points by karlosvomacka 22 hours ago | 0 comments
> In winter the sun wouldn't come up until 9:30.
Much better than having sunset before 16:00.
[–] nkmnz 22 hours ago
[–] watwut 18 hours ago
There is no morning light exposure either way. Seriously. You are talking about "scientific evidence" from completely different time zone with completely different light conditions and completely different lifestyles. There are multiple hours of dark between sunset and going to sleep in the winter anyway. You are waking up into dark and going to school/work anyway.
And only very few people are like leisure or outside sport activities in the morning before going to school or work. It is just not that relaxing when you have to watch the clock or take longer shower after.
[–] nkmnz 13 hours ago
> You are waking up into dark and going to school/work anyway.
You're spot on. Now change the problem, not the symptom.
[–] nkmnz 22 hours ago
Depends on your personal preference. It's ridiculous that the politic topic is the question "should most of us suffer in the morning or should most of us suffer in evening", instead of "how could we allow for more flexible individual schedules", especially when it comes to school, opening hours of public services, and store hours.
[–] myersj 18 hours ago
How, specifically, would you solve for "just show up like, whenever you want" for kids in school?
[–] simonra 13 hours ago
School is where we show people that society will sacrifice them for others without consideration. So it would be on brand and efficient to let it be up to the parents convenience. And now that it's said that large swathes of employment will be displaced by language models, surely there will be enough manpower going around to have two or three shifts of teachers?
[–] nkmnz 12 hours ago
Where I live, teachers teach for <20 hours a week (<30*45min), 40 weeks a year. I bet there's some room for a second shift ;)
[–] nkmnz 13 hours ago
Exactly like that. Open office hours from the current start of school (Ts) -2h with supervision, self study, project work. Then regular classes from Ts +2h until the current end of school (Te) -2h, with the same offering of study time until T2 +2h. Total time in school can be reduced by 2h or increased by 2h compared to today, based on grades. Of course it will cost money. But don't get me started on the cost of having many children not fulfilling their academic potential because they are tired due to biological incompatibility with the Prussian ideal of the morning person. And now let's speak about childhood depression... or about the fact that 60% of ADHD diagnoses amongst teens vanish once their sleep is fixed.
[–] flohofwoe 22 hours ago
What? No! I find it utterly depressing to get up in the morning and it's still completely dark outside. A dark late afternoon is much nicer IMHO.
[–] watwut 18 hours ago
It is not dark late afternoon. It is dark early afternoon
[–] flohofwoe 17 hours ago
How early it gets dark in winter depends on how far up north you are of course. On my latitude (Germany) it gets dark around 4:30pm and 5:30pm in winter, which for me is late afternoon (6:00pm would then be early evening)
Evidence-backed benefits of morning light exposure:
Advances the circadian clock, helping shift the body's biological night earlier. Randomized controlled study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24179293/
Promotes earlier sleep timing and may improve subjective sleep quality. Systematic review of 45 studies: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30670164/
Improves alertness, attention, and reaction times, although average effects are small. 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis of 150 studies involving 5,401 participants (daytime light, not exclusively morning): https://doi.org/10.1080/15502724.2025.2493669
Helps treat seasonal depression (SAD). Systematic review and network meta-analysis of 17 randomized trials involving 773 patients: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40629637/
Can improve outcomes in nonseasonal depression when bright-light therapy is added to treatment. 2024 meta-analysis of 11 randomized trials involving 858 patients: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39356500/
Natural daylight exposure helps synchronize the biological clock with the solar day. Experimental research found that exposure to natural light-dark cycles advanced circadian timing compared with modern indoor lighting environments: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23910656/