Currently, if your eyes are closed you can still get a sense of the light around you, and moving your head around you can tell if you’re moving it toward or away from a light source (barring maybe if you’re outdoors and it’s bright out all around you).

But what if when we closed our eyes it was like full blackout? Would blinking become disorienting? Could it mess up circadian rhythms? Something else? Or would it not really matter?

    • Drusas@kbin.social
      7·
      2 years ago

      But then you wouldn’t be able to naturally wake up in the morning, which is best triggered by light much as the release of melatonin is triggered by darkness.

        • Drusas@kbin.social
          4·
          2 years ago

          It helps with waking much as darkness does with sleeping, but it similarly is not going to be enough to overcome under sleeping or a sleep disorder.

          • glimse@lemmy.world
            3·
            2 years ago

            Sure but I need help going to (and staying) sleep, not waking up. My natural wake up time is before the sun rises (430-5am)

            • Drusas@kbin.social
              05·
              2 years ago

              Interestingly, you note that your natural wake up time is when the sun rises, but don’t recognize that it might be because that’s when the sun rises.

      • plistig@feddit.de
        3·
        2 years ago

        Most people need to work in the winter, too. It’s still dark outside in the morning either way, whether my eyelids are translucent or not.

        • Drusas@kbin.social
          3·
          2 years ago

          You can make it a lot easier to wake up in the winter months by getting a sunlight clock.

  • Drusas@kbin.social
    141·
    2 years ago

    It would have a negative impact on your sleep-wake cycle, which relies on light and darkness. You would fall asleep more easily but struggle to wake up.

  • astraeus@programming.dev
    12·
    2 years ago

    I would say most things would not be much different, but circadian rhythm is probably the most relevant part. If your eyes cannot sense sunlight in the morning, your sleep will no longer be affected by daytime hours. Edit: your skin can also sense changes in light, it could potentially also detect sunlight in the morning if exposure is strong enough. Thanks @Repelle for the insight! Article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1389556721000022

    Our mind doesn’t really process the time we blink, whether light comes through or not. If we had it happen our entire life, I’m sure we’d probably adapt quickly to having a complete blackout when closing our eyes.