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The "early wakeup time makes people groggy" story always looked puzzling to me. I mean, when DST kicks in everyone adjusts in day or two. What prevents one fr

by DenisM 7y ago

The "early wakeup time makes people groggy" story always looked puzzling to me. I mean, when DST kicks in everyone adjusts in day or two. What prevents one from setting up their own personal DST and getting up earlier still? Certainly not biology.

drblast 7y ago
Biology is a factor because the sun isn't up. Also there is the desire to do things in the evening, such as a parent having dinner and interacting with their kids before they have to go to bed. Or to get home from work to help them with their homework. Or let's say as a parent I don't want to have to wake up at 6am because my kids have to wake up that early for school when I don't have to be to work until 9 or 10.
thrower123 7y ago
DST is a huge mess for at least a month, sometimes longer. It's massively disruptive. This may be more of an issue in higher latitudes, though. It was always the last straw that signalled the effective end of the school year in the spring. Everyone was so frigged up and groggy from that shift ahead that we might as well have not been there, and by the time people did adjust, there wasn't any time left to recoup.
topkai22 7y ago
Every time this comes up, I recommend "Internal Time" by Till Roenneburg. It is wonderfully written, and it demolishes this concept quite thoroughly. It really is biology. Summary of the book as relates here though: People really do have internal clocks and preferred awake/sleep cycles. These internal clocks vary between individuals, and are there is most likely a genetic component. These internal clocks vary with age- in particular, teenagers and young adults clocks are generally shifted much later than kids or older adults. Shifts to people's schedules (such as DST) that cause them to leave their preferred sleep/awake cycle mitigate with time, but do not fully go away. Outside that book, there are plenty of studies showing that a non-standard hours shift work is biologically harmful.
MauranKilom 7y ago
It certainly is biology. Your circadian rhythm is strongly influenced by the timing of day (well, blue) light being received by your eyes. It also shifts naturally as you age - for example, in your teenage years you tend to fall asleep and wake up later. There are also interesting effects like the significant differences in school performance between students living at the eastern edge of a time zone vs living at the western.
rhinoceraptor 7y ago
Your circadian rhythm is not independent from your environment, especially if you're a teenager.

by DenisM 7y ago

drblast 7y ago

Biology is a factor because the sun isn't up. Also there is the desire to do things in the evening, such as a parent having dinner and interacting with their kids before they have to go to bed. Or to get home from work to help them with their homework. Or let's say as a parent I don't want to have to wake up at 6am because my kids have to wake up that early for school when I don't have to be to work until 9 or 10.

thrower123 7y ago

DST is a huge mess for at least a month, sometimes longer. It's massively disruptive. This may be more of an issue in higher latitudes, though. It was always the last straw that signalled the effective end of the school year in the spring. Everyone was so frigged up and groggy from that shift ahead that we might as well have not been there, and by the time people did adjust, there wasn't any time left to recoup.

topkai22 7y ago

Every time this comes up, I recommend "Internal Time" by Till Roenneburg. It is wonderfully written, and it demolishes this concept quite thoroughly. It really is biology. Summary of the book as relates here though: People really do have internal clocks and preferred awake/sleep cycles. These internal clocks vary between individuals, and are there is most likely a genetic component. These internal clocks vary with age- in particular, teenagers and young adults clocks are generally shifted much later than kids or older adults. Shifts to people's schedules (such as DST) that cause them to leave their preferred sleep/awake cycle mitigate with time, but do not fully go away. Outside that book, there are plenty of studies showing that a non-standard hours shift work is biologically harmful.

MauranKilom 7y ago

It certainly is biology. Your circadian rhythm is strongly influenced by the timing of day (well, blue) light being received by your eyes. It also shifts naturally as you age - for example, in your teenage years you tend to fall asleep and wake up later. There are also interesting effects like the significant differences in school performance between students living at the eastern edge of a time zone vs living at the western.

rhinoceraptor 7y ago

Your circadian rhythm is not independent from your environment, especially if you're a teenager.