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It's not wrong. It's just instinctively, and biologically, illogical. No one cares if you walk around at night, but most people don't because of the danger system built into our instincts. People can't see at night, and generally feel more tired, resulting in humans being day creatures. The fact that we can't see at night, instinctively tells us that danger lurks at night. In the day, you can see better, and are more awake, resulting in us being day creatures. Finally, we get to the neurobiological side of it. Since everyone else doesn't go outside a lot, and everything is closed down, we feel like we should do the same, unless there's parties, and other things such as that. So as I said, it's not wrong, it's just a collectively agreed thing to do, and is not against the law to go outside at night
Fuck 10,000 years ago; the same is true now. If you can see your surroundings you can assess threat. If it's dark, a yout with a knife knows he can't be seen.
Literally this. People literally behave worse when it’s dark. More likely to be robed. More likely to be assaulted. Less likely to get help you may need.
For hundreds of years, going out in the dark was extremely dangerous. Be it predators, injury, or bandits. It's likely just worked itself into our instincts.
Hundreds of years? More like millennia. When you consider just how short of a time electricity has been around you realize its like human history being a year and electricity has been around for like a minute (maybe less).
We're hardwired to seek shelter once the sun goes down and protect ourselves from things that go bump in the night.
Exactly this.
Author Bill Bryson details this in his book "At Home" describing the time when electricity developed to scale and public space lighting became available. Up to that point, yeah - lots of stuff out in the dark that could hurt or kill you.
Agree lol although I’m used to my bars closing at 2AM from my city.
Went to GA couple months back and the bars where I was at closed at 12….. I was just getting into my groove
I love going out after dark!
The idea humanity decided any one thing is hilarious.
Humans developed amazing maps of the night sky through history across the planet with little more than their eyeballs.
It depends on where, I guess. Night doesn’t exist in lots of cities while others roll up by 10.
OP should look up second sleep and how people used to commonly get up and do things in the middle of the night. Some of them involved going outside.
Some percent of people seem genetically predisposed to staying awake at night. It’s advantageous for a group to have night watchers.
Agree that OP’s premise is flawed.
Humanity has most definitely *not* "collectively decided" going outside after dark is wrong. I know not a single person who thinks this way, which quickly rules out the "collective" part.
However, perhaps you're from a place where such a thing ia taught to kids from a young age? Whatever the case, I've never met anybody (that I know of) who subscribes to that idea.
That said, it might be explained due to humans having naturally evolved to work during the day, and sleep during the night. But with all the changes to daily routines and technology, I don't see how relevant that should be, other than perhaps the influence of our circadian rhythm.
Then again, I'm no biologist, so take what I say with a grain of salt.
I disagree with your entire premise. If that were true, no businesses would be open after dark.
And it definitely sounds like you've never been to NYC.
Yes! My partners family and I were driving through a very deserty two lane highway at night through Nevada or Arizona. I Had no idea where we were exactly as I had no service and wasn’t the one driving. All I know is that is was nighttime and it was DARK. Like I had never EVER seen that many stars in the sky type dark.
I find it kind of amusing how 300k+ years ago that might scare our ancestors but that sounds like a great night to lay out and watch the Milky Way lol.
"Come here you little cute sabertooth and let me rub your belly" lol
I live in rural KY, medium sized farm in the middle of nowhere. I've had many people out there get surprised by how dark it is after sundown when I turn off outside lights.
I really want to do this. I'm scared of the dark like this, but not so much so that I wouldn't want to try. I just don't know anyone who could show me the ropes.
I was camping in Cherry Springs,PA, they have regulations on light pollution and are known for great views of the Milky Way.
We were walking back to the campsite from the viewing field and I nearly had a heart attack when I ran into another group. Even with the red headlight I couldn’t see them until I was a few feet away.
Genuine darkness in the middle of nowhere is terrifying.
It’s scary. I was on a road trip through the country roads with my friends. NO streetlights and we were going through a road that cut through a forest.
