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Re: [OT] Friday the 13th



On Wed, Feb 11, 2009 at 08:23:25AM -0600, Ron Johnson wrote:
> On 02/11/2009 05:17 AM, Dave Sherohman wrote:
> >On Tue, Feb 10, 2009 at 01:11:06PM -0600, Ron Johnson wrote:
 
> Extremes are, by definition, outliers.  Like all outliers, they'll 
> have to make do with something designed for the majority.

Sounds like what a USonian would say to a Canadian, Eh?

> Of course time zones are a good idea.  Humans are still diurnal and 
> like seeing the clock say "morning" when they wake up after a 
> night's sleep.  A clock who's 00:00 is at what is now 06:00 would be 
> coherent with our nature.

Clocks haven't been around long enough (under 200 years for the majority
of western peoples to see a clock when then wake up) for them to be part
of our nature.  Habit yes, nature no.

> And yes, DST *is* a good idea in a non-agrarian society, since we 
> "all" (note the quotes) go to work at the same time.  Even though 
> during the summer the Sun rises earlier in the day, we still "all" 
> go to work at the same time, so that extra amount of daylight in the 
> early morning is wasted, since there's nothing we can do with it.
> 
> Thus, shifting back the clock one our artificially gives us one 
> extra hour of light in the evening.

Which means we spend less energy in a 24 hr period, which is why DST in
North America was extended.

Doug.


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