Solparvus
Puritan Board Senior
I would like some insight.
Eight hours a day is usually what people today need for rest. In my reading I was surprised to find the following two quotes on what two Puritan pastors considered sufficient sleep.
"To some five hours is enough; to the ordinary sort of healthful persons six hours is enough; to many weak, valetudinary spirits seven hours is needful; to the sick persons I am not to give directions." - Richard Baxter
"Yet by experience it hath been observed that for sound and healthy bodies, five hours is the least time that may be allowed,and seven hours is time sufficient for any." - William Gouge, Domestical Duties
Six hours for most today would be far too little. Why did these men think that five or six hours would be sufficient to maintain good health? This level of sleep today would leave most of us tired, unproductive, irritable, and we would probably die early. What accounts for this difference between today and then? What was different 350 years ago that five or six hours of sleep was enough?
Eight hours a day is usually what people today need for rest. In my reading I was surprised to find the following two quotes on what two Puritan pastors considered sufficient sleep.
"To some five hours is enough; to the ordinary sort of healthful persons six hours is enough; to many weak, valetudinary spirits seven hours is needful; to the sick persons I am not to give directions." - Richard Baxter
"Yet by experience it hath been observed that for sound and healthy bodies, five hours is the least time that may be allowed,and seven hours is time sufficient for any." - William Gouge, Domestical Duties
Six hours for most today would be far too little. Why did these men think that five or six hours would be sufficient to maintain good health? This level of sleep today would leave most of us tired, unproductive, irritable, and we would probably die early. What accounts for this difference between today and then? What was different 350 years ago that five or six hours of sleep was enough?