and flexible. I also find it easier to handle academic pressure than my boyfriend Chris, who I'd place in the night owl category (he goes to sleep between 1 and 2, gets to sleep around 2/3 and wakes up between 10 and 11).

I wouldn't say I'm less intelligent than the night owls I know. I suppose I do work very hard and my achievements always reflect how much work I put in, but I am able to grasp complex concepts - it's remembering them which takes some work! Organising essays also takes me a month, as opposed to 1 or 2 all nighters.

I do find it easier to focus on tasks after my parents go to sleep around 9:30/10pm, so I can understand why night owls may be more productive. The night is less distracting and somehow the quiet promotes focus.

 

[Catnip]

I am pretty sure the reason I stay up late is because I have an internet connection, nothing more. Then I wake up so late in the day that it is my morning and I don't feel tired till very late at night.

All of this. What a fucking adorable article though.

 

[The Master]

I'm a night owl

But honestly, I stay up late because I have the internet. Without it....well, I'll stay up till about 2 am so I guess that's still late.

THIS^

I usually stay up late reading things on the internet and playing games. Last I checked I have an IQ of 111, which is above average. I guess I'm just not motivated (unreliable) and my GPA was crap in high school... So, certain things about this seem to be true about myself. As for others? I'm not sure.