In May, I published an article about Matthew Walker’s bestseller, Why We Sleep. The book explores the purposes of sleep and consequences of sleep deprivation, with reference to the extant scientific literature.
My article was not intended to be an in-depth critique of the book but rather, a selection of some of its highlights. Nonetheless, when writing the article, I had noticed some issues with certain statements made by Walker e.g., that most people do not get enough sleep.
In the footnotes section of my article, I noted that this statement is misleading because according to a study by the CDC, most Americans do actually get the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep per night. I felt that including a note correcting Walker’s claim would suffice and that this error did not necessarily discredit the rest of his book. However, a much more extensive critique of Why We Sleep by researcher, Alexey Guzey, recently came to my attention.
Guzey’s critique exposes numerous problems with Why We Sleep’s claims and casts doubt on Walker’s expertise. Although not addressing Guzey directly, Walker appears to have authored a response to some questions (related to some of Guzey’s criticisms) about the claims made in his book. The response mentions that a revised edition of the book is in the works and is intended to correct and update some of the errors featured in the original version.
I encourage people interested in the facts about sleep to take the time to read Guzey’s critique and the corrections and clarifications (ostensibly) written by Walker, to come to their own conclusions about the accuracy of Why We Sleep’s claims.
I maintain that sleep is an integral component of a healthy lifestyle but concede that Walker’s book may have overstated and/or misrepresented what the data actually suggest about why we sleep. Therefore, I have removed the book from my Book List.
It is hoped that the revised edition of Why We Sleep will serve as a more accurate portrayal of the data, helping all of us to cultivate better sleep habits.
