What time is it anyway?
A German-language science podcast which I like to listen to is "Wissenschaft im Brennpunkt." Recently there was a program, Im Widerstreit der Uhren" (in the conflict of clocks) about whether there is really any saving in Daylight Saving Time. It didn't reach a firm conclusion, except that the economic benefit is much less clear in today's society than it may once have been.
One point which it made in passing really interested me. The speaker said that some people are "larks" and "owls" based on their circadian cycle. This isn't a matter of day people vs. night people as such; it's whether people have a circadian cycle that's shorter or longer than 24 hours. About 5 to 10%, the owls, have a cycle of more than 25 hours; larks, a mere half of a percent of the population, have one that's less than 23 hours. If I'm a lark or near-lark, that could explain a few things about me, like that I tend to fade early, wake up early, and get to things early. Larks gravitate toward being morning people, and owls toward being night people.
To find out for sure, I'd have to go into an environment with all day and night cues removed. I'm not really that eager to make the test.
[I edited this post after reading the transcript and understanding more clearly what the lark-owl-normal distinction is.]
One point which it made in passing really interested me. The speaker said that some people are "larks" and "owls" based on their circadian cycle. This isn't a matter of day people vs. night people as such; it's whether people have a circadian cycle that's shorter or longer than 24 hours. About 5 to 10%, the owls, have a cycle of more than 25 hours; larks, a mere half of a percent of the population, have one that's less than 23 hours. If I'm a lark or near-lark, that could explain a few things about me, like that I tend to fade early, wake up early, and get to things early. Larks gravitate toward being morning people, and owls toward being night people.
To find out for sure, I'd have to go into an environment with all day and night cues removed. I'm not really that eager to make the test.
[I edited this post after reading the transcript and understanding more clearly what the lark-owl-normal distinction is.]