Is humanity afraid of the dark?

[figure9]

In my area (Chicagoland) there are so many lights that it never really gets dark anywhere. Do we really need all these lights. We light up schools, parks, intersections, shopping centers all night for what? Do lights really stop crime or do they just give an illusion of security? My town even lights up the water tower! I really can't picture anyone stealing that even with the cover of darkness. If we take global warming seriously wouldn''t it make sense to turn off a few megawatts of unneeded lights? Sorry this turned into a rant but it annoys me to see so much electricity going to waste!

[cprofitt]

We are not afraid of the dark... we are afraid of what is hidden in the dark.

[uberlube]

I agree, having lights on all the time is only meant to give the illusion of security. Just like in my city (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) they are talking about revitalizing the downtown core in the hopes that it will drive away crime and the homeless. Like the homeless or criminals eyes will start to bleed and run away at the sight of a newly build building. :confused:

[spamzilla]

We are not afraid of the dark... we are afraid of what is hidden in the dark.

I was thinking of posting the exact same thing :)

[LaRoza]

Light Pollution: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_pollution

[bobbybobington]

seriously, if people are so worried, they should take defence classes/a gun/tazer /pepperspray that's much more of a crime deterrent than wasteful street lights. Plus cars should have infrared/light amplification cameras built in and displayed over the windshield. Much better IMO

[red_Marvin]

+1
When we get low clouds the light from numerous lps street lamps make the skies bright as the day, or so it feels.
589nm.
Yellow.
Can't sleep.
And I only live in a ~100k inhabitants city.

[lyceum]

I prefer the dark, but that's just me.

[juxtaposed]

It's to keep the vampires away. They're a real problem in some cities.

[cprofitt]

I agree, having lights on all the time is only meant to give the illusion of security. Just like in my city (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) they are talking about revitalizing the downtown core in the hopes that it will drive away crime and the homeless. Like the homeless or criminals eyes will start to bleed and run away at the sight of a newly build building. :confused:

The trick in not that the homeless or criminals will run from the building, but the law abiding citizens who will be drawn to using the new building.

Criminals like the shaddy areas left untrodden by upstanding folk.

[aimran]

Lights are there to keep people who like hanging out late safe. We can't really argue if the lights are doing their job or not BUT we can argue why the hell are people doing up so late?

Is it so much to ask people to stay at home and cultivate a healthier culture?

[angryfirelord]

I prefer the dark, but that's just me.
Same here. Makes my screen seem brighter. :)

The only pain about the dark is driving in it. Up here in woodland country, you have to watch out for deer or other animals that may suddenly dart out in front of your car (cue superbowl commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUcJuR_aqTs&NR=1). I've been lucky to not hit anything yet, but I've known others who have hit a deer and it creates an ugly mess.

[markp1989]

Lights are there to keep people who like hanging out late safe. We can't really argue if the lights are doing their job or not BUT we can argue why the hell are people doing up so late?

Is it so much to ask people to stay at home and cultivate a healthier culture?

it gets dark at around 4/5 pm in the winter, so you cant expect people not to be out in the dark, i good idea would be to turn the lights of at a certian time to save power, how ever this could cause crime problems with muggers etc waiting for the lights to go out,

[sloggerkhan]

Since people in modern societies are socially programmed to feel vulnerable, they need lights to convince themselves of their safety.

[buzzmandt]

People are afraid of the dark, before there were lights there were lamps, and before that prehistory man kept a fire going as much as possible. Light (or fire thereof) scares many predatory animals. It is instinct that we prefer to be able to see when it's dark, and to have a fire (or light source such as) for survival.

[hhhhhx]

i like the dark. :)

[jpittack]

We need to better use the lights. Replace them with more efficent ones. I'm one of the guys that hates light pollution. I'm in the suburabs of a 400k city and can't see Orion's Belt.

[barbedsaber]

I love the dark, but that is probobly just because of partial albanoidisum (no im not kidding) which makes hanging around bright lights almost painfull, I like stargazing, and I just shich that people woul aim their lights DOWN!

[argie]

I like the lights, but really, most of them are just wasted. I don't know how it can be done, but I'm pretty sure that it's possible to build streetlamps that illuminate the street and not the skies.

