New-York tribune., 1921-03-20
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by Alfred A.. knopf
IC LEEP, according TO Mr.. Tridon, Is
~ compromise between what the
~ human animal was meant 10 do
and what 1t can do In reality.
We don't sleep because we are tired
and need rest, but because during sleep
we dream, and in our dream life We
"obliterate distance and transport our
selves wherever our fancy chooses; our
strength IL herculean; we defy the law
OF gravitation and rise or soar with or
without wings; we brave law and Gus
tom; we abandon all modesty and make
ourselves the center Of the world, which
Is OUR world and not any one else's
world"
Such, at least, is the conclusion one
comes to on reading Mr.. Tridon's latest
book, in which he makes q number of
very interesting statements and OBJ
servations relating to sleep and
dreams. Not the least interesting of
his observations is that concerning Ed
ison, whose four hours of sleep t6 eigh-
teen hours of work has long been held
Up as an ideal to young men who want
to get, ahead. Egotistical qualification
takes the place of rest, Mr.. Tridon
says, and where that qualification is
given during waking hours less sleep
is needed. Edison's work satisfies him,
and every. new detail he perfects, every
novelty he initiates, vouchsafes him a
powerful ego qualification. The author
is willing to wager that if Edison were
put to work in his own plant, under
the direction Of foreman, performing
regular, monotonous tasks, he would
break down under the strain of such
long hours and have to "rest" twice
as much as he does now.
Napoleon, too, he points out, could
perform incredible feats of muscular
activity and endurance on four hours
sleep. But only whCe he was victorious.
After the battle Of Aspern, his first
defeat, he slept thirty-six hours before
he could be aroused.
Not content with destroying our illu-
'~SAAO 0S w Vic S1 eau O1ICS O1 Luc cdItD,
psycho-analytis refuse to allow us to
consider ourselves victims Of disease.
If we are sick it is our own fault.
Take sleeping sickness, for instance.
Its origin may or may not be in the
bite of a fly. Mr.. Tridon dismisses
that supposition as immaterial. Sleep
is an escape from reality, and few
hours escape is permitted everybody
This world is not perfect and we are
all human. But sleeping sickness is
simply the result of an attempt to pro-
long that escape, even though Mr..
Tridon kindly allows 1t to be inferred
that the attempt is unconscious.
Sleeping sickness, he says, first ap-
peared hundred yeats ago on the
west coast of Africa, and it was OBJ
served that those affected were the
blacks who were doing arduous, ex-
hausting work. Recent cases in this
country among whites affected reveal
circumstances in the patients life
which would make fight. from reality
highly desirable. One case which he
quotes was that of middle-aged wom-
an who had lost her small son and who
was married to a cripple twenty years
her senior. She had to work to sup
port the home and to live with her
husbands relatives, who did not con-
tribute to the pleasantness of her
home life" Reason enough, we should
say, for any ones going to sleep and
staying asleep as long as possible. We
only wish we knew how--which stamps
us at once as having an inferiority
complex!
1t is common saying that the line
between men Of genius and insane per-
sons is very fine. Mr.. Tridon draws it
hairs breadth finer when he points
out that insane persons sleep very little.
The truth of the matter is, he says, that
"the absolutely insane person who lives
all his absurd dreams in his waking
life no longer needs the unconscious
ness which the normal individual re- ]
quires in order to escape from reality.
The insane man who knows he is a
combination of Don Juan, million
aire and powerful ruler need not
dream of becoming all those characters.
I