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Let me define myself0️⃣ Introduction: Rethinking "Insomnia”
According to statistics, the number of people suffering from insomnia in modern times is increasing, and insomnia seems to have become a contagious epidemic. Mainstream medicine regards insomnia as a disease, believing that its causes may stem from excessive academic or work stress, or from psychological factors—in other words, a pathological condition. This is the mainstream medical view. At first glance, it may seem reasonable, but upon closer examination, we can find underlying logical contradictions.
The essence of insomnia is a kind of sleep disorder; put simply, it means "being unable to sleep." If people suffer from chronic insomnia, it not only harms their physical health, but in more severe cases, it may even increase the risk of death.
From the perspective of those who suffer from insomnia, no one "intentionally chooses" to be sleepless; yet we often hear about extremely common situations such as "wanting to sleep but being unable to," or "feeling exhausted but unable to fall asleep." This is precisely the part the author finds most unreasonable. No one would "choose insomnia on purpose," yet insomnia harms our physical health. In other words, we are somehow, unintentionally and inexplicably, harming our own bodies. This is clearly illogical.
Moreover, as evolution theory reveals: "Survival of the fittest." Life strives to survive in order to reproduce and continue its lineage. Since sleep is a necessary condition for survival, then "sleeping" must undoubtedly be an innate instinct of animals—something that requires no learning. Simply put, no matter what, we must sleep, because we must survive.
Therefore, if the mainstream medical explanation for insomnia were truly valid, it would logically contradict the theory of evolution. There are only two possible conclusions: First, evolution is wrong; if evolution is not wrong, then only the second possibility remains—the mainstream medical field might be mistaken, and 'insomnia' may not be a disease.
1️⃣ Origin & Motivation
This theory originates from the author's long-term experience with insomnia, and was gradually developed through self-reflection and logical reasoning in the pursuit of a good night's sleep. The process not only critiques contemporary mainstream medical explanations for insomnia but goes further to question: Why has "sleep," as a fundamental animal instinct, ceased to function properly in modern humans? Moreover, if we follow the framework provided by mainstream medicine, it not only lacks internal logical consistency but also leads to certain contradictions.
The author engaged in self-reflection and hypothetical reasoning; although some questions may appear humorous at first glance, they led to fundamental reversals of the author’s prior thinking and breakthroughs in logical reasoning. Therefore, for these seemingly playful questions, the author approached them with great caution—carefully deconstructing, reflecting, and arguing each point.
2️⃣ A Critique of Contemporary Medicine’s Understanding of Insomnia
Contemporary mainstream medicine, in addition to decisively pathologizing insomnia, presents an even more puzzling aspect: its explanation of the causes of insomnia often tends toward post hoc causal attribution, viewing life stress or emotional factors as potential underlying causes. However, such reasoning is frequently accompanied by related causal fallacies, vague definitions of variables, and cognitively soothing explanations offered to reduce patients’ anxiety. Without verification through physiological mechanisms and without rigorous control of variables, it is difficult for such explanations to form an effective causal model.
3️⃣ Theory Introduction: The Theory of Sleep Instinct — Posture Hypothesis
From the perspective of modern medicine, "sleep" has been confirmed as essential for the survival of animals. If we concretize "sleep" as a specific behavior and link it to the concept of "evolutionary theory," it can be demonstrated that sleep is an animal instinct. Therefore, since sleep is both an animal instinct and indispensable for sustaining life, in theory, "insomnia without cause" should be absolutely impossible; moreover, "insomnia" is very likely a man-made, mistakenly constructed concept. If one wants to sleep, one should certainly be able to fall asleep—because that is the answer evolution gives us.
4️⃣ The Inference Process of The Theory of Sleep Instinct
In The Theory of Sleep Instinct, the author first proposes that “sleep should be classified as an instinctive behavior,” and uses this as the fundamental premise for further reasoning. By drawing an analogy to eating, it is pointed out that most animal instincts are accompanied by specific behaviors and physiological signals; thus, it is inferred that sleep also requires a corresponding posture as a mediator to decode the signal and activate the sleep switch (the parasympathetic nervous system).
Next, the author employs deductive elimination to successively rule out mainstream causes of insomnia such as psychological stress, organic diseases, and external environments, demonstrating that these cannot explain most insomnia cases. This shifts the focus to the key condition: “incorrect posture leading to failure in triggering the parasympathetic nervous system.” Further integrating the physiological mechanisms of diaphragmatic breathing and the parasympathetic nervous system, the author proposes that prone sleeping can compress the thoracic cavity, induce natural diaphragmatic breathing, and thereby rhythmically stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system and trigger the sleep signal—establishing the “Posture Hypothesis” and the “Signal Decoding Model” (activation of the sleep switch). The overall reasoning process combines analogy, deduction, elimination, and physiological verification, forming a closed and internally consistent theoretical framework.
5️⃣ Practical Application
How to implement it? No longer relying on medication or tools—simply adjust your sleeping posture to trigger the parasympathetic nervous system. This includes explanations and guidance on the prone sleeping posture, specific operational precautions, and explanations under the practice of The Theory of Sleep Instinct.
6️⃣ Author’s Reflection
The Theory of Sleep Instinct, in addition to subverting and breaking through mainstream medical understanding of insomnia, presents readers with a theory that can withstand scrutiny, be empirically tested, and concretely applied. More importantly, this theory can help readers completely let go of insomnia-related anxiety from a psychological perspective, freeing themselves from the shadow of insomnia and the subsequent psychological and health issues it may cause.
7️⃣ Links & Resources
Social links, extended articles
8️⃣ Archive & Versions
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🔟 About the Author
Cheng-Chun Yen, a.k.a. CCYen
📎 Licensing & Notice
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