Original photo by Keeproll/ iStock
Due to very brief but frequent eye closures that occur throughout the day, you spend about 10% of your waking hours with your eyes closed. The most significant contributor to this, as you may have guessed, is blinking. On average, humans blink 15 to 20 times per minute, with each blink lasting about 0.1 to 0.4 seconds. This may seem insignificant, but we can blink as many as 16,000 times a day while we’re awake — which adds up to a hefty amount of daytime shut-eye (anywhere between roughly 27 and 107 minutes).
Apart from blinking, we also close our eyes during various conscious activities. We tend to close our eyes while thinking deeply, concentrating, or trying to recall information. Researchers believe eye closure can help focus our attention inward, allowing our brains to allocate more processing power to internal cognitive tasks. Studies have shown people often perform better on memory and problem-solving tasks with their eyes closed, and they can also unlock a deeper level of creativity.
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It's a factGiant squid have the largest eyes in the animal kingdom, larger even than a human head or a soccer ball, that help them to see in the ocean’s dark depths. One specimen of giant squid caught off the coast of Hawaii had a 3.5-inch pupil with a total eye diameter of at least 10.6 inches.
We sometimes close our eyes during emotional moments, too (including while laughing or crying), and during involuntary physical actions such as sneezing. For some people, prayer, meditation, and relaxation exercises may also add to the amount of time spent with eyes closed.
And there are plenty of other brief moments in which you might shut your eyes, whether it’s while savoring food, listening to music, washing your face, or applying makeup. Environmental factors such as bright sunlight, wind, or dust can also trigger moments of protective eye closure. This all adds up to a surprising amount of time you spend with your eyes shut while fully awake.
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President ______ had strabismus, a condition that sometimes caused his left eye to become misaligned or roll upward.
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President Abraham Lincoln had strabismus, a condition that sometimes caused his left eye to become misaligned or roll upward.
In 1986, a teenager went almost 19 days without sleeping.
Guinness World Records began awarding records for “sleeplessness” in the 1950s, when two U.S. radio DJs went head to head, with the winner staying awake for nine days and nine hours. But in 1986, Robert McDonald of Mariposa, California, claimed the sleep deprivation title by staying awake for an incredible 453 hours and 40 minutes — just three hours short of 19 days.
At the time, the negative effects of sleep deprivation, including impaired cognitive function, mood disturbances, increased risk of chronic diseases, and even psychosis, were well documented. Because of the potential dangers to participants, Guinness World Records decided to no longer monitor records for voluntary sleep deprivation. So, to this day, Robert McDonald still holds the Guinness record.
Tony is an English writer of nonfiction and fiction living on the edge of the Amazon jungle.
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