Why We Sleep By Matthew Walker | Should You Read? | Book Review

When you search on Google or Amazon for the
phrase “books about sleep,” Why We Sleep by
Matthew Walker is the top search result.
A New York Times bestseller, praised by the
scientific community, and praised by the likes
of Bill Gates, it’s no surprise this book
is the top choice.
And as is typical for me, I’m behind the times.
This book was written in 2017, but I was only
recently made aware of this book.
But it’s better late than never.
I just finished reading the book and I knew
I had to share my thoughts with you because
I can’t be the only one who has never heard
of this book before.
But instead of doing a typical book review,
I’m instead going to present this from the
standpoint of should you read the book.
Since the book is already a few years old,
doing a book review doesn’t make complete
sense to me.
Instead, I’m going to present what this book
offers, and from there you can determine if
you think it’s worth reading.
So let’s begin exploring if you should read
Why We Sleep.
Hey everyone, my name is Matthew, and welcome
to Calm Insomniac where we’re a community
of people trying

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Let’s begin by discussing some background
information on this book and its author.
Matthew Walker is one of the world’s top sleep
experts.
Dr. Walker is the director of UC Berkeley’s
Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab, and he has authored
or co-authored numerous studies on sleep.
Dr. Walker is a sleep scientist, and not a
sleep doctor.
He makes this distinction several times throughout
the book, and it’s important we understand
this, too.
His interest in sleep is from a research perspective.
Therefore, he can make recommendations to
the medical community regarding sleep, but
he does not treat patients.
Additionally, he has no affiliations (positive
or negative) with any major pharmaceutical
companies, like a lot of doctors do when they
only prescribe certain brand medications.
Why We Sleep is the first sleep book by a
leading sleep science expert.
Now, this might come as a surprise to you,
but when you think about it, it makes sense.
Most books about sleep are really trying to
be self-help books, and Why We Sleep is markedly
different in this regard.
The book focuses on understanding the science
of sleep and how sleep affects our health.
However, the book gives very few recommendations
to actually improve our sleep.
Instead, the book wants to educate you on
your sleep so that you then have the intrinsic
motivation to make any necessary changes to
your sleep.
So simply put, this book provides education
and not a prescription.
Next, let’s talk about the book’s structure.
The book is divided into four parts:
1. This Thing Called Sleep,
2. Why Should You Sleep?,
3. How and Why We Dream, and
4. From Sleeping Pills to Society Transformed.
What’s great about this structure is that
it’s sequential.
Dr. Walker naturally progresses from defining
sleep, to explaining why we should sleep,
to dreams, to how our sleep has changed.
And through this structure, Dr. Walker takes
the reader from any prior knowledge about
sleep to understanding the complexities of
sleep.
If you have any educational training, you
will recognize that this is the perfect model
for how to teach a new concept to students.
We the reader are Dr. Walker’s students, and
he is an excellent educator.
Within this broad structure, each chapter
only focuses on a few topics.
This level of specificity allows us to learn
the many sleep related topics at a slow, but
in-depth, pace.
For example, chapter two’s title is Caffeine,
Jet Lag, and Melatonin: Losing and Gaining
Control of Your Sleep Rhythm.
Unsurprisingly, Dr. Walker is discussing maintaining
a sleep rhythm, or sleep schedule, and how
caffeine, jet lag, and melatonin can affect
this.
It’s a simple but effective way to structure
these chapters so that we have maximum understanding.
Next, I want to address his writing style
because I believe it’s one of the reasons
this book is so enjoyable.
This book was written for the layperson, as
in the general public.
This book was not written for scientists or
medical professionals, but they certainly
can read it.
This means the language is simple and easy
to understand.
But don’t worry, Dr. Walker isn’t insulting
our intelligence.
He is exceptionally good at discussing complex
topics in simple terms.
Better yet, Dr. Walker frequently compares
sleep topics to other topics we are likely
already familiar with.
Dr. Walker proves once again that he is an
excellent educator.
His ability to relate sleep to other aspects
of our life makes it not only easy to understand,
but also assures that we never feel like we’re
reading a textbook.
And it’s this hybrid academic-conversational
tone that makes the book feel like a quick
read, even though we are gaining a ton of
valuable information.
If you’re at all familiar with Malcolm Gladwell
and his books, such as Outliers, then this
is the closest comparison that I can make.
Dr. Walker and Malcolm Gladwell are both extremely
capable at discussing complex topics in simple
terms.
In fact, I’d argue that reading Dr. Walker’s
book is fun.
It feels like we’re having a conversation
with a very knowledgeable friend, rather than
being lectured to from a teacher.
Now for as much praise as this book has received,
it should be no surprise that it’s received
some criticism, too.
And I only mention this criticism just to
be thorough, and not because I’m critiquing
the book myself.
The main criticism is that Dr. Walker over-exaggerates
and over-simplifies the facts.
Now this is not to say that he presents inaccurate
information, rather some people argue that
he presents the facts in a certain way to
make sweeping generalizations.
For example, Dr. Walker frequently mentions
that healthy adults should get 7-9 hours of
sleep a night.
And this is an undisputed fact.
However, he further states that sleeping less
than 7 hours a night is detrimental to our
health.
Now this is true for a lot of people, but
it’s not true for everyone.
And there are many health problems that are
connected to poor sleep, but science can’t
definitively say that poor sleep is the cause
of these health problems.
It’s these kinds of generalizations that upset
a lot of people.
And some people have even gone so far as to
accuse Dr. Walker of using scare tactics.
Now with this, I have to disagree.
He may use some generalizations, but we have
to remember that he wrote this book for the
average person and not a scientist or a medical
professional.
Finally, in addition to his generalizations,
some have argued that he uses incorrect numerical
data.
For example, Dr. Walker might mention a 200%
or 300% increase or decrease of a certain
data point.
And people argue that 200% and 300% increases
or decreases are mathematically impossible.
However, this is possible because, for example,
a 200% increase in something is simply two
times the original value.
Regardless of the criticism it’s received,
these are just points to be aware of and not
necessarily a reason to avoid reading the
book.
Alright, those are some of the highlights
of Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker.
And hopefully this gives you just enough information
to determine if you want to read the book
or not.
And if you are interested in reading the book,
there is a link down below.
I personally loved reading this book.
I found it to be one of the most enjoyable
reading experiences I’ve had in a while, and
it’s really because of his conversational
writing style that makes the book so fun and
easy to read even though we are learning some
very complex topics.
This book is great for anyone who wants a
solid foundational understanding of the topic
of sleep and all of the complexities that
surround sleep.
But just remember that this is an educational
book, and this is not a self-help book.
So if you have any issues with your sleep,
aside from speaking to a doctor, you are using
this book just for education and possibly
for some intrinsic motivation.
But on the whole, this book is really enjoyable
and I’d highly recommend it.
Again, there is a link down below.
Let me know in the comments: what other books
about sleep should I read and discuss here?
There are a ton of books out there, and if
there’s a book you’ve read before that you
want me to check out, let me know and I will
give it a read.
Thank you so much for watching, I hope you
enjoyed this, I hope you learned something.
Don’t forget to like, subscribe, follow me
on Facebook and Pinterest, check out my website,
and join my email list.
All of those links are down below.
If you enjoyed this video and want to see
me review some sleep apps, then definitely
check out this playlist right over here.
And if you missed my last video where I discuss
the top 6 health and wellness sleep benefits,
then definitely check out this video down
over here.
Thanks for watching, I’ll see you next time.

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