We're Thinking About Darkness All Wrong | Hacker News Reader

We're Thinking About Darkness All Wrong

harvardmagazine.com

13 pointsilamont5 comments

I traveled to a place with no lights once. The area had no electricity. Let me tell you, the night sky was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen and I will never forget it.

When you can see the milky way with your raw eyeball it is a wonder.

There is definitely something to it and we simply don't receive in the civilized world.

The darkness reveals the light if you will. To much light and we can't see it.

To someone who has never seen it, the picture in the article may seem like Bolognese cgi or something...but it's pretty accurate. Could you imagine looking up and seeing that everyday?

Just the other day, I was talking with a friend who told me that, when he was younger, he used to go with a group of enthusiasts, with their telescopes and camera equipment, to open fields hundreds of miles "from civilization" here in Spain. The results were the same that you just described. I just realized that I've never "truly" seen the stars and, somehow, is something that I really need to do at least once in my lifetime. Thank you for reminding me!

> "Even now, massive changes in the practice of lighting take place without much thought about the consequences. The most obvious example is the transition from incandescent light bulbs to LED bulbs earlier this century. We replaced 60-watt incandescent bulbs with 60-watt LED bulbs. But LED bulbs are 10 times as bright as incandescent bulbs."

A 60w led bulb for a household light fitting ... now that would be sweet. Even a compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) with Edison fitting, the largest I had was 24 or 28 W to replace using a 150W spotlight.

There were reasons it got worse though:

   less pressure to turn lights off as the newer types lights usually didn't burn as much, for example when introduced into the common market, one could leave 3  CFL bulbs  on as each used less than a quarter as a single 100w if it were on instead.  In the late 90s it was still habitual for some people to insist others turn off the light as they left the room so as not to incur a high electricity bill.   
   
   The rise of halogen bulbs which were well suited to being outdoors since at fitting the power was typically low voltage and much tougher than regular incandescent bulbs, some were even more rugged than the 150w regular floodlight bulb.  Instead of one or two 150w floodlights for the back and or front from rooftop when entertaining or kids playing outside at night, multiple poorly positioned near ground level halogen lights.
   
   Where once those concerned with power use of multiple lights outside for security might have used a number of much lower powered incandescent bulbs with a highly reflective shade to direct light where it was needed, newer installations more often don't consider power usage, a brighter bulb doesn't need a good reflector.
   
   The rise of an idea that lots of bright light lights  might deter thieves at night.

Honestly I don't get the point or appeal of 99% of outdoor lights. Without them you can see hundreds of feet or more with star light alone, not to mention the moon. In urban area you can see even more with a completely overcast sky because of the amount of ligh pollution.

And it has only gotten worse with the commonality of led lights now. Plus people seem to have zero etiquette of where they should be pointing lights.

Yes a lot of outdoor lighting is thanks to the idea that if there are bright lights pointed around the sides of the property it will discourage certain people being there, though it makes some people feel safer if they can look outside at night without their eyes having to adjust.

There's outdoor lighting and over the top obnoxious lighting - preferably on when it needs to be on, shaded, directed where it needs to be, when someone is outside and needs to see reasonably well. Most people since light fittings and wiring isn't cheap, settle for a multi purpose option.

I find it both amusing and sad how the humble useful porch light has evolved from the days where the light was typically downward pointing, and if it wasn't shaded, one knew the shade had fallen off or was broken.

There is probably a niche market for clever lighting using low or adjustable power lighting to illuminate just the shadows of the yard so it's easy to see night time interlopers, and also dim enough that if they really wanted to remove something in particular and see well, they'd need to use a torch.

I used to enjoy walking at night in my rural locale, but the rise of people living closer nearby, their outward to horizon pointed lights, even an open unshaded 40w tube at some couple miles distance makes it hard on the eyes.

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