Even if you do know the object of the exercise is more "add extra steps" so half awake brain is less likely to manage it without you waking up enough to curse and get up anyway.
Then again, back on my N900 half awake brain once managed to pop a root shell, ps | grep, and kill -9 the alarm clock app without me having any memory of it (the shell was still open when I woke up naturally some time later or I'd never have known what happened).
Once you know, it’s easy to do.
Most people don’t know, so this probably does what the author is intending.