Have you ever considered what goes on in the world when you are asleep? I know that when I go to bed, I am totally cut off from the world. And the first thing I do when I wake up is turn on the radio on the headboard (tuned to a news station) to hear of events.
But what if something really important happened while I was sleeping? What if the Yellowstone Supervolcano erupted? What if India and Pakistan exchanged Nuclear weapon attacks? What if the Sun went dead? I mean, I would just sleep for days waiting for dawn and get colder and colder and colder.
I say this because I had the strangest dream last night. Aliens arrived on Earth, and I didn't know about it. And they were good aliens. They announced they would take everyone who arrived at any major city by dawn to a newer better Earth2 (since they knew what we needed and had found one), and I slept through it.
I ignore the phone at night, I don't have smart phone with alert apps, and I doubt neighbors would beat on my door to tell me the good news.
Actually, it would be bad enough just to not know that some virus had been dropped in my area by some terrorists...
I suppose this has something to do with a feeling of lack of control over my life while I sleep, but it is still an interesting question.
"What if something really important happens when you are asleep"?