7 ms·

I wonder what damage our twice yearly clock changes do. An hour doesn't seem like much but, giving an entire population a little bit of jet lag simultaneously h

I wonder what damage our twice yearly clock changes do. An hour doesn't seem like much but, giving an entire population a little bit of jet lag simultaneously has to be bad for us, right?

busyant 10y ago
I've tested myself for the past 10 years and it seems as though I get sick (cold/flu-like) more frequently when we lose an hour. It's anecdata and small sample size and other possible confounding variables, but I think there is a kernel of truth in there.
- Thrillington 10y ago
  I know you acknowledged that's anactodal, but we lose an hour at the end of flu season. You're more likely to be sick during this time of the year. The clock change has nothing to do with it.
transcranial 10y ago
There are definitely measurable population-level effects, like increased traffic accidents [1] and heart attacks [2]. And given that its purported benefits are completely unsubstantiated, it's amazing that DST still exists. [1] https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/app.20140100 https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/app.20140100 [2] http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc0807104 http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc0807104
- weaksauce 10y ago
  I wish we would all go on DST and be done with it forever. The extra hour of usable daylight after work is a net win for societies mental health. We have farming machines that do the heavy lifting and are mostly automated now anyway. Unlike when it was enacted, there simply are much fewer farmers.
  - joecool1029 10y ago
    Think of the children!!! EDIT: I should clarify that this is nearly always the argument brought up against year round DST, so that children during winter go to school with sunlight in the morning.
    - mjevans 10y ago
      Yes, let's think of the children, and let them get the sleep that they need. (I am not a morning person, and really should have had much more sleep after local sunrise.)
    - weaksauce 10y ago
      Shift their school cycle to be more in line with the sun.
    - petecox 10y ago
      Spain has this issue. It is in the wrong timezone, which the government changed in the 1940s. Consequently it stays light until 6:30pm in winter. In mountainous regions such as Picos de Europa, towns in the valleys do have kids catching schoolbuses in near darkness at 8:30am. As a traveller I found the experience surreal. Although, we put the clocks forward an hour leading up to the 2000 Olympics so construction workers could work longer.
      - danieltillett 10y ago
        The 2000 Olympics where held in Sydney :)
        cortesoft 10y ago
        Yeah, the last Olympics in Spain were in 1992 in Barcelona.
        petecox 10y ago
        Yes and I live in Melbourne, where daylight saving was adopted in August, despite the event being held hundreds of kms away.
- anigbrowl 10y ago
  Perhaps mentally ill people should sue for its removal on the basis that we don't want to carry the can for whatever non-actual benefits are ascribed to DST.
stretchwithme 10y ago
Clocks should be a means to measure time, not manipulate when people do things.
- Houshalter 10y ago
  But think of the chaos if every person and business had to implement their own alternative to DST. Every business would change it's hours on a different date, and many wouldn't change their hours at all. Everyone would have to completely change their routines ad hocly. It's nice to have a single standard, and only have to change the clock. If it helps, don't think of clock as a measure of the sun. Think of it as a measure of humanity's daily cycle. 12:00 is the middle of most people's day. Even if that isn't necessarily when the sun is highest in the sky. It's nice to have everyone's cycle regulated to a single standard.
  - ClassyJacket 10y ago
    Unless you get up at 3AM, noon isn't the middle of your day.
    - robotresearcher 10y ago
      It's the middle of your workday if you need daylight to work.
  - stretchwithme 10y ago
    Why would anyone want to implement their own DST? Why would anyone need to trick themselves by changing their clocks when they can just decide to get up at a different time? And what was going on before DST was invented? Chaos? And where people ignore this idea? Is it chaos there?
    - lazyasciiart 10y ago
      This is an argument against DST, not clocks.

I wonder what damage our twice yearly clock changes do. An hour doesn't seem like much but, giving an entire population a little bit of jet lag simultaneously has to be bad for us, right?

busyant 10y ago

I've tested myself for the past 10 years and it seems as though I get sick (cold/flu-like) more frequently when we lose an hour. It's anecdata and small sample size and other possible confounding variables, but I think there is a kernel of truth in there.

Thrillington 10y ago
I know you acknowledged that's anactodal, but we lose an hour at the end of flu season. You're more likely to be sick during this time of the year. The clock change has nothing to do with it.

transcranial 10y ago

There are definitely measurable population-level effects, like increased traffic accidents [1] and heart attacks [2]. And given that its purported benefits are completely unsubstantiated, it's amazing that DST still exists. [1] https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/app.20140100 https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/app.20140100 [2] http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc0807104 http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc0807104

weaksauce 10y ago
I wish we would all go on DST and be done with it forever. The extra hour of usable daylight after work is a net win for societies mental health. We have farming machines that do the heavy lifting and are mostly automated now anyway. Unlike when it was enacted, there simply are much fewer farmers.
- joecool1029 10y ago
  Think of the children!!! EDIT: I should clarify that this is nearly always the argument brought up against year round DST, so that children during winter go to school with sunlight in the morning.
  - mjevans 10y ago
    Yes, let's think of the children, and let them get the sleep that they need. (I am not a morning person, and really should have had much more sleep after local sunrise.)
  - weaksauce 10y ago
    Shift their school cycle to be more in line with the sun.
  - petecox 10y ago
    Spain has this issue. It is in the wrong timezone, which the government changed in the 1940s. Consequently it stays light until 6:30pm in winter. In mountainous regions such as Picos de Europa, towns in the valleys do have kids catching schoolbuses in near darkness at 8:30am. As a traveller I found the experience surreal. Although, we put the clocks forward an hour leading up to the 2000 Olympics so construction workers could work longer.
    - danieltillett 10y ago
      The 2000 Olympics where held in Sydney :)
      - cortesoft 10y ago
        Yeah, the last Olympics in Spain were in 1992 in Barcelona.
      - petecox 10y ago
        Yes and I live in Melbourne, where daylight saving was adopted in August, despite the event being held hundreds of kms away.
anigbrowl 10y ago
Perhaps mentally ill people should sue for its removal on the basis that we don't want to carry the can for whatever non-actual benefits are ascribed to DST.

stretchwithme 10y ago

Clocks should be a means to measure time, not manipulate when people do things.

Houshalter 10y ago
But think of the chaos if every person and business had to implement their own alternative to DST. Every business would change it's hours on a different date, and many wouldn't change their hours at all. Everyone would have to completely change their routines ad hocly. It's nice to have a single standard, and only have to change the clock. If it helps, don't think of clock as a measure of the sun. Think of it as a measure of humanity's daily cycle. 12:00 is the middle of most people's day. Even if that isn't necessarily when the sun is highest in the sky. It's nice to have everyone's cycle regulated to a single standard.
- ClassyJacket 10y ago
  Unless you get up at 3AM, noon isn't the middle of your day.
  - robotresearcher 10y ago
    It's the middle of your workday if you need daylight to work.
- stretchwithme 10y ago
  Why would anyone want to implement their own DST? Why would anyone need to trick themselves by changing their clocks when they can just decide to get up at a different time? And what was going on before DST was invented? Chaos? And where people ignore this idea? Is it chaos there?
  - lazyasciiart 10y ago
    This is an argument against DST, not clocks.