Air Conditioning as an Essential
The question of which items “you cannot live without” is usually hyperbole and meant to elicit answers that touch more upon desires or impulses rather than necessities. Even in this assignment, exaggeration is the expected outcome. This is because answers such as food, water, air, or shelter are factual statements that can stand on their own without explanation because everyone knows they are necessary for life to continue. My answer however is not hyperbole, nor is it so obvious as to stand without need of explanation. I cannot live without air conditioning. In the extreme case of long-term deprivation, the statement can eventually be literal.
While many might see air conditioning as a “luxury,” one of the …show more content…
I use the word range because the optimal temperature varies from person to person based in part upon comfort, but studies indicate it is typically between the low-sixties to mid-seventies. In my experience, the optimal air temperature for sleep is approximately sixty-five degrees. The body’s circadian rhythm typically relies on light for its cues to lower body core temperature prior to and during sleep; however, the inverse is equally true where cooler temperatures prompt the body that it is time to sleep. According to The National Sleep Foundation, the sleep cycle consists of ninety-minute sub-cycles, which are further broken into two types of sleep, “NREM” and “REM” (Czeisler para. 3). The names for the two types are acronyms, the first being Non-Rapid-Eye-Movement, and the second being Rapid-Eye-Movement. NREM is broken into four stages ranging from “light sleep” to “restorative sleep” (Czeisler para. 4-7). REM sleep is when dreams occur and the muscles are immobile (Czeisler para. 8). Almost all of the body’s ability to repair itself and restore energy occurs during stage three and four of NREM as well as REM. This is important, because without air conditioning I am seldom able to progress past stage
The question of which items “you cannot live without” is usually hyperbole and meant to elicit answers that touch more upon desires or impulses rather than necessities. Even in this assignment, exaggeration is the expected outcome. This is because answers such as food, water, air, or shelter are factual statements that can stand on their own without explanation because everyone knows they are necessary for life to continue. My answer however is not hyperbole, nor is it so obvious as to stand without need of explanation. I cannot live without air conditioning. In the extreme case of long-term deprivation, the statement can eventually be literal.
While many might see air conditioning as a “luxury,” one of the …show more content…
I use the word range because the optimal temperature varies from person to person based in part upon comfort, but studies indicate it is typically between the low-sixties to mid-seventies. In my experience, the optimal air temperature for sleep is approximately sixty-five degrees. The body’s circadian rhythm typically relies on light for its cues to lower body core temperature prior to and during sleep; however, the inverse is equally true where cooler temperatures prompt the body that it is time to sleep. According to The National Sleep Foundation, the sleep cycle consists of ninety-minute sub-cycles, which are further broken into two types of sleep, “NREM” and “REM” (Czeisler para. 3). The names for the two types are acronyms, the first being Non-Rapid-Eye-Movement, and the second being Rapid-Eye-Movement. NREM is broken into four stages ranging from “light sleep” to “restorative sleep” (Czeisler para. 4-7). REM sleep is when dreams occur and the muscles are immobile (Czeisler para. 8). Almost all of the body’s ability to repair itself and restore energy occurs during stage three and four of NREM as well as REM. This is important, because without air conditioning I am seldom able to progress past stage