Ben Celebrates National Nap Day...By Taking One.
Feeling logy this week? Lost a step somewhere along the way? Cant concentrate while doing simple tasks? You can blame the time change.
The nations clocks went forward the customary hour on Sunday, but for those who are having trouble adjusting, theres more bad news: Were likely to get more Daylight Saving Time (DST) in the future, not less.
Thats because Facebook memes about abolishing the practice of losing and gaining an hour aside no organized movement has materialized to oppose DST.
In fact, the trend is in the opposite direction. Every 20 years, we get an extra month, said Michael Downing, a professor at Tufts University who wrote the book on the subject that is titled Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time.
Despite that subtitle, Downing is not against saving daylight. He said, living in New England, he has come to enjoy the social benefits of a longer day: Weve come to feel that late summer sunsets are our right.
According to Downing, roughly every two decades, the U.S. Congress pushes DST earlier in the spring and later in the fall. The last time this happened was during George W. Bushs administration. Since Canadas trade and cultural ties with the U.S. are so strong, Parliament went along with the change.
Downing said DST has become a sort of magical cure-all and whipping boy all in one. It has been blamed and credited with all the ills and blessings of mankind, since it was first established as a way to save fuel during the First World War.
For most people it registers as a kind of profound jet lag, he said of the changes effects on the human body.
Would Downing at least be in favour of setting aside a shared time for everyone to recover from the time change something like a national nap day the day after? No, but he believes the timing of the change should be shifted so that it doesnt happen early Sunday morning. Making the change on Saturday would give people time to recover before returning to work. Which would be the same as national nap day, he said.
Stan Coren is a University of British Columbia professor emeritus and sleep researcher who wrote the book Sleep Thieves. He said national nap day is a decent idea, but human nature being what it is, people would use it as an excuse to party or stay up late again. If, in fact, everybody did take the time off to rest, that would be great.
Coren said studies show there is a six to seven per cent increase in traffic collisions after the change in the spring. Its also been linked to an increase in accidental deaths and even heart attacks, plus costs to the economy. Its highly likely that theres some loss in productivity, Coren said, which goes away in one to five days as people recover.
Despite those numbers, Coren is not opposed to continuing the practice. I think that theres a net societal gain because of the energy savings, he said. Downing is not so sure. We have much more sophisticated (energy) systems, he said, meaning many modern buildings are lit and air-conditioned 24 hours a day. And gas consumption increases, due to the fact drivers are travelling later into the day.
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DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME
Clocks sprung forward one hour Sunday at 2 a.m.
They will go back one hour Nov. 6 at 2 a.m.
Originally floated as a joke by Benjamin Franklin to save tallow for candles.
Change was originally made early in the morning so railway schedules wouldnt be affected.
The U.S. farming lobby was originally one of the few organizations against DST.
Makes some people sleep stupid, a form of jet lag.
It wonks a whole lot of people. Stan Coren, UBC sleep researcher.
Source: http://www.lfpress.com/2016/03/14/daylight-saving-time-here-to-stay
