Can we value one more than the other? I know in philosophy, everyone can't wait to commit to a principle of "balance" fast enough. The "wisest" philosopher is one who wants to show how balanced they are in their actions (Aristotle especially comes to mind). So when it comes to sleep/calm/rest vs. being active/focused/putting in effort philosopher-types will clamor at being the first to say "We need a balance!". All the effort so you can rest.. Be calm while you are active. Sleep so you can re-energize, Etc. etc.. Well, I disagree.

It seems to me life is a constant pushing to "deal with" (putting in effort, activity and focus to survive, get more comfortable, and entertain (find meaning/flow states/distraction etc.). The champion here then is the opposite- rest and sleep. We should strive for as much sleep as possible. The best life is one that sleeps 24/7, 365 days a year. But we can't do that, so the next best thing is one that can get as close to that as possible. Of course not being born at all would be the best outcome as, though not equivalent, can (from the point of view of being already alive) be the same.

Yet as people decide to have more people in the world, they are making a determination that yet another person (a new person) has to be put in the world to put in more activity, focus, and effort. Poetically-speaking, why mess with the slumber to make people deal with, be active, focus, and expend effort? Deep sleep seems an ideal state. One doesn't wont for anything. We want to create stress, buzzing, activity, "becoming", but why? Any romantic view for the awake state of becoming, activity, focus, effort seems cruelly creating drama and work and energy where there doesn't need to be. Why value this to the point of making more cases of this by bringing new people into the world in the first place?

Schopenhauer claimed "We are becoming but never being" (as per the pre-Scoratics). Deep sleep seems the closest I can see to being and not becoming. Three cheers for eternal slumber.

Things to keep in mind.. The claim "Why don't you just anesthetize yourself already!" would be equivalent to saying "Why don't you just kill yourself already!". Most people would be scared of death states, and I would imagine putting themselves into permanent states of sleep roughly the same, so this isn't a practical answer. This is more of an aesthetic understanding.. the implication of understanding what sleep represents vs. the awake states.