Also, the lights near the beach in our city cause trouble with the nesting patterns of Olive Ridleys. Far greater men than I have asked for them to be removed or for coastal building regulations and they've been turned down.

[JurB]

It probably dates back to the time we lived in caves and used fire to keep wild animals at bay... the human brain hasn't evolved much since... So yeah, it's not the dark, but what's hidden inside it.
Edit: acctually when you think of it fire wasn't only usefull for security, but it also acted as a tv... + it attracts insects, nice crunchies for in front of the telly ;)

[SupaSonic]

The city lights create an unhealthy atmosphere. It occasionaly so happens that some of the lights outside my building go out for a few minutes. When I look out the window then, and it's dark, I can feel that it's night time, and that nature is resting. The lights create the crazy atmosphere, an illusion that day still goes on. This is one of the reasons why people in the cities are far more stressed, nervous or even depressed.

So yeah, I like the dark. I also like the silence. Both are increasingly harder to come by these days.

[DrMega]

The city lights create an unhealthy atmosphere. It occasionaly so happens that some of the lights outside my building go out for a few minutes. When I look out the window then, and it's dark, I can feel that it's night time, and that nature is resting. The lights create the crazy atmosphere, an illusion that day still goes on. This is one of the reasons why people in the cities are far more stressed, nervous or even depressed.

You are not alone in this view. There have been a number of scientific studies into this.

We need daylight, but only as nature intended (during daylight hours). At night we need darkness to convince us on a subconscious level that the day is over and it is time to rest.

The effect is far more profound in nature. Many plants and small animals (especially birds and insects) depend on the daily cycle for their "body clocks".

In terms of climate change, I think given what we now know about the effects of human activity on the climate, I think it should be illegal to be wasteful of energy. It annoys me when I have to drive on motorways and other major roads at night, and many of them have arrays of overhead lights covering a miles at a time. It is a blatant waste of energy, as the law requires that we use our headlights after dark, as far as I'm concerned if your car headlights don't create enough light for you to safely see where you are going then either: Your headlights are defective and your car is not legally roadworthy, or your vision is not to the standard required for safe driving and you should surrender your driving license, or you are driving too fast for the conditions.

In terms of security, I think excessive lighting can be counter-productive. It means the criminal can see what he/she is doing.

[derekr44]

I am actually on the flip side here. While I agree some cities have too much light, the town I live in doesn't have enough.

My housing tract has one street light per street (roughly 70 houses per street) and no lights at the tract entrance. It is extremely difficult to see at night. There have been several accidents along the street because people slam on their brakes when the tract entrance comes into view. If it was appropriately lit, these problems wouldn't happen.

[DrMega]

There have been several accidents along the street because people slam on their brakes when the tract entrance comes into view.

Do they have a problem with their headlights? Is their vision OK? Do they drive too fast for the prevailing conditions?

Sorry, I agree, there has to be a balance between too much and not enough lighting. It shouldn't be broad daylight in the middle of the night (unless you live in the far north of Scandinavia and it is summer time of course), but in built up areas there should be enough so that people can safely see where they are going. Not so much for drivers (who should have working headlights on their cars), but for pedestrians who don't.

[derekr44]

Do they have a problem with their headlights? Is their vision OK? Do they drive too fast for the prevailing conditions?

Nope. Speed limit is 35mph on the street. Since it's just a residential entryway, you can't see a single thing until you are maybe 20 feet from the turn. It's a blind corner because of residential walls.

[mridkash]

Use Solar Street Lights!
The market near my place has some and they light up the street until business hours (9-10pm) and then turn off as the battery dies. After that, only a few lights are kept on, just enough for visibility.

This is the right balance, I guess.

[Atomic Dog]

I like the dark. When I am in the desert it is pitch black when the moon isn't up -well except for the bazillion stars I can see. It is very soothing.

[DrMega]

Use Solar Street Lights!
The market near my place has some and they light up the street until business hours (9-10pm) and then turn off as the battery dies. After that, only a few lights are kept on, just enough for visibility.

This is the right balance, I guess.

The only thing that would worry me with this is what happens when the solar kits reach the end of their useful life. I'm not sure what the batteries are made of but most batteries are an environmental nightmare both in manufacture and disposal.