Sean Cain: Circadian Rhythm & Artificial Light at Night

The clock is just trying to keep time, right? And it has certain expectations of light.

The expectation is very bright in the day and dark at night.

And what we're doing when we alter that, especially with light at night, you're essentially telling your clock you're wrong about what time of day it is.

In another study we published, we had people working on a gambling test.

Same kind of scenario.

You ramp up the blue and people were less sensitive to a sense of loss.

And so they would gamble more.

And I think stores have figured this out and casinos have figured this out already.

You'll go into a store and you'll find it often has very white, bright light.

So what that'll do is it will reduce your sense of loss, making you more likely to buy the thing.

I don't think unless you have a medical reason, you shouldn't be wearing sunglasses in the day either.

You know, we're not outside enough to get enough light to be beneficial.

And then people are putting on sunglasses.

They think the light's going to damage their eyes.

And, you know, maybe if you're outside in the blazing sun, you know, for eight hours, you know, there are people, they cross the threshold of their house and they put on sunglasses and they won't be outside without it.

I don't think that's generally good.