I chose to believe that our ancestors had it right when it came to sleep. And that we don't. I'm talking about our distant ancestors, prehistoric. They went to bed, or whatever precursor to the modern bed as we understand it that they used, when it got dark, and stayed there until it got light again. I make no real claim to historical accuracy here: if our ancestors didn't do this, then they should have. Let's face it though, they probably did. We should do it today, and our descendants should too. It is a natural law of our apey existence.
I'm imagining ancestors living at the latitude that I do, that being Northern England, where daylight hours vary from about 8 per day in the winter to 15 per day in the summer. So what I'm proposing is quite a radical readjustment of social norms. That's fine though, let's do it.
In the winter you wake up about 8:30am, rise and carry out your morning necessities, starting your working day no sooner than 10:30. You finish around 3:30pm, and you're back in bed by 5. In summer, you're up and about by 5:00am, occupying yourself through until let's say 7:30 or 8:00pm, before retiring again for a much shorter night's sleep around half past ten. You adjust this schedule incrementally each day, all year round, in accordance with the change of the seasons and the light. Everybody does this, and it is normal.
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| A typical working day in prehistoric times |
I accept that this is a radical proposal, and so it should be. Our society is chronically sleep-deprived. Why do we stick the same schedule of waking and sleeping all year round? Qui bono? The economy may benefit, but we do not. And what is "the economy" anyway? Why must the order of our lives be determined by this monstrous abstraction?
Everything should be adjusted to the length of the daylight hours. The working day must not be 9am - 5pm, regardless of the time of year; and neither should the school day. Night shifts may have to continue to be a thing, in hospitals and care homes, and other absolutely essential functions, but wherever possible these services should be automated and provided by robots (as, for that matter, eventually, should all unpleasant or degrading work). When it is dark, we should rest and sleep until the darkness ends, and it is as simple as that.
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