Talk:Daylight saving time

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Mission relevance?

What the section title says.--ZooGuard (talk) 18:21, 19 September 2013 (UTC)

This is one of several recently created articles after User:Zero posted a list of suggested articles with more than 10 upvotes: RationalWiki:Saloon_bar#Going to assault and clean the suggestion page. This probably ought to be enough of an answer in itself.

Daylight saving time, like those pesky, westward-drifting time zones themselves, is another annoying example of human hubris. The true time of day is an astronomical fact beyond the reach of human legislation and standards. We also neglect the advantage that would come if the west side of town were a minute or two slower than the east side: that would throw a monkey wrench into the oppressive system of time discipline.

That said, daylight saving time is another of those wonky and outdated ideas that persist despite their obvious inconvenience by the result of a few entrenched interests. - Smerdis of Tlön (talk) 19:42, 19 September 2013 (UTC)

Yup. You can blame me for bringing a list of articles that have been upvoted to everyone's attention. Zero (talk) 19:47, 19 September 2013 (UTC)

I asked "how is this relevant to the mission?", not "why was this created?" (I had seen the section in the Saloon Bar). If you have problems remembering the formulation of the mission statement, it's included in the template box. I still see no justification. I also don't see how this will be different in any way from the Wikipedia article.

As for article suggestions, the votes don't have much of a meaning by themselves. In addition to them, page creators are supposed to use their common sense. Everyone can vote, including anonymous visitors, and by my observations that page is used mostly by enthusiastic newbies, not the regulars. Creating an article just to remove an entry from the list usually results in poor articles.--ZooGuard (talk) 07:38, 20 September 2013 (UTC)

Well, it's borderline. It's a topic that obviously WP is going to cover, but I think (and I may prove myself wrong) that there's enough craziness worth commenting on to meet the mission requirement and be different from WP. If something like this silliness is the best I can do then obviously we don't need an article. Or maybe I'll redirect to a general article about time, how it's actually crazy and how crazy people see it. Leap seconds, the lost weeks of 1752, it even links into the Biblical literalism eventually right? Tialaramex (talk) 10:23, 20 September 2013 (UTC)

Time zone gerrymandering

One oddity of DST goes along with the western edge of the Eastern time zone being stretched so industrial centers such as Milwaukee and Gary, Indiana could be on New York time. As a result, solar noon in the summertime doesn't happen until two in the afternoon or thereabouts. Sprocket J Cogswell (talk) 20:03, 19 September 2013 (UTC)

Ever since sunshine became a health hazard (It's time to burn this world down and begin anew.) the media have been claiming that the most dangerous time of day is between one and three in the afternoon. Because of the weird stretching of Eastern time (here in Indiana we geographically belong on Central, as does most of the country west of Pennsylvania) I have no idea when that is here. - Smerdis of Tlön (talk) 20:56, 19 September 2013 (UTC)

Four minutes per degree of longitude, sir. - GrantC (talk) 21:01, 19 September 2013 (UTC)

Arguably Spain is in the wrong time zone. It sort of feels like it too.--Bob^{"I think you'll find it's more complicated than that."} 21:07, 19 September 2013 (UTC)

I'd say I feel your pain, Bob, but I'm on Boston time now. For Grant, I prefer to think in terms of fifteen degrees an hour, which, in a nod to Smerdis's anthropometric bias, is about the span of an outstretched hand at arm's length. We will not speak of those egghead radians, nor of the angular mils so beloved of artillerists. Sprocket J Cogswell (talk) 21:16, 19 September 2013 (UTC)

You insult me, sir! I live and breathe radians. - GrantC (talk) 21:40, 19 September 2013 (UTC)

Dude, I'm totally OK with that, so long as you own being an egghead. Now splain me why the sun's and the moon's diameters each cover about half a degree of sky. Checkmate, atheist scum! Sprocket J Cogswell (talk) 21:54, 19 September 2013 (UTC)

It seems you have me beat. Clearly Goddidit, as there's no other way to explain such a remarkable coincidence! - GrantC (talk) 21:58, 19 September 2013 (UTC)

No, exactly the same is easy. what would prove Go dune it would be if one were exactly double the size of the other. Or maybe or almost exactly one third. Or something. That would prove it!--Bob^{"I think you'll find it's more complicated than that."} 06:24, 20 September 2013 (UTC)

Eh, maybe not then

Hmm. I have spent a while looking through Google hits from plausible searches, archives of material from known kooks and so on. I've examined plenty of things that seem relevant on the surface but none survive a thorough examination. There are people using conspiracy as a narrative to frame an explanation of the actual topic, people parodying conspiracy theorists (mostly badly) and what seems to be a single not very bright individual just asking "Is DST a conspiracy?" and being told "Uh, no" even on sites full of mad stuff about Obama or contrails.

The policy itself is silly enough, but we can't make much out of that. When it comes to non-crazy opposition, you've got the same talking points recycled as happens for any policy (from gun control to bicycle helmets to planning law) often with no citations. But explaining that doesn't distinguish this article from the one on Wikipedia. So that leaves a bunch of vaguely DST-related silliness like conspiracy nuts forgetting to allow for DST in examining evidence of some supposed event. Boring, doesn't warrant an article on DST itself. Nobody is sufficiently passionate to have won a bid for Congress on a platform of abolishing DST, or anything fun like that AFAICT.

So in a few days unless somebody else finds substance for this I'll delete the article (assuming I have the necessary rights), and take a look at the more general "time-related craziness" situation.^{— Unsigned, by: Tialaramex / talk / contribs} 20:39, 21 September 2013‎ (UTC)

If we're gonna maximize sunlight

Why not just have continuously variable time, so that every day has slightly different time to maximize available sunlight hours? More importantly, when daylight is saved, do they save it in bottles or in boxes? FU22YC47P07470 (talk/stalk) 05:34, 8 October 2015 (UTC)

As for the first part of your question, I bet folks like air traffic controllers would love the time shift by a few minutes every day. It would make their jobs way more interesting. Peace. AgingHippie (talk) 05:36, 8 October 2015 (UTC)

They can't call jobs menial if it requires calculus to figure out your schedule Herr FüzzyCätPötätö (talk/stalk) 05:42, 8 October 2015 (UTC)

Why not follow the Biblical teachings and ask Jesus to stop the Sun from moving? Why do you atheists hate God?! --Ymir (talk) 05:45, 8 October 2015 (UTC)

Jesus and God are to busy fixing sports matches, sending hilarious climate change disproving storms to vulnerable areas and causing earthquakes to worry about the sun. --"Paravant" ^{Talk & Contribs} 06:05, 8 October 2015 (UTC)

Ain't they more busy jizzing at the moon?--Arisboch ☞✍☜☞✉☜ 14:23, 8 October 2015 (UTC)

That was in the past, this is nowdays stuff. --"Paravant" ^{Talk & Contribs} 14:58, 8 October 2015 (UTC)

Health claims

It's suggested that changing the clocks forward/back an hour messes with people's sleep and causes negative health outcomes. Is there any actual proper evidence? Also any evidence of the health benefits/otherwise of permanent +1 or +0? --Annanoon (talk) 13:52, 18 March 2022 (UTC)