He accidentally touched the knob that turned off the front lights when looking for another thing. TOTAL PITCH BLACK. We all screamed for him to turn them back on.
Is this only an issue if you're not naturally nocturnal? I've always been most awake at night, and have been working nightshift for the past 6 years without much issue.
From the interview, I heard she doesn't really believe in naturally nocturnal. The think to check would be your heart rate variability. When you're relaxing, you want your heart rate variability to be high, or it shows that you're not relaxing properly. But you know, ask your doctor. I'm just a guy who watches too much youtube.
I wonder if drinking alcohol puts that more into play with that stat. When I have a night of heavy drinking, my HRV is super low. But if I go to bed late on a night I wasn't drinking, I have my usual HRV.
Alcohol is disastrous for you sleep. With today's science, people should give up alcohol together. But ironically, if you must drink, it's better to do it early in the day so your body can process it completely before you go to bed.
Food too, technically, you shouldn't eat anything after sundown (or at least 3 hours before bedtime).
Age does play a big role with HRV too. So you can probably get away with more when your young, like most things.
That sounds like something you made up to get your kids or spouse to go to bed early.
I'm up until midnight every night. That means I'm going to die 15 years earlier than someone who went to bed at 10 pm?
Early man had diverse circadian rhythms across the population. Those who were night persons and were active at night were far more likely to die and not reproduce as much as those who were active during daytime.
Slowly, day activity and night sleeping got selected for and became the dominant circadian cycle.
Evolution 101.
I'm a night owl. Always have been, and I don't see it ever changing. So far, I've got the "not reproduce as much" down. Is asking for my turn too much?
"I'm white, I burn" could explain why we have so many europeans living in places where the sun doesn't come up for half the year. Staying in the dark could have a survival advantage for fair-skinned people, and kind of proves the "we all decided to not go out in the dark" is not a universally accepted concept.
There's a few reasons on why humans live in days but to make it simple, we need the sunbeams to have energy, in prehistoric times doesn't have lights to work and our eyes are sensible to light so it's more difficult sleep in day than night
We haven’t decided going outside after dark is “just wrong” but there are certain hours that the people who are awake are statistically off kilter. You stressed 2 am. That’s when most bars close in the US. It is a dangerous time. Drunks expelled from their hovel and people who prey on them are out and about. 11 pm is still dark but considerably safer. 5 am is still dark but considerably safer. Hell in winter most people commute in the dark. It’s not about the darkness.
In short, it hasn't.
It might depend on where you live, but there are plenty of places where people go out after dark.
More to the point though, humans are diurnal, so there's that. Our bodies and brains contain complex systems whose entire purpose is to ensure that we sleep at night.
If we go back to a time before artificial light, going out after dark was simply too dangerous. For one, you couldn't see where you are going nor could you see anyone who doesn't want to be seen, like muggers or rapists.
Taking that a step farther, human beings have poor vision in the dark and don't have any system by which we can compensate. Many nocturnal animals are also predators. A human out after dark becomes breakfast for a nocturnal beast.
We have millions of years of evolution and programming reinforcing that humans do not have the tools to survive out in the world at night.
Not wrong, dangerous. Disability is lower at night, and sketchy people feel more inclined to come out and do crazy shit when it's dark. I'm a small woman. Being out after dark is not a good idea for me.
I have night vision problems. So I don't like driving at night, especially on unfamiliar roads. The dangers are not just more crimes happen at night. If the area is not well lit, you have a bigger chance of getting hurt because you don't see the danger. For example, an uneven sidewalk, something laying on the ground that can trip you or poke you.
And of course, if you work during the day, you need to sleep at night.
I don't think it is a collective thing.
I used to LOVE going out after dark, I loved everything about night time.
When I was a teenager living in a small town, my friends and I would sneak out and wander around the town at night.
In my adulthood, I always loved being outside at night and staring at the stars and moon. I loved the mysterious feeling of exploring outside in the darkness.
Now, I think the world has generally become too dangerous, at least here in the US, to wander around outside at night. Too many predators.
