A Third of Life by Paul Martin

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A Third of Life by Paul Martin
It is evident that the need to succeed is what drives human beings’ behavior in the modern
society. Consequently, there are things that appear to be normal in today’s society although human
beings’ behavior suggests that this is not the case. For example, the issue of sleep is one
phenomenon something that every human being is aware of since they engage in the activity of
sleep. However, it appears that despite the familiarity of human beings with sleep, there is little
emphasis laid on the importance of sleep in human beings since a majority of human beings fail to
obtain adequate sleep leading to sleep deprivation. Consequently, as human beings sleep less and
less in order to be more productive, sleep deprivation leads to less creativity, which is related to
less productivity despite humans aiming at achieving more productivity. In his article, Martin
provides an overview of sleep and its consequences on human beings since sleeping patterns
among humans have evolved with sleeping patterns in animals remaining more or less the same.
In effect, the consequences of lack of enough sleep form the thesis of Martin’s work that “our
collective indifference towards sleep has enormous and largely avoidable costs” (464).
To provide a synopsis of Martin’s work, the author notes the little emphasis attached on
sleep despite its importance, and its role of being the most common form in animals and humans.
In this case, humanity has chosen to remain ignorant of this topic and has largely neglected to study
the topic of sleep despite its important role in their life. Consequently, the contemporary society 
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places a high value on activity and considers sleep as an unproductive activity, which is due to
these constricts of the contemporary society that make humans lack enough sleep. In effect, there
has been an interruption in the patterns of sleep among human beings, which is due to the changing
lifestyles that sacrifice sleep in order to engage in other activities that humans consider as more
important. The author identifies the serious consequences associated with lack of adequate sleep,
which is sleep deprivation. In this regard, sleep deprivation affects all aspects of a human being’s
life, which range from mental health aspects, physical health, and important aspects such as
productivity and an individual’s relationships. To underline the role of sleep deprivation on human
beings, the author identifies sleep deprivation as a major contributing factor to tiredness that causes
most road accidents despite the little focus on sleeping disorders. Martin identifies the importance
of sleep not only for humans, but also for all animals despite their size. However, the author
identifies the differences in the levels of sleep due to the presence of activities in the brain and an
animal’s overt behavior that include the posture, immobility, an established rhythm, and a
particular place to sleep. Moreover, the author identifies the element of declining responsiveness
in an animal to the outside world once it is asleep. The author identifies the evolution of sleep
approaches among animals in order to surmount obstructions to sleep. Case in point, a dolphin’s
ability to sleep in an unihemispheric approach provides it with an opportunity of setting aside a
half of its brain to stay conscious in order to control its breathing with the other part sleeping.
Martin’s work exposes the departure of human beings from the conventional approaches to
life. In this case, the changing world has witnessed transformation in most aspects of human
beings’ life with aspects that used to underline normal human activities being replaced by new
phenomena. With changes in lifestyles, activities such as sleep, which used to be important before
the changes in lifestyle, are increasingly becoming less important than they used to be before the 
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changes. In effect, the current world witnesses less focus on the issue of sleep despite the dangers
associated with sleep deprivation among human beings.
To underline the contempt with which the world is treating the issue of sleep, the author
notes that even the most important sectors that should focus on sleep are increasingly spending
little time on this critical issue. In line with this, the author cited a study by Oxford University on
the British medical education system and found out that medical institutions spent between five
and fifteen minutes to focus on sleep during the training of young medics. On the author hand, the
author identifies the declining dedication to topics in sleep in biographies and researchers’
avoidance of the topic of sleep (465).
As a behavioral biologist, the author is best placed to emphasize on the importance of taking
sleep more seriously among human beings. As a science writer, Martin uses extensive research