Imagine an America where she doesnt sleep.

I had an idea for years now that most of the world sleeps at night then in the morning they all wake up and overflow the streets, businesses, workplaces, highways and rush to get home to repeat again leaving the businesses, schools, stores, highways almost empty.

It would be interesting to implement a system where half the population does the night living and others during the day and after a few weeks or months you can switch. This would balance out the flow of life on the planet and take the night back from the lost and the damned.

Traffic would be balanced, no more over crowded schools, line ups to everything, rage, congestion, pressure will be almost eliminated and the night is quite beautiful, cool, fresh. Having employment available at night should increase employment rates. I hope you get my picture, what do you think?

Having employment available at night should increase employment rates.

Is this not already the case?

Maybe it is just the effect of contrast, me being exposed to Europe, where stores, businessesand warehouses close by 7 PM, and only service like hospitals, police, and bars stay open after... but in America you can go get some groceries at any time of night, and there is always cars on the streets, and people who take night jobs.

I like the idea, it makes practical sense. However, most people's circadian rhythm is calibrated towards expending energy during daylight hours due to evolutionary programming. The health side effects might create a chain effect of unforeseen events (think chronic Jetlag x 1000). Besides, I like owning the night....

en.wikipedia.org...

a reply to: Shadow Herder

This is basically the case already, in America, and has been for quite some time. There are a ton of companies that have 3rd shift positions. I've spent about half of my adult life working nights.

Having people switch every few weeks or months, though, as you mentioned, is a terrible idea. Like most species, humans are hardwired to be active during the day, and rest at night, and disrupting the body's natural Circadian rhythm can have a severe impact on one's health and well-being.

Las Vegas is the thorn in the side of your theory ...

But then again - what happens in Vegas ...

originally posted by: admirethedistance
a reply to: Shadow Herder

This is basically the case already, in America, and has been for quite some time. There are a ton of companies that have 3rd shift positions. I've spent about half of my adult life working nights.

Having people switch every few weeks or months, though, as you mentioned, is a terrible idea. Like most species, humans are hardwired to be active during the day, and rest at night, and disrupting the body's natural Circadian rhythm can have a severe impact on one's health and well-being.

Yes but open schools, Kids can have a night cycle too and go to school as well as day cares. There are a lot of 24 hour places but not a night cycle. Some businesses only have one or 2 8 hour shifts, increase to 3. The proof is in the daily congestion and how it is less busy at night in most places outside of massive cities.

a reply to: Shadow Herder

I just looked up circadian rhythm and I doubt it would be good to mess with young children's circadian rhythms. It takes a good deal of effort and patience to get a routine going and working for small children and doing this reversal on them all time would be pretty hard on them I'd have to imagine. For consenting adults, fine, but no way would I subject my kids to that.

a reply to: Hephster

What do the kids do up north where they have many days of night and many days of light"?

a reply to: Shadow Herder

I think people that live there have adapted to such conditions, so yes, a person could indeed accomplish such a task but it would be, in my opinion, more trouble that it was worth just so roads were less congested. You've now traded in the fury of a crowded road with the frustration of training and re-training your kids sleep patterns.

originally posted by: admirethedistance
a reply to: Shadow Herder

This is basically the case already, in America, and has been for quite some time. There are a ton of companies that have 3rd shift positions. I've spent about half of my adult life working nights.

Not just America. There are countries that support the USofA that are 24 countries. Ever wonder where your customer service call goes when your cable goes out...probably the Philippines. Call centers in this world economy are located whereever English is spoken as a secondary language and the work force is willing to work for next to nothing, and on low paying contracts.

I had an overnight job once, at first we started on an 11 p.m. shift and then it was moved to 3 a.m. Crazy hours, horrible on the body and the rhythm of society, and wouldn't do it again (except in Vegas).

A double-post, and I never knew why people who do double posts just don't use them for something else. So on this one I'd like to say that yes, I would work the night shift in Vegas, because in Vegas the night is where it's at (I suppose that's true in other cities/jobs, but most of them are out-of-sync with the surrounding society).

originally posted by: Timely
Las Vegas is the thorn in the side of your theory ...

But then again - what happens in Vegas ...

You realize You broke the very first rule of Lost Wages, right? Now for the "Monetary Fine" go spend some $$$ on "charity" and remember "Charity begins at home"...

namaste


Edit: But when would folks.... uh.....er.... You know? Do 'it'? During the daytime? With the lights on? Ewwww, You're kinky... hahaha

Switching between being a night owl, and going to a job where you have to rise at the crack of dawn is not much fun.
I'm going through it right now. I'm starting to adjust after about a month.

originally posted by: Hephster
a reply to: Shadow Herder

I just looked up circadian rhythm and I doubt it would be good to mess with young children's circadian rhythms. It takes a good deal of effort and patience to get a routine going and working for small children and doing this reversal on them all time would be pretty hard on them I'd have to imagine. For consenting adults, fine, but no way would I subject my kids to that.

Yes, I can't imagine having to rotate mine every few months.

It's bad enough when he misses his daily nap or gets a few nights where he's late to bed. He's horrible to deal with for a few days until he gets back on track again. Now imagine doing that abrupt switch every few months.

originally posted by: Shadow Herder
a reply to: Hephster

What do the kids do up north where they have many days of night and many days of light"?

That change to constant night happens gradually, a minute or two at the beginning and ending of every day, not all at once.

So you do adapt to the change slowly, not all at once, and then it gradually gets more and more daylight too as you get closer to summer.

There wouldn't be time to have such a gradual change under your proposal.

We need less people so we can all work days.

Yea, I wondered this as a teen long ago. It's the case to an extent, but not really. Part of the problem with the current implementation is that it overlaps with the first shift, so that traffic isn't all too reduced. Another problem is many positions need real-time interactions, so you would have to keep businesses open 24-7, instead of just having some switch to funky hours.

Basically, what is reasonable is already implemented. Then there's the whole circadian rhythm, vitamin d deficiency thing. Some of those 3rd shifters look, and probably feel a bit like zombies. I can see why.

originally posted by: Shadow Herder

originally posted by: admirethedistance
a reply to: Shadow Herder

This is basically the case already, in America, and has been for quite some time. There are a ton of companies that have 3rd shift positions. I've spent about half of my adult life working nights.

Having people switch every few weeks or months, though, as you mentioned, is a terrible idea. Like most species, humans are hardwired to be active during the day, and rest at night, and disrupting the body's natural Circadian rhythm can have a severe impact on one's health and well-being.

Yes but open schools, Kids can have a night cycle too and go to school as well as day cares. There are a lot of 24 hour places but not a night cycle. Some businesses only have one or 2 8 hour shifts, increase to 3. The proof is in the daily congestion and how it is less busy at night in most places outside of massive cities.

What exactly goes on at night we are not supposed to see is my query; it is suspicious. Is there a reason most of us are unconscious at night? Why is there a 'hard wired' circadian rhythm in the first place? Its an interesting question; and I have had some very strange experiences between the hours of 2:00 and 4:00 am and these were not because I was in a band.

originally posted by: starswift
We need less people so we can all work days.

What would happen if we just got rid of the lunar and solar time cycles. Made up our own rules for once (just for fun); would God finally show up and smack our collective face?