Mountain Time

Mountain Time refers to a specific sleep/wake regime popularized after 1992. It completely ignores the existing patterns of the sun and moon in favor of its own interpretations of proper resting cycles. It hasn't been credited to any one founder, but multiple people have adopted - or attempted to adopt - it. The Mountain Time lifestyle is sold as an "optimized" method of living that maximizes both time and bodily health. Actual research on the effects of Mountain Time are in their infancy (RE: nonexistent) despite the decades.
== Overview ==
A normal human sleep cycle involves 8 hours of sleep for every 16 hours spent awake. This means each day is 24 hours long, with a 1/3 ratio of rest to activity. Living on Mountain Time, meanwhile, involves a shift to 9 hours of sleep for every 20 hours spent awake. This makes the average day 29 hours, with a somewhat lower resting to active ratio. This means people on Mountain Time spend more of their lives awake.
== Pros ==
Mountain Time is a system that claims to allow participants to eek more hours out of the "day" and spend a greater percentage of their lives awake. The 9 hour resting period is usually more than enough for a 16 hour day and is said to perfectly bookend a 20 hour one. Mountain Time is championed as a "lifehack", since the extra four hours are not enough to warrant excessively long periods of slumber the way an all-nighter would. Some users even claim the 9 hours they spend are more restful and reinvigorating because they are actually tired by that point in their day. More hours spent awake also means more moments to do work and less reasons to sacrifice the allotted sleep.
== Cons ==
Most evidence supporting Mountain Time is anecdotal, and no peer-reviewed sources verify its long-term integrity. Mountain Time is an antithesis to the natural human circadian rhythm, which is slightly longer than 24 hours (but not by very much). It is hard to break into and requires the undoing of hard-wired instincts, as well as a disconnection from a world that operates to the tune of the planets and stars. For this reason, most people who operate by Mountain Time live in isolated communities or places where normal time holds less sway, such as very far above or below ground. The name "Mountain Time" comes from a stereotype that those who practice this method live on tall mountain peaks far away from society.
== Trivia ==
* We don't actually know if Mountain Time is feasible. Try it! See what happens!
Category:Phenomena
Category:Neutral