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Forgive my ignorance - but what's stopping employers/employees/schools from shifting their working hours instead? Doesn't that seem less drastic and extreme (an

Forgive my ignorance - but what's stopping employers/employees/schools from shifting their working hours instead? Doesn't that seem less drastic and extreme (and easier for a government to implement)?

skywhopper 6y ago
Why is that easier? Suddenly at some point in the year your entire schedule shifts by an hour?
- wnoise 6y ago
  Or possibly it shifts half an hour 4 times a year. There's lots of room for experimentation and variability.
johnzim 6y ago
You end up with a situation where say 20% have shifted and 80% haven't. Then over time, like planets falling into a ring of orbits, everyone ends up shifting back because too many other people are on the other schedule. These sorts of things need critical mass to have effect. That said, with all the lockdowns and isolated living, I do wonder if the social conformity effect will be as strong going forward.
ajmurmann 6y ago
I've had the same issue for many years. I like the time still be coupled to the position of the sun and I also prefer earlier sunrises. The issue here is that the individual choice you and I would prefer doesn't exist for parents since their schedule is dictated by schools. Edit: also not all jobs offer that choice. Think things like construction, public transit or hospital jobs
Eridrus 6y ago
Hours are interlinked across society. If you drive your kid to school, you need that to roughly line up with when you go to work. Maybe you don't have this constraint, but your coworker does, so if they were to keep the existing hours, you have some incentive to keep the same hours too, etc.
recursive 6y ago
Nothing is stopping them. But that doesn't go far enough. I work on software that, among many other things, calculates durations between local times that have been recorded. DST is a constant thorn in my side. And no, I can't "just use UTC". To be compliant, the software must accept input in local times. If it's possible to shift working hours (which it is), then what is the purpose of DST anyway. I'd rather trade the one-time cost of eliminating it entirely than reliving the same mini-crisis twice a year. The upside of DST is nothing but inertia.

skywhopper 6y ago

Why is that easier? Suddenly at some point in the year your entire schedule shifts by an hour?

wnoise 6y ago
Or possibly it shifts half an hour 4 times a year. There's lots of room for experimentation and variability.

johnzim 6y ago

You end up with a situation where say 20% have shifted and 80% haven't. Then over time, like planets falling into a ring of orbits, everyone ends up shifting back because too many other people are on the other schedule. These sorts of things need critical mass to have effect. That said, with all the lockdowns and isolated living, I do wonder if the social conformity effect will be as strong going forward.

ajmurmann 6y ago

I've had the same issue for many years. I like the time still be coupled to the position of the sun and I also prefer earlier sunrises. The issue here is that the individual choice you and I would prefer doesn't exist for parents since their schedule is dictated by schools. Edit: also not all jobs offer that choice. Think things like construction, public transit or hospital jobs

Eridrus 6y ago

Hours are interlinked across society. If you drive your kid to school, you need that to roughly line up with when you go to work. Maybe you don't have this constraint, but your coworker does, so if they were to keep the existing hours, you have some incentive to keep the same hours too, etc.

recursive 6y ago

Nothing is stopping them. But that doesn't go far enough. I work on software that, among many other things, calculates durations between local times that have been recorded. DST is a constant thorn in my side. And no, I can't "just use UTC". To be compliant, the software must accept input in local times. If it's possible to shift working hours (which it is), then what is the purpose of DST anyway. I'd rather trade the one-time cost of eliminating it entirely than reliving the same mini-crisis twice a year. The upside of DST is nothing but inertia.