lol. The social stigmas that tend to exist around being someone that wakes up late are a bit silly in the modern age.
It’s really rooted in daylight- humans are general best suited to daylight conditions as far as our senses etc. Through most of human history survival has been quite a task and the average person would need to accomplish many things each day to survive. Night time has tended to be hazardous or disadvantageous for many reasons through time and history. Generally most humans could perform more tasks, be more efficient, and be safer working in the day time.
So it has often been common where wether permitted for humans to rise with the sun and retire with the sun more or less. Of course agricultural development strengthened this practice and it became somewhat customary as commerce developed that businesses would largely operate in daylight hours.
There is a social/communal component as well- anyone who has a loved one who works “graveyard” or does this themselves likely knows it can be hard to socialize or do activities together on different schedules. Most people also don’t appreciate others being noisy or active while they try to sleep. So of course we could speculate a sort of etiquette developed at some point independent of any instinctual shared urges to sleep at certain times- you don’t need spoken language even to recognize a pattern if you keep approaching your friend while they are sleeping and waking them up and they get upset or even attack you for it each time. An understudying generally develops that it isn’t prudent to wake someone without reason. Of course more “standard” hours of business needed to develop- wether you needed to discuss an issue with a friend or person of power or wanted to have a craftsperson repair or make an item- it wouldn’t likely do to have people waking them up at any hour to ask.
As lighting technology advanced and became more prevalent and accessible and we moved towards industrialization and mass production it became more possible and practical to keep “night hours.” We can also observe that as societies grew, certain tasks, especially those which were secretive or deemed unpleasant or disruptive moved towards “night hours” since the majority of people would be asleep and so any disruption or distaste to then could be mitigated and more secret tasks could be conducted away from witnesses, aided by the general lack of people and cloak of darkness.
So of course criminals and “seedier” goings on transpired after dark at times. It is also a case in many societies as they advanced especially that people would want recreation and socialization after a long days work. Communal social areas with lighting and relative security would facilitate this.
As society moved on these places often became taverns, bars, places of drink and such, and where commerce existed there have always been profiteers of human urges- so sex and prostitution or gambling, fighting, and other such things became an aspect of the “nightlife.” Where evenings might have been a time where “honest folk” did their socially acceptable business and socializing after working hours, night was often more a time for les socially accepted behaviors and people of lower social status. This ain’t universally true but historically common- and of course there were “honest” folks at night but often those of lower status- as we moved ahead in commerce many jobs became practical at night as a means to prepare for the day. Bakers making morning goods or those preparing morning markets may start early.
Where ships and coaches or such were used for commerce there may have been people loading and unloading and preparing shipments and such.
Of course often such work carried a degree of danger or perceived danger- asides any robbers and criminals using the night as cover for their activities who might run across these folks or make them targets, asides nocturnal predators, there are a couple other things of mention. The first is that with most people and this services away, and with the relative difficulty of night, accidents and other things were more likely and generally there was less help available.
It is also of note that due to the aforementioned dangers and complications of night, the human race as a whole has tended to have fears and superstitions relating to night. So it can generate be said through much of history and even today it has never been particularly considered desirable if one has reason to be up at late hours of the night for work and such.
Of course globalization, high speed communications and travel and global trade
started to create much more opportunity and need for keeping what might seem as “odd” hours. Anywhere that people have been up at night there has been some room for supporting industries as well- if you’re the only eatery etc. open at night you effectively have no competition for the business of those working or up at those hours, so as long as it is more profitable to be open and you seek profit… so more people began to move to “night owls” as more support and commerce could be conducted at night. It generally became safer and more practical to be up at nights as technology and development brought widespread illumination to populated areas and personal means for illumination became accessible and predators were pushed out of populated areas as well as development easing navigation at night.
I glossed over industrialization and the movement of many to factories and such because it fits in there fine and doesn’t need a whole chapter even if it is interesting.
So we came to a place where developed societies had the security and freedom for people to gather and socialize and conduct business at night almost the same as in the day. While it is still true that “night jobs” are generally considered less desirable to “day jobs” and that the majority of most peoples lives take place in the day and that night is still a time where people are often out doing seedier things or drinking and looking for sex- that many millions of people who are perfectly stable and constructive to society live much if their lives at night or prefer to. At this point “daylight hours” for work are largely customary- people are at work in the day and go home to their families at night because their kids and spouses are at school or work or doing business in the day- and those people do business in…
.. the day largely because that is when people are at work. So that part of things is a bit circular.
Now- We do have hard data to strongly suggest that MOST people are better suited to be up during the day- that even if one gets 8+ hours of sleep in a regular schedule that the mind and body are healthier if that sleep takes place at night between a certain range of hours. We have data suggesting that regardless of technology that certain dangers and accidents are more likely to occur at night- primarily due to the difference in our ability to use our senses and how we are “wired” than the day when we eliminate factors like fewer people etc. in calculating odds.
So it isn’t completely arbitrary that day time is generally “waking time,” but we can argue that humans adapted to day time because we didn’t have the means we do now for nocturnal activity. So if enough people conduct activities at night we could eventually adapt to be better suited for nighttime overall as a species.
