| Inventor 2 ~Insomnia Resolver |
February 26, 2020
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| On this day, a young woman came to the inventor's office. It was a very rare case that a young woman like her came to his office so he was both a little nervous and very happy. Her concern was like this: She couldn't sleep. The more she intended to sleep, the less she was sleepy. She hadn't slept for a couple of years. She went to doctors, hypnotists, acupuncturists - anywhere that might work for her insomnia, but they didn't work. So she came here. The woman in front of him was in her early 20s and was thin and cute. For the inventor, she looked healthy although suffering from insomnia. The inventor asked, "What was the doctors' diagnosis, and how did they treat you?" She said, "They gave me a machine which measured my sleeping time and situation. They said that I slept for a certain period from its data. It was shorter than normal people, but proper sleeping time depends on each person. But, I think the machine was broken." "How long did the machine read that you slept?" "About three or four hours. But, I didn't sleep that much. I just dozed off for a while. They prescribed sleeping pills, but I didn't take them. I hate drugs." He asked when and how her insomnia started. She said that it was about two years ago. She was preparing for a  presentation at work. It was a very important presentation and the preparation lasted all night. The next day, the presentation was successful; but, that night she couldn't sleep. Maybe she was too excited. But, after that, she became an insomniac. He asked, "Did you do anything to try to make yourself sleepy?" She replied, "Yes. I tried various things ~drinking alcohol, hot milk, taking a warm bath for a long time. I changed pillows, even my mattress, but nothing worked." She added, "I started to exercise. It's good for my health and I like it, but it never worked for my insomnia. I ever tried yoga, too, but... " She sighed. He asked, "What do you do when you can't sleep?" Now he felt as if he was a doctor. She replied, "I sometimes read books, but usually just stay in bed. I can't sleep, but I need to rest my body." He said that he would try to make something for her, but, this time, he really didn't have any confidence, so she shouldn't have high expectations. She became almost sobbing, "I've heard of your reputation. I believe that you can make something. You are my last hope." She left, and he sighed. He had once suffered from insomnia. At that time, he was very busy working at the electric appliance company, and one time he stayed up all night. After that day, he couldn't sleep well. He was upset because his brain was dull because of the short sleep. The more he wanted to go to sleep, the more tense it made him, and thus, it made him less sleepy. It was a vicious cycle. But one day, he was too tired to think about sleeping and after that he became sleepy at night. Maybe his body rhythm returned. He once watched a TV program about sleeping. A doctor monitored two people: a middle aged woman who suffered from insomnia, and a truck driver, who said he slept well. The machine's results were interesting: the insomnias woman slept well, while the truck driver's sleep was shallow and inconsistent. Being told the results, the driver said, "Really? But even so, I sleep well. And if I were an insomniac, it would be lucky! I could drive and earn more money without sleeping, right?" The inventor was amazed how people thought about their own situation differently from others. One week later, the young woman came and he handed her his new invention. Two weeks later, the young woman came to the inventor's office and started to tell him of the results: At first she hated this machine: its shape even offended her. At home, at night, by her bed, she put the machine ~a small stuffed sheep shaped toy~ on the floor and switched it on. It started to walk slowly. It was supposed to return to the starting point in ten minutes. And if she said, "Sheep, turn," it would start to walk on another trip. If she didn't say anything, it would stand still until she called out the next time. The machine would record how many times it moved, meaning how many times that she called out. If she stayed in bed for 7 hours, the machine could move 42 times, maximum. (6 ten minutes intervals multiplied by 7 hours) She thought at first that she would never miss calling the sheep. But actually, her thought was off very bad. At first, she thought that the machine was broken because when she noticed, the machine was still at the starting point. But when she called, "Sheep, turn," it would start to walk again. It continued like this all night. In the morning, she realized that she was really asleep. She checked the machine, it recorded that she only called out 10 times. She was shocked. She said, "Now I can say that the doctors' data was correct. I couldn't believe it then, but this time I was able to believe it because I saw the sheep stand still many times. This is a clever method." The inventor said, "Thank you." She added, "At first, I thought that you wanted me to count, 'One sheep, two sheep, three sheep ...' until I became tired and slept." The inventor said mischievously, "That was my first idea." Their laughing voices sounded from his office for a while. |
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*insomnia :不眠症
*hypnotist :催眠術師
*acupuncturist :針きゅう師
*vicious cycle :悪循環
*inconsistent :不連続な
*stuffed toy :ぬいぐるみ
*be supposed to :〜することになっている