In the article, “Turn Back the Clock on Daylight Savings Time” by William F. Shughart II, Shughart discusses the flaws of the concept of daylight savings. This article touches on daylights savings and what Shughart believes are its shortcomings. From the get-go, he states that daylight savings time is a scam. Shughart delves deeper into the subject of daylight savings and begins by detailing its origin. Benjamin Franklin first proposed the concept of daylight savings in 1784 as a method of conserving energy. Although first proposed in the 18th century, daylight savings time finally became the norm for life in the United States during the energy crises in the 1970s. It was hoped to serve as a way to save energy and resources. But Shughart then discusses how as a result of daylight savings time, there have now been prominent issues that have arisen as time as gone. Such as air conditioning coming into the picture, and now with hot summer days being an hour longer with daylight savings, they would be used even more and costing more in resources. He goes from issue to issue such as disrupting our flow and circadian rhythms, evidence of heart attack spikes in the weeks after starting and ending daylight savings time, people being less productive on the job as daylight savings time begins and even an increase in traffic accidents, most notably in the fall when drivers must adjust to commuting home in the dark.
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Shughart ends this article with a strong argument stating that it is ludicrous to think that daylight savings time makes an extra hour of natural light available to anyone as the sun will shine the same number of hours per day no matter where your clock’s hands point to. Some people seem to prefer having daylight savings time, while others prefer the opposition. The best option in Shughart’s opinion would be to pick one and stick to it. I find myself as a strong advocate of Shughart and his proposition of picking just one between standard time and daylight savings time. Shughart discusses how daylight savings time just results in people being less productive and the disruption of our circadian rhythms. I can vouch for this as every time daylights savings time is either starting or ending, I find myself struggling to adjust to the change. I will tend to be more tired in the mornings when daylight savings time begins and we skip an hour ahead, or I find myself staying up later than usual and having much trouble falling asleep on time. My daily cycle will tend to be out of its usual rhythm and flow, resulting in sluggish activity and not being as productive as I normally would be. I believe it would be much easier to just get rid of the outdated concept of daylight savings time and stick to just only standard time permanently. Shughart cites Arizona, Hawaii, and the territories of the U.S. as evidence that flip-flopping between daylights savings time and standard time is now redundant. Those locations do not “spring forward” and “fall back” with their clocks and they get along just fine. Shughart also discusses how daylight savings time was initially proposed as a method of saving energy and resources, especially by delaying the need for the use of lights. This is a very outdated reasoning for daylight savings time. Nowadays resources are being researched into how we can work on “being
Shughart ends this article with a strong argument stating that it is ludicrous to think that daylight savings time makes an extra hour of natural light available to anyone as the sun will shine the same number of hours per day no matter where your clock’s hands point to. Some people seem to prefer having daylight savings time, while others prefer the opposition. The best option in Shughart’s opinion would be to pick one and stick to it. I find myself as a strong advocate of Shughart and his proposition of picking just one between standard time and daylight savings time. Shughart discusses how daylight savings time just results in people being less productive and the disruption of our circadian rhythms. I can vouch for this as every time daylights savings time is either starting or ending, I find myself struggling to adjust to the change. I will tend to be more tired in the mornings when daylight savings time begins and we skip an hour ahead, or I find myself staying up later than usual and having much trouble falling asleep on time. My daily cycle will tend to be out of its usual rhythm and flow, resulting in sluggish activity and not being as productive as I normally would be. I believe it would be much easier to just get rid of the outdated concept of daylight savings time and stick to just only standard time permanently. Shughart cites Arizona, Hawaii, and the territories of the U.S. as evidence that flip-flopping between daylights savings time and standard time is now redundant. Those locations do not “spring forward” and “fall back” with their clocks and they get along just fine. Shughart also discusses how daylight savings time was initially proposed as a method of saving energy and resources, especially by delaying the need for the use of lights. This is a very outdated reasoning for daylight savings time. Nowadays resources are being researched into how we can work on “being