There are 2 presumed architects of the original idea of daylight savings time. They both had pretty much the same idea but it manifested itself due to different reasons. (And NO, Al Gore is neither of these men.) The original proponent of DST was a New Zealander named George Vernon Hudson. He proposed the extended daylight hours so he could collect bugs after he got off of his shift at work. His idea is that there are more productive hours after work shifts end when DST is in effect. Ben Franklin was another man on the list… his rationale was primarily economic and he thought it would save money on candles (or modern day light bulbs) if people had more daylight to work with. His idea is that if you require less artificial lighting in the evening, despite requiring more in the morning, one would consume less energy and save money. Countless studies have found this savings to be either negligible or completely false. In fact, some even found the opposite to happen, meaning DST actually increases energy consumption in the hotter months due to more air conditioner use in the evening hours during the hottest days of the year. You can read here if you want to see the sources that are cited in these studies. There are also studies that show that more gas consumption occurs during DST… and well, that’s no good at all!
From a political perspective, leaders will argue that lengthening the summer hours will lead to healthier citizens overall because they are allowed more leisure pursuits in the longer days. However the change of time, in and of itself, is cited as the cause of many detrimental physical and mental health problems. Some cite that it increases depression in the winter months (I can attest to this) and night blindness sufferers, well, they suffer longer. Other studies found an increase in heart attack and suicide rates in men after in the initial weeks after the spring time change, and other claim the the sleep and circadian rhythm disruption can last for weeks after each time change which can lead to other health problems as well.
Economically, from the perspective of the retailers, DST is advantageous because people can shop longer and later. People get out more when there is more light in the evening and patronize area stores, restaurants, and sporting events. So that’s a plus… but at what cost? Evening entertainment promoters oppose DST because dark comes later and later in the summer. We all know this because sometimes, at 4th of July celebrations, we must wait until well after 9pm or later to see the fireworks. Boo!
As for me… I wish it would go away. I’ll still have plenty of time in the summer evenings to get done what need be done and my mornings would be much more productive if Mr. Golden Sun would appear earlier. As for the shift back in the fall, it does nothing but completely mess with my mental state (ask my poor hubby.)
And as a last thought… think of all the hours in total we spend changing clocks. I wonder how many hours it takes, globally, to accommodate this change. I have a dozen clocks in my house so setting them all takes probably 15 min all together. Multiply that by the number people that are forced to participate in this nonsense and the total time is likely astronomical. Surely that wasted time could be better spent, you know, curing cancer, creating cold fusion, or something equally important.
Popularity: 33% [?]
Most Popular Posts
- 100% Mashed Potatoes, Migraines, & Me.
- 80% Big.
- 58% Jelly Bean Martinis - shaken, not stirred.
- 51% Bigger.
- 43% Wood.
9 Comments
Leave a Reply
Related Posts
Jumping back in.
02/09/2010 • I've been an absentee blogger. Not that I have a huge following (mostly me and a few friends I bribe to read and comment) but I do enjoy it. I miss being here. The winter really got to me this ... read more
Well, just like a prayer… answered… here’s the grand finale, Madonna’s Like a Prayer, in full, for your viewing pleasure. 
First of all, I’m testing a bit to see if this new microblog widget really works and if I like it. And second, 
I couldn’t agree more. Actually, I did a bit of research on my own about this subject because I, too, wanted to find out who thought up this completely stupid thing (and I needed a cool trivia night question). DST came into being in Europe during World War 1, the theory being that the energy being saved could then be directed toward the war efforts. The US also jumped on this wagon shortly after although the law wasn’t put into effect until the 1970s. I can see the theory holding true back in the day when most women stayed home and there wasn’t long commutes to office work every morning. Trust me, I would love to take advantage of their theory that most people would just sleep the extra hour in the morning and not need lights, etc., however, my company would very much frown on me showing up work an hour late. This theory of time shifting (I prefer that term because there is NO “time savings” going on at all) has no place in modern life.
And, now thanks to baby Bush, (as if he could do any more else to piss me off) we get to “celebrate” an extra three weeks of this crap during the year. The bottom line truth is this: you only get so many hours of daylight on any given day during the year and no one (no, not even you Mr. Bush) can change that.
Whew, I’m so glad to have gotten that off my chest.
I always love your take on things. So interesting to read. Thanks for sharing,
What an excellent post, Teri. That was loaded with facts about DST that I never knew, and thoughts I never thought of. Personally, I don’t mind springing forward an hour in the spring, as much as I do turning back an hour in the fall. But at either end of the year, it’s not the complete daylight or darkness at any part of the day, that effects me as much as that weird slice of time ‘between’ the light and dark.
A very interesting read for me.
@Vicki Satterthwaite: Hi Vicki, thanks for stopping by. Glad I’m not the only one that hates DST. Of course, this morning is a wash because I’m completely off kilter with my schedule. It’s not easy to describe how uneasy it makes me feel when my body time is off. I just want to go back to bed. Hmm, not a bad idea!
@Matt: Thanks Matt. I appreciate you stopping by regularly to read my meanderings.
@Laura @ Our House of Joyful Noise: Laura, maybe you’re a supernatural being… since “Twilight” is the time of the day that affects you most. Or maybe your body just doesn’t like the blue light? Does it make you blue? Are you sure you’re not a vamp? You know, the freaks come out at night, right? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLYC7ltxOrk
You know, you may be on to something here. Yes, sometimes I do feel blue. But other times, I find I am biting people’s heads off. ; ) I’ve even been told around that time of day, “Gees, you don’t have to bite my head off.” Thankfully though, that time of day doesn’t last too long. Or else we’d have lots of people, with no heads around here, yes?
Only the government would think you could cut 1 foot off the end of a blanket, sew it on the other, and think you have a longer blanket with better warming properties.
What a amazing design you have. your blog articles are pretty informative too! Many thanks