Yup. We're humans and when we get tired we make mistakes. I could work a 12 hour day, but in the twelfth hour I'll probably make a mistake that'll take more than 6 hours or to fix someday in the future. If I work 8 hours you get 8 hours of productivity. If I work 12 hours you'll end up getting 6 hours or less of productivity.
The whole thing about making people work long hours is just about bad managers that enjoy exerting power over people. It's not about productivity.