system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How does laying in a dark room, silent, motionless, eyes closed but conscious not give us the same benefits of actually being asleep. Trying to understand how being unconscious changes how our bodies regenerate during this time even though they are physically in the same state.
gpt
When you sleep, a lot of systems shift gears. Brainwaves shift, metabolism, hormones, all the way down to the cellular level there is a shift in activity. 

You ask why we don’t get the same benefit from being still in the dark but awake…

Why does your car continue to wear and age if left running but parked in the driveway and not moving versus a car shut off in the same driveway?