Thursday, November 1, 2012

Daylight Savings Time

This upcoming Saturday night (technically Sunday morning) the clocks are set back an hour.  I understand its importance for environmental and fiscal reasons, but it makes me think of the relativity of time.  No, I'm not going to talk about Einstein's theories today, although I'll rant about why I think they aren't true later.  I'd prefer just to talk about how we keep time.

Time exists and passes whether we decide to measure it or not.  If you have ever watched a really good movie or played a fun video game, time seems to pass much quicker.  On the other hand, if you have ever watched C-Span, you know that time can go slow as well.  For any event to be coordinated between multiple people, they must share the same sense of when something is occurring.  A standard and universal time is needed for the maximum efficiency of collaboration and completing tasks.  If we were not to measure time accurately, different people, based on the activities at hand, would perceive time to pass at varying rates.

I just think it's odd how we can collectively agree to change what time it is.  What if I say I don't want to follow daylight savings time?  What if I don't think the government has any right to tell me what time it is or isn't?  Where in the Constitution does it allocate the power to alter time?

I don't think I'm actually getting anywhere with this post, but I might have just started a new political movement of anarchists against the government mandate of time.  As I think about it more, this definitely needs to be a thing.

2 comments:

  1. For me, time passes quickly when I am watching C-Span... Am I doing something wrong?

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    Replies
    1. Your brain has probably already reached the consistency of a potato. If you are somehow still functional, enjoy the fact that you can easily handle monotonous tasks, and do everyone a favor and become the world's most enthusiastic accountant.

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