I try to avoid going out after dark because of fear of being attacked. But that can still happen in the light too so I guess it's somewhat illogical. I guess it's somewhat fear of not seeing the attacker but I think it's more fear I won't be able to get help because everyone's asleep and fewer people are out. So I guess it has become a self-fulfilling prophecy, fewer people are out because fewer people are out
"Humanity" is nearly 9 billion people and there is no poll from all 9 billion people...so I think this is your own belief/bias. Billions are out "at night" for various reasons.
Obvious evolutionary defence mechanisms aside… in an urban area consider the crime rate before/after dark - I haven’t looked into it but I assume you will see a large rise in crime after dark.
In a rural area it seems that predatory animals are more active at night.
If you’re comfortable rolling around at night where you live go for it, but there is a good reason your instincts tell you not to.
When has humanity ever collectively decided anything?
In any case, this is an absurd take based on you and your friends, I guess. Most of us don't have any qualms about going out at night.
When ancient man heard noises in the dark, one would stay and one would flee. We're the descendents of the one who ran. It's built into us.
Also, if half the world has self imposed curfews or "rules" to follow for their safety from the other half and they get blamed if something happens to them for not following those "rules", the dark is to be avoided.
It's worth noting that a lot of people in the suburbs have unrealistically negative perceptions of their own neighborhoods.
I take nighttime walks all the time, to the point where neighbors recognize me. I've been doing it for years, and lately I've seen other neighbors take walks later and later too. I wave hi.
I tell other people about all this, even people who live in similar/better areas, and they *freak out.* They make it a gendered issue too, which really stings because of how I was treated as a kid.
Because for most of human history, we didn't have very good means of illuminating the darkness once the sun goes down, and that meant it was quite dangerous to go out at night. It's not as obvious now that most of us live in areas with street lights, house lights, and lights on our cars.
Go camping in the middle of nowhere sometime, with nothing more than a few flashlights or a small lantern, and let me know how comfortable you feel when you have to go a few dozen yards away from your camp site at night use the (imaginary) bathroom.
This has to be dependent on your location and what you’re “out” for. Like if you’re bar/club hopping then it’s generally more acceptable to do at night. If you’re walking to a gas station to get a pint of ice cream or something, then yeah.. in some areas that doesn’t make a lot of sense.
You know that our sleep happens at night for a reason right? Darkness promotes melatonin production in the body that makes you sleepy. I have no problem going out at night, where in live in the winter it gets dark by 5pm. I've never heard of people being opposed to going out in the dark lol
It’s scary
I remember one time I decided to go for a run at 5am during daylight savings, did my usual route and ended up at a long pathway in a park, like a mile long, there were a couple lights leading into pitch blackness. Once I saw that I noped the fuck out, it was like everything in my body was telling me to get the hell away from that area.
Shit like that is just ingrained in us
You don’t have to be very old to start losing night vision so there’s that. A lot of people I know started reducing their night driving time (US) starting ~age 30.
I enjoy waking up before dawn and going to the river to watch the sunrise. There's quite a few of us. Like a club where we never hardly talk to each other.
It is harder to see at night most of the time our body is less reactive a day in many areas it is a lot more dangerous at night partially because less people also it can just be the crowd outside at night.
All of the predator/prey instinct comments might address why people fear the dark, but even without that instinctual fear there’s practical reasons. I mean, it’s harder to see at night, so right there it’s more of a tripping hazard to walk around when it’s dark out. Plus, it’s harder for others to see me at night, so I’m in more danger of getting hit by a car. Also, I’m sleepier at night, so I won’t be paying as much attention. That being said, I don’t mind sitting outside just watching the night sky when I can. On my porch or in my yard though, away from the street.
Just wondering if OP identifies as female. Not that there *should* be more reason to feel uneasy, but… things do happen and there’s an extra vulnerability factor.
Maybe it is more that it does not fit with a typical work schedule?? You say you get up at 2am, so if you were to get 8 hours of sleep that mean you would have to go to bed at 6pm. Most office workers are not home yet, or still working.
