Why Sleep Matters | Matthew Walker | Talks at Google

Sleep is one of the most important aspects of our life, health and longevity and yet it is increasingly neglected in twenty-first-century society, with devastating consequences: every major disease in the developed world - Alzheimer's, cancer, obesity, diabetes - has very strong causal links to deficient sleep.

Until very recently, science had no answer to the question of why we sleep, or what good it served, or why its absence is so damaging to our health. Compared to the other basic drives in life - eating, drinking, and reproducing - the purpose of sleep remained elusive.

Professor Matthew Walker discusses with Matt Brittin twenty years of cutting-edge research to solve the mystery of why sleep matters, how caffeine and alcohol affect sleep and why our sleep patterns change across a lifetime -- this is a talk that will change how you think about bedtime!

Moderated by Matt Brittin.

[helicart]

I've been in neuroscience research for 30 years, and this guy is actually very up to date and broad in his understanding of sleep, stress, and neurophysiology. Kudos to him.

[jonwhite]

This guy’s book is incredible, I implore anyone who’s watching this to read it!

[Cordellium]

This is perhaps one of the most important talks at Google yet. Until you get sleep right, nothing else is going to work as well as it could. Thank you for being a true sleep representative Matthew Walker.

[jingbowang]

He was my professor and loved all his lectures! I read this book (Why we sleep) twice, and I have never read a science book twice!

[bl]

My sister diagnosed with early onset Dementia. I truly believe she got it was because she has never been a good sleeper. She has always tried to live on less than 4 hours of sleep. Everyone says that driving while drowsy is more dangerous than driving while intoxicated. Your body--more importantly-your brain is healed while you sleep. Not enough sleep is really, really dangerous.

[staceyharvey]

20 minutes - We don’t look at babies sleep patterns and say “Psst, what a lazy baby?!” Lol. Excellent point. Mr Walker & his book may have saved or extended my life. Thank you

[TheJeanette]

As I get older I find I don’t sleep much. I’ve tried various things to get to sleep, or to get back to sleep when I wake up after an hour or two. What works surprises me more than anyone else. Eg watching videos on YouTube, having a cup of coffee, having something to eat, reading, etc. with me everything seems to work backwards. I’ve just decided to not worry about it.

[GeorgeLista]

I experienced sleep at the wheel when I thought I was perfectly fine... I had never had an accident before in my life and I love driving, have driven cross borders for days.... this was just a 1 hour or so drive after work, I was more in shock that I actually fell asleep than the actual accident because my brain recreated the visual of driving... it was like I had a small dream of the reality of driving... the vibrations of the front of the car grinding into the central reservation + pure luck is what saved my life. I will never allow myself to even get to yawning stage. Stay safe people.

[jayflood]

The way he presents a concept reminds me of the physicist Richard Feynman. Mr Walker could explain sleep to a child and make it interesting and digestible. I'm kind of hooked!

[allisondeng]

I just wanted to let you know that my mom repetitively recommended this to me like it was the best thing she ever listened to. You are very persuasive!

[saulefinance]

he's so nice and sweet, also the answers he gives are so accurate and wholesome

[mohammedismailkhalid]

Very brief and I can't highly recommend this book enough, to every human being.

[wilzaidan]

One more issue that came with modernity. Nothing against it but it's great to have scientist like him to bring us back to our nature. Love the book and the talk.

[P.Gillett]

I first heard of the book here, and I'm glad I did. Since I've bought it I have completely changed my sleeping habits and I have already felt the many benefits described in the book. Read this book. It should be required reading for every high school aged student.

[NWinnVR]

He was also on Joe Rogan's podcast, a lot of the talking points are the same but there are some novel and he goes into more depth on others.

[scottfranson]

This presenter's talk should be used as reference material for those who are looking to train people in the fine art of public speaking

[iamkeithheart]

My only question is whether regular sleep patterns and proper sleep health can be achieved in an industrialized society that demands more from a person than they can give.

Great talk! I’m definitely going to read up on this book he made.

[paulylah]

Pretty much a perfect executive summary of the entire book tbh

[rajcan]

It’s 9 pm, time to sleep. I will see rest 45 min. video tomorrow.

[javiergimenezmoya]

To Know what a important thing is sleep make me more nervous and anxious about the duty with respect my health for do not fail my rest and therefore made me sleep worse