tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905155363976375938.post2346404001051723976..comments2024-03-21T22:36:54.451-04:00Comments on HISTORIES OF THINGS TO COME: Setting the Clocks Back to Winter's UnconsciousLC Douglasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04250961297714038453noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905155363976375938.post-27879834377338110432013-11-11T08:02:13.106-05:002013-11-11T08:02:13.106-05:00I've always found Daylight Savings to be sligh...I've always found Daylight Savings to be slightly mysterious. I certainly noticed the recent shift, with it getting dark at 5 pm. It takes an adjustment. I checked the Wiki entry: it was first proposed in 1895 and first implemented in Austria-Hungary during WWI in 1916. It appears to have been implemented in countries during times of energy crisis, so that the time when people need natural light more - afternoon and evening - is effectively extended. Its use was expanded in the USA during the 1970s' oil problems.<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time<br /><br />It looks like Daylight Savings time is a curious blend of artificial industrialized time-keeping and natural, agrarian time-keeping:<br /><br />"Industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that does not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, and the coordination of mass transit, for example, usually remain constant year-round. In contrast, an agrarian society's daily routines for work and personal conduct are more likely governed by the length of daylight hours and solar time, which change seasonally (days being longer in summer and shorter in winter), due to the Earth's axial tilt. This effect is greater as one moves away from the Equatorial regions.<br /><br />By synchronously resetting all clocks in a society to be one hour ahead of Standard Time (one hour 'fast'), individuals who do follow a year-round schedule will effectively wake an hour earlier than they would have otherwise; they will begin and complete daily work routines an hour earlier, and they will experience an extra hour of daylight following their workday activities. An immediate drawback to this trade is that individuals will experience one fewer hour of daylight at the start of each day, making the policy less practical during winter."<br /><br />LC Douglasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04250961297714038453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905155363976375938.post-72601356990584190232013-11-10T15:17:33.536-05:002013-11-10T15:17:33.536-05:00I briefly attended college in the midwest U.S. in ...I briefly attended college in the midwest U.S. in or near a little pocket between the Eastern and Central time zones which refused to acknowledge Daylight Savings. This was back when David Letterman (who out there was a native son made good) was broadcast after the Tonight Show instead of opposite it. However, television stations broadcasting from the "pocket" enabled us to watch the relatively hipper Letterman an hour earlier and still get to sleep in time to make early classes. Or better, to watch his show at 11:30 alone and then watch it again at 12:30 with people unaware of the time zone situation and make sucker bets with them.<br /><br />I don't know if anyone's done a psychological study of temperate zone populations versus sunbelt or tropical populations regarding the long term effects of Daylight Savings shifts. In parts of the country where the passage of the seasons is only perceptible to residents (think Southern California or Hawaii), it's hard to believe that the hour's difference has the impact that it would have in Minnesota or Alaska. In the Northeast it's more of an event than Columbus Day was, certainly.pblfsdahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com