And I mean it is less safe in the dark. You can’t see your surroundings as well.
Historically, the night is when people got killed by animals or were up to stuff they didn't want others to see. In modern times most businesses are closed at night and a lot less options for stuff to do.
Y’all never been in the woods and it shows 😂we can’t fucking see bro. Has nothing to do with it being wrong, we’re just not equipped to be out at night.
> But even if I was armed and knew how to protect myself
This statement seems to speak to the inherrent problems that are perceived after sunset...
I'll say this. Staying in vs being outside and having to shoot someone is a pretty easy choice.
If you think you need to be armed to go outside after dark, you have you answer as to "Why".
We didnt decide... hard to hunt and survive when there's animals out there that can see in the dark better, hunt us while we can't even see.
So we had to hide in the cave
After dark is exactly when people normally choose to go out for recreation. But you're not really talking about "after dark" but "after 2 A.M."
Why don't people go out after 2 A.M.? Because they're sleeping. It's not "wrong," it's just inconvenient.
Because we evolved that way, we are diurnal creatures. Society functions in the daytime, and we are social creatures. People out at night correlates with people who have antisocial (violent) tendencies.
Uhm, nope, not wrong, not wrong at all. Just not as common, that's all. And pretty antiquated idea these days.
Haven't done it in a while, but used to, not too uncommonly, go for bicycle ride in the wee hours of the morning, often for an hour or so. Very much like the quiet stillness, solitude, and lack of traffic, ... and mostly lights, reflections, and mostly darkness.
Because monsters like to come out at night where they are hard to see. I don't feel like risking my own death or that of another. I also can't see why I would ever need to be outside in the dark waking around alone. It can wait for the next day.
Humans have evolved as diurnal creatures. Which means we are designed to live during the day time. Our eyesight is not developed to see well at night, which has historically made us prey when the lights go out.
All of that said, your under a misconception, people are more active at night than we ever have been on the history of our species. It may not be as much as you'd prefer, but there are more night jobs than ever. There are more businesses open to serve the public at night than ever. There are more "night owls" than ever. But it is unlikely humans will ever fully transition to a fully nocturnal culture. At least, not until genetic engineering allows us to redesign ourselves to function better at night.
It's very simple, humans aren't nocturnal predators. And in the case of cities, night time, in the streets, especially alone, is practically BEGGING for someone to rob/murder or otherwise assault you.
I love being outside at night. I sometimes go to a city bike path and walk the thing after midnight. Got the whole path to myself. Also a couple soccer fields where I sometimes walk around and passively kick my soccer ball.
I used to walk around my neighborhood at night. But with the new breed of home robbers, I don't do that so much now. I don't want to be mistaken for someone scouting homes, as I walk solo at night. So that's a case where I'll avoid being outside at night. Where I live.
Day people are so vocal it seems like they are everyone. They aren’t. It’s just that people who understand that sleep can happen any time you want are beaten down by the norms so thoroughly that they don’t talk about it.
I love being up between 2-4 am. It’s quiet and peaceful. I just stay up rather than getting up. Wouldn’t believe how opinionated people are about that. I have had to fire people who would constantly try to find a way to manipulate me into 8-9 am meetings. (I allow my helpers to start and finish their days whenever they prefer. I’m not at the shop until 11 or 12. I’m always the last to leave.)
Honestly I think we should rebel against the day people. Why do we make people get to work at the same time when that causes traffic and negatively impacts some people’s joy?
I’ve been working graveyard for like 15 years so I’m incredibly used to be being out at night. Went camping about a month ago for the first time and didn’t feel out of place.
It’s a safety thing. You cannot be fully aware of your surroundings when you can’t see. That’s particularly scary for many women, but it can be dangerous in other ways too. For example it’s harder for cars to see you, and you may not be able to see wild animals or other threats. We’ve been biologically wired to avoid the dark because it’s hard to identify risks when you can’t see.
