Why Do We Sleep Under Blankets, Even on the Hottest Nights? (2017)

empee

Clearly for better protection against monsters

expedition32

I did not realize that things like sheets, blankets and pillows used to cost serious money.

voidUpdate

> "I barely know what a BTU is" Neither does anyone else, its one of those archaic units that changes slightly based on who is using it and hangs on in oil and gas industries, and also air conditioners and heaters. It was defined as the amount of energy to raise one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit at one atmosphere of pressure, but that amount of energy depends on the starting temperature of the water, and different things use different starting points, so it ranges from about 1054 to 1059 joules https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_thermal_unit

jiggawatts

They didn't include a common reason for wanting at least a thin blanket on hot summer nights: it keeps the mosquitoes away!

ahmedfromtunis

Is this a common thing? Sleeping without any sort of cover during the hot summer months (notably July and August) is the norm here (North Africa) and never heard of anyone who does it (AC or not). Is this an American thing? Do people in warmer regions of the country (Texas, Florida, ...) also feel the same?

risingsubmarine

'Go Wild' (John Ratey, Richard Manning) theorizes that the modern concept of bedrooms in which we segregate ourselves to sleep is a mismatch with our evolutionary established state. We would naturally lie in very close proximity of tribe and family for heat, contact and security. Sleeping and resting on one another out in the open. Perhaps pillows and blankets (esp weighted) serve as a proxy for this, not just temperature?

amelius

Recently discovered that "weighted blankets" are a thing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weighted_blanket

eth0up

1. Being properly tucked-in, as a vestige of comfort from the crib, where babs are often protected with at least some form of cloth. 2. You are from florida, where there's an entire species of insect for every sqr centimeter of the body, and enough mosquitos after 19:00 to write each of them through displacement. 3. Ideal sleeping temerature is probably so close to 'perfect' that as body temp drops through sleep, it crosses the thin threshold of comfortable to slightly cold. Since we've abandoned the penny, I hope that rounds up to a nickel of thought.

Markoff

I like Balkanese approached I noticed in Croatia and Bulgaria, instead of duvets or blankets they just use (in summer) thin empty duvet case judging my multiple Airbnb experience.

helzinia

> there has also been a decent amount of research about the calming effect of weighted blankets, which can weigh up to 30 pounds. Studies indicate that they can curb anxiety and even be used in the treatment of autism. What odd phrasing, "the treatment of autism". Wouldn't it suffice to say a lot of autistic people find them comforting? This may just be my bugbear, but I notice a lot of these depersonalising statements in anthropology, psychology, etc when an author wants to hold up some supporting example about a group of people they are not experts on.

pojzon

Because monsters under the bed.. duh. At least thats what I tell my kids.