Of course the prompt wasn’t about being NOCTURNAL- it was about waking up a bit later and going to sleep a bit later, so how is almost if this relevant? Well- as stated- there are general cultural biases that associate being up at night with being a sort of “trouble maker” or “unproductive” or “lower status.” If sunrise is at 7 and you start your day at 7am, you have until maybe 5-8pm average to be productive by this traditional logic we have adopted based on how things have been in history. If you start at 9am you are losing 2 productive hours of light. Now of course we don’t need sunlight for the most part anymore- inside an office or a store you may not see the sun all day. So instead of 7-5 why not 9-7? Well- again that stigma and history.
When you get off at 5 you might have two or three hours to spend with family and do chores or errands etc. if you’re a bachelor/bachelorette you may have 2-3 hours to socialize and do chores or “unwind” etc. before “evening” becomes night.
When you get off at 7, if you keep those same 2-3 hours you will be out at “night” proper and if you decide to have a “night out” even later into the “after hours” which are historically associated with vice.
So societies often treat those who are out late as non productive, unsuccessful or lower status in career, and immoral or with vice. Now- I’m not arguing that is true or should be how people think- I’m just saying that is historically the perspective that is common and some of why that is the case. The “most desirable” jobs that are cushy and have perks and are most conducive to forming a family have tended to be jobs during the day.
“Night schools” as we know them and “night time classes” and enrichment as we know it are relatively modern things for humans and so for much of history- even recent history- if one was in school “bettering themselves” it would often be the day time. What’s more, “night classes” in recent history started out as a place for the working class and those who had life situations that often carried social stigmas like single parents and such. Often these classes weren’t for higher degrees but were for those who didn’t complete primary education- another socially stigmatized thing- to get an equivalency degree or some other certification. So even when “night school” became a thing it was somewhat associated with “outcasts” or “less desirables.” Again- not saying these people were or should have been seen that way, just saying how it largely was.
further back in history education beyond a trade or “in the job” training tended to be the purview of the wealthy. Around the late 19th early 20th century education became increasingly accessible or even compulsory. Going to higher learning became more of a thing that was expected if the “middle class” and so it was the case that education has generally long been a sign of upbringing and status wether that separated the wealthy from everyone else or a perceived “lower class” from everyone else. So there are all sorts of reasons why it is stigmatized to wake late and be up later or active later.
Coming to the modern age we still hood many of those stigmas that are handed down through society even when they no longer apply and most people aren’t farmers and we have infrastructure and technology to mitigate the differences if night and day.
One thing that is a hood over from historical bias is that perception of laziness or frivolity. While you may not be racing the sun to get a days work done, all our modern convenience has not given most people an excess if free time. An “average” schedule with a full nights sleep for a younger person may include 8 hours of structured school or work and perhaps several more hours in their “off” time studying and preparing. 8 hours of sleep leaves 8 hours if the day but commutes average 30-180 minutes each way. In the rest of the time we must procure and/or prepare food, tidy our homes, tend our hygiene, and deal with all the other matters in our lives without mention of personal time. Efficiency is the name of the game. Time management is considered the mark of a successful person and there has been increasing emphasis at least since industrialization on how much one person can do in a day.
It isn’t enough to have “the job” and “a house” and “a car”, not that those things aren’t hard enough to come by for many- your house must be a “home,” landscaped and decorated and modeled to the latest pallets and fashions. Your car needs to be “the car,” EV’s and Teslas line the driveways of the “Jones’s” today.
“What are you doing for the earth” “what are you doing to help people?” “How can you not be up to date on politics?!” “Have you watched the new show/played the new game/etc?” “You HAVE to go to Greece. It’s amazing. Where else have you traveled?”
So on and so on as well as keeping up on celebrity gossip, slang, music, social justice, and you also need to do all this while eating healthy, but hopefully environmentally sustainably, and fair labor… and you need to work out and be active and oh! Don’t forget to maintain your social media presence and networking/branding and keep up on tech trends.
Oh. And that’s if you don’t have kids because you need to include all their stuff, school, extracurriculars, “enrichment,” “quality time,” and all the latest fads and trends in parenting so you don’t get called a domestic terrorist for sending your kid to school with a lunch loaded with “deadly gluten” or nuts or in a state someone will be offended by or get CPS called on you because you’re abusing your child by choosing their outfits or whatever is abuse that week.
So the modern “successful” life of even some ordinary person and not some huge tycoon or celebrity or politician is often crammed to the brim or expected to be crammed to brim with activities and upkeep.
And that’s before we consider that now it is almost obligatory to have a “hustle” and run your own business or manage properties or multiple investments, emerging trends like crypto or whatever else, and so forth.
So these people get a bit judge-y whenthey see someone who is losing productive hours from their day. Those who work out or have concern for their health or sleep quality may rise early and go to bed early, but those who are “on the grind” or have lots to do often wake early and sleep late. There can also be some resentment from people who have to get up early even if they naturally tend to, towards those who can sleep in a bit.
End of the day I think that it is pretty silly. It’s 2023 and adults can be productive at basically any hour and it isn’t even anyones business if you are productive or not. The modern view is shaped by history and all these things I’ve mentioned but really regardless the main places the stigma comes from tends to be these one size fits all ideas about people needing to fit in to the economy and create profits or these ideas about the central role of family and traditional gender and social roles. Do you late risers. Do you. The early risers can make you a nice brunch or breakfast in bed that will be hot and waiting right when you wake up, the stores will all be open.. so it’s not all bad for those who wake up later.
It’s really rooted in daylight- humans are general best suited to daylight conditions as far as our senses etc. Through most of human history survival has been quite a task and the average person would need to accomplish many things each day to survive. Night time has tended to be hazardous or disadvantageous for many reasons through time and history. Generally most humans could perform more tasks, be more efficient, and be safer working in the day time.
So it has often been common where wether permitted for humans to rise with the sun and retire with the sun more or less. Of course agricultural development strengthened this practice and it became somewhat customary as commerce developed that businesses would largely operate in daylight hours.
So of course criminals and “seedier” goings on transpired after dark at times. It is also a case in many societies as they advanced especially that people would want recreation and socialization after a long days work. Communal social areas with lighting and relative security would facilitate this.
Where ships and coaches or such were used for commerce there may have been people loading and unloading and preparing shipments and such.
It is also of note that due to the aforementioned dangers and complications of night, the human race as a whole has tended to have fears and superstitions relating to night. So it can generate be said through much of history and even today it has never been particularly considered desirable if one has reason to be up at late hours of the night for work and such.
started to create much more opportunity and need for keeping what might seem as “odd” hours. Anywhere that people have been up at night there has been some room for supporting industries as well- if you’re the only eatery etc. open at night you effectively have no competition for the business of those working or up at those hours, so as long as it is more profitable to be open and you seek profit… so more people began to move to “night owls” as more support and commerce could be conducted at night. It generally became safer and more practical to be up at nights as technology and development brought widespread illumination to populated areas and personal means for illumination became accessible and predators were pushed out of populated areas as well as development easing navigation at night.
So we came to a place where developed societies had the security and freedom for people to gather and socialize and conduct business at night almost the same as in the day. While it is still true that “night jobs” are generally considered less desirable to “day jobs” and that the majority of most peoples lives take place in the day and that night is still a time where people are often out doing seedier things or drinking and looking for sex- that many millions of people who are perfectly stable and constructive to society live much if their lives at night or prefer to. At this point “daylight hours” for work are largely customary- people are at work in the day and go home to their families at night because their kids and spouses are at school or work or doing business in the day- and those people do business in…
Now- We do have hard data to strongly suggest that MOST people are better suited to be up during the day- that even if one gets 8+ hours of sleep in a regular schedule that the mind and body are healthier if that sleep takes place at night between a certain range of hours. We have data suggesting that regardless of technology that certain dangers and accidents are more likely to occur at night- primarily due to the difference in our ability to use our senses and how we are “wired” than the day when we eliminate factors like fewer people etc. in calculating odds.
So it isn’t completely arbitrary that day time is generally “waking time,” but we can argue that humans adapted to day time because we didn’t have the means we do now for nocturnal activity. So if enough people conduct activities at night we could eventually adapt to be better suited for nighttime overall as a species.
When you get off at 7, if you keep those same 2-3 hours you will be out at “night” proper and if you decide to have a “night out” even later into the “after hours” which are historically associated with vice.
So societies often treat those who are out late as non productive, unsuccessful or lower status in career, and immoral or with vice. Now- I’m not arguing that is true or should be how people think- I’m just saying that is historically the perspective that is common and some of why that is the case. The “most desirable” jobs that are cushy and have perks and are most conducive to forming a family have tended to be jobs during the day.
Coming to the modern age we still hood many of those stigmas that are handed down through society even when they no longer apply and most people aren’t farmers and we have infrastructure and technology to mitigate the differences if night and day.
“What are you doing for the earth” “what are you doing to help people?” “How can you not be up to date on politics?!” “Have you watched the new show/played the new game/etc?” “You HAVE to go to Greece. It’s amazing. Where else have you traveled?”
So on and so on as well as keeping up on celebrity gossip, slang, music, social justice, and you also need to do all this while eating healthy, but hopefully environmentally sustainably, and fair labor… and you need to work out and be active and oh! Don’t forget to maintain your social media presence and networking/branding and keep up on tech trends.
So the modern “successful” life of even some ordinary person and not some huge tycoon or celebrity or politician is often crammed to the brim or expected to be crammed to brim with activities and upkeep.
So these people get a bit judge-y whenthey see someone who is losing productive hours from their day. Those who work out or have concern for their health or sleep quality may rise early and go to bed early, but those who are “on the grind” or have lots to do often wake early and sleep late. There can also be some resentment from people who have to get up early even if they naturally tend to, towards those who can sleep in a bit.