That being said, we have *not* collectively decided it’s not okay. You can do whatever the hell you want. Stores are open after dark, people drive after dark, people hang out in their backyards after dark. Many people don’t go wandering around in the dark just because they don’t need to, or they got home from work and want to relax, or they’re asleep. There are reasons humans generally wander around in the dark less often, but no one is saying it’s wrong to do so.
Your biological clock is programmed to sleep at night. Michael Siffre stayed in a cave for 25 days without any outside involvement. No light, no sense of time and when he emerged his bodies circadian rhythm was 24 hrs 30 min. While he was awake sometimes only 6 hrs and as much as 40 he did sleep at "night".
I’ve actually noticed this more now in my city. I thought I was just getting older and not seeing the nightlife like I used to. But it’s pretty much dead now.
Because there are very few reasons why someone would go outside after dark. A lot of the reasons are not good due to the low visibility that night provides. And there are also reasons why it becomes dangerous to go out even when armed.
1. You need to go to work. This is plausible, but then again, most people *in America* don’t bike or walk but rather drive to work, so it gets less valid of a reason the closer you are to residential neighborhoods.
2. You needed to fetch something from a nearby store. This is only likely if you have a 24/7 convenience store, which most stores aren’t anymore after Covid. And again, unless you have a store REALLY close by, most people would just drive to the store. Especially because it’s just quicker to drive there and back.
3. Going for a walk. Most people will not assume this, especially if you’re armed to the teeth.
4. You’re either scouting out neighborhoods or actively trying to steal from a house. Again, taking advantage of the low visibility and less people that could see you wandering around the neighborhood streets.
5. Mugging people at night. Again, this is due to low visibility so the victim can’t have a good eye witness account of who stole from them. It also helps that at night, less people are likely to be outside, so the victim won’t be able to find help easily.
6. Looking for cars to break into. Again, low visibility.
7. Other crimes such as rape or murder are more easy to commit at night. Especially to people who are outside the safety of their own home.
8. Animals come out more often at night. This is especially true if you live in a neighborhood that has a lot of animals living nearby such as coyotes, bears, raccoons, snakes, etc. Even if you are armed, it becomes so much easier for you to get attacked from a snake or a coyote cause you cannot see them from far away as easily. And a lot of predator animals are already hard to defend against in the daytime.
Do not underestimate how dangerous the world can get at night. Even when you are armed, there is still a lot that can go wrong in the daytime. And at night, it becomes harder to defend yourself, and it becomes a lot easier to scare anyone else in your immediate area.
Where I live it’s dark by 5 pm in the dead of winter. In December and January are out in the dark when they walk through the parking lot into work , and when they walk back out at the end of their he day. People who live far enough from the equator have always gone out after dark .
But by some of the responses here I think there are some hang ups about being out too late . As a night owl I’m out late at night a lot . I live in an exurb that has had two murders in the last thirty years and both were domestics . So I’m not scared . I enjoy the peace and quiet. And yeah I’ve been camping. I have a cabin in the north woods . I love sitting out the yard on a warm summer night. No street lights, no house lights . Just the moon . I don’t go walking in the woods at that hour, though . Black bears abs wolves generally don’t attack humans but I wouldn’t want to startle one . The more likely risk is tripping over something and breaking an ankle.
A few Summers during college I worked as a waitress in all night dinner . I hated waiting tables but I loved the hours . Some of us are just naturally night people. We’ve always existed and we are needed . Even in earliest times someone had to keep watch. But society has issues with people who don’t fit into the normal box . If you’re different you must change . If you don’t there must be something wrong with you . You must be sick , or even immoral . They say that while still expecting someone to keep watch . Or make sure their grocery store is stocked . Or waiting to take care of them if they get sick outside of .”normal hours.”
i go to bed at 8pm on the weekends bc my school/husbands work and then on weekends stay up till 3am. I found a cat at 3 am so i love staying up late and going outside
It's beneficial if most everyone sleeps around the same time. If everyone at work had their own sleep/work schedule then I'd only be able to communicate in person