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74 D PHOTOGRAPHY IN MY OPINION, WE ARE THUS IN ACTIVE DENIAL OF OUR SLEEPING HABITS. I AM ESPECIALLY TALKING HERE ABOUT PEOPLE WHO HAVE COME UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE PREVAILING GLOBAL WORKING CONDITIONS, WHERE THE DOMINANT LOGIC IS THAT OF THE INDIVIDUAL’S EFFICIENCY.THIS CAN MEAN, FOR INSTANCE,THAT WE MIGHT HAVE TO COMPLETE A PROJECT AT A CERTAIN TIME ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PLANET. IT IS INCREASINGLY THE CASE THAT WE ARE ADAPTING OUR SLEEP TO THE INTERACTIVE COMPONENTS OF OUR COMPLEX LIFE. EVEN IF THE EFFECTS OF THE LIBELING OF SLEEP CAN BE CLEARLY SEEN ON EVERYONE’S FACE, IT IS CERTAINLY THE CASE THAT THE REASONS FOR THIS LIE MUCH FURTHER BACK IN THE PAST. CHRISTIANITY EARLIER USED TO TEACH THAT ACCUMULATING EARTHLY RICHES WAS NOT IMPORTANT AND THAT THE PIOUS BELIEVER, BY LIVING A JUST LIFE, COULD ATTAIN RICHES IN HEAVEN. ONLY THE ANXIETY ABOUT WHAT CONSTITUTED A TRULY PIOUS LIFE TORMENTED THE SLEEPLESS BACK THEN AND NOT ANY WORRIES ABOUT MONEY AND WEALTH ON EARTH.THIS HAS CHANGED, OF COURSE, IN THE LAST 500 YEARS. RELIGION HAS FADED IN IMPORTANCE, IT HAS BEEN SECULARIZED OR, AS THE CASE MAY BE, IT HAS TOTALLY DISAPPEARED. AND, AS A RESULT, OUR PRESENT LIFE ON EARTH HAS BECOME ALL THE MORE IMPORTANT. WHY SHOULD WE WAIT FOR THE RICHES OF HEAVEN, WHEN WE CAN ENJOY AND ALSO HAVE EARTHLY RICHES RIGHT NOW? SO IT IS THAT WHEN WE ASK OURSELVES ABOUT THE MEANING OF LIFE AND OF OUR OWN LIFE IN PARTICULAR, WE END UP DEALING WITH THE ISSUE OF MATERIAL POSSESSIONS. WEALTH PRODUCING ACTIVITIES FORM THE BASIS OF OUR LIFE. WE DEFEND OUR POSSESSIONS, WE POSSESS AND BORROW WEALTH AND SO ON AND SO FORTH. IF WE TAKE A LOOK AT THE HISTORY OF INSOMNIA, THEN WE SEE THAT, WHEN THE BED AND THE BEDROOM BECAME MORE PRIVATE, INSOMNIA INCREASINGLY BECAME REGARDED AS A FORM OF PATHOLOGY OR AS A PROBLEM AS OPPOSED TO BEING A STATE OF DEMONIC POSSESSION OR A CONDITION SHARED BY LATE-NIGHT REVELERS. IN THE EARLY DECADES OF THE 20TH CENTURY, SLEEP INCREASINGLY BECAME NOT JUST A PRIVATE MATTER BUT ALSO A MATTER OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE IN ITS OWN RIGHT. THIS DEVELOPMENT WAS ACCOMPANIED BY THE PSYCHOLOGICAL VIEW THAT THE MIND IS THE INDIVIDUAL’S PRIVATE PROBLEM. PRIVACY, LONELINESS AND SILENCE PUT PRESSURE ON US. USUALLY, WE COMPLAIN ABOUT THE OPPOSITE, FOR INSTANCE, UNWANTED NOISES LIKE THE TICKING OF A CLOCK OR LOUD NEIGHBORS. IF WE HAVE A CLOSER LOOK AT THE HISTORY OF SLEEP, HOWEVER, THEN WE SEE THAT IT IS EASIEST FOR US TO SLEEP WHEN WE ARE ON FAMILIAR TERMS WITH OUR SURROUNDING ENVIRONMENT AND THE SOUNDS AT NIGHT, NO LONGER EVEN NOTICING THEM. BOTH EXTREMELY QUIET SITUATIONS (THINK, FOR INSTANCE, ABOUT PRIMITIVE TRIBES THAT REGARD COMPLETE QUIETNESS AS AN ADVANCE WARNING OF AN EVENT) AND THE CONSTANT RUSH OF UNKNOWN NOISES ARE INTOLERABLE FOR US WHEN IT COMES TO FINDING REST. THUS, WE SEE THAT MODERN-DAY SLEEPLESSNESS AND THE ANXIETY CAUSED BY CAPITALISM GO HAND IN HAND. IN THE 13TH CENTURY, THE CHURCH TO A LARGE EXTENT STILL INFLUENCED HOW EACH DAY WAS SPENT. PRAYERS, AFTER-LUNCH RESTS ETC.WERE ALL STIPULATED, EVEN IF THE CHURCH COULD NOT -AND THIS HOLDS
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TRUE TODAY AS WELL- GIVE A PRECISE EXPLANATION OF WHAT LIFE IN HEAVEN IS LIKE, ESPECIALLY IN REGARD TO