Hugmonster
Again, find myself agreeing with you 100%. You show quite remarkable insight at times and have been elevated in my estimation manyfold.
excrewingbod
Don't entirely agree with your last post above in that it is my long held belief that CAP371 had its origins in the Bader report of many long moons ago. I think it is true that there has been subsequent input by 'scientists' (for want of a more apt description) but it seems to me that all such input has merely served to water down rules that were far more consistent with 'the reduction of fatigue in aircrew', and therefore more in keeping with airline safety, than is the present form of CAP371.
IMHO there is nothing particularly complex about establishing what causes pilot fatigue;in most cases it is little more than overwork. As to "sleep functions", I honestly believe that fatigue/sleep problems are more a result of unintellegent rostering practices than anything else. For example, fatigue does not appear to be problematic in crews who regularly fly night duties (freight carriers for example) yet will inevitably appear in schedule/charter crews who find themselves rostered for earlies/lates in combination during short roster cycles.
The solution seems to be the application of logic and intelligence rather than simply 'science'. I think this is in line with Hugmonster's comment above.
Good topic.