January 29, 2014

January 29, 2014

Written by Maximus Peperkamp, M.S. Verbal Behaviorist

Dear Reader, 

Words that are written as a function of a lack of sleep are very different than those which were written after a good night sleep. This author experienced this difference because he was recently having some problems sleeping. Luckily, these problems went away again. Since he writes almost every day, he noticed the difference and thought it is worth mentioning and to further explore in this writing. Readers probably have no clue what kind of words are written by insomniacs or by writers that are well-rested. This writer, who was last night having a good and long sleep, thinks that different words come from this rejuvenating experience. Also, he thinks that the nonverbal behavior of the writer leads to different verbal arrangements. In the case of a sleep-deprived writer, sentences will look very different. They may be more dragged out or perhaps unfriendly and short, because there is not enough energy available to produce them. There will be some kind of complaint or strain in such writing. A well-rested writer, by contrast, produces sentences which flow and are easier to read. The nonverbal experience of the latter is pleasant, while the nonverbal experience of the former is one of torment and suffering.

If people who are tired are generally not very good communicators then writers who are tired are probably not very good writers either. Tired writers wear out their readers like tired speakers do. That this goes unnoticed is because few know the symptoms of tired writing. These symptoms are easier to be recognized in spoken communication. Also in speaking we are not in the habit of doing this. Few people have any sense of how much talk is a function of a lack of sleep. Obviously, such talk is negative, because it is based on an unfulfilled need. Such talk is often demanding and challenging, because it represents a request which no listener can fulfill. Besides, writing may become the insomniac’s way of coping with his or her inability to sleep. Those who are used to reading before going to sleep may pick up on the insomnia of the authors, who without anyone noticing it induce their insomnia on their readers. Sleepy-deprived speakers make sleepy listeners and sleepless writers make sleepless readers. Moreover, people who are tired are more likely to pretend that they are not tired than people who are rested are likely to pretend that they are tired. Pretentious writing and speaking is always based on the claim: I am not tired and I am alive.

It is easy to see how Noxious Verbal Behavior (NVB) is determined by physiological states which have to do with the inability to relax. Sound Verbal Behavior (SVB), by contrast, is fresh and lively and has nothing to pretend. The verbal output of insomniacs has to be much higher than the number of words spoken by those who had a good night’s rest. Hyper-verbal behavior signifies how tense and stressed NVB communicators are. If we can’t relax with their words, neither can they. In NVB the words are more important than the nonverbal experiences we have. During NVB the nonverbal experience doesn’t seem to exist and if it exists it is only addressed in order to make us fixate on the verbal. The disconnect between verbal and nonverbal is part of our lack of sleep. More and better sleep results in more and better communication and writing would follow that trend. 

What many people don’t know is that most of what is written is written by people who are up at night. The more people are busy with written communication, the less they sleep. However, the more they are involved in spoken communication, in actual human relationship, the better they will sleep. We seem to have completely forgotten that nothing enhances sleep more than a good conversation. In SVB, things are said in such a way that the verbal and the nonverbal are aligned. When there is day in day out no alignment between our verbal and nonverbal behavior, this may cause sleeping problems. And, there are many other problems too, but today's writing focuses only on sleep. In our sleep we ideally completely forget anything verbal. Dreamless sleep is so beneficial to us because we retreat into the nonverbal realm of existence. Our inability to sleep is based on our addiction to the verbal. We can’t let go of all our thoughts, because we have no sense of our body. What we read is not helping us remember our body. Most texts disconnect us from our body. To read we must pretend as if we don't have a body. We disembody ourselves while we read, because we are already used to disembodying ourselves while we speak. Most writing and speaking makes readers and listeners dissociate from their body, from the immediate reality. Escape from the environment, by means of our verbiage, is causing us many problems, which also prevent us from sleeping. To sleep, we must return to our nonverbal environment. Without this return we can’t sleep. We can’t sleep when our words take us away from our nonverbal environment. In NVB the verbal excludes the nonverbal. In SVB the verbal is staying connected with the nonverbal. In SVB the verbal articulates the nonverbal in such a way that our nonverbal connection continues. In NVB the nonverbal connection is neglected, ignored and abandoned. NVB writers produce NVB writings, which produce NVB readers, who will have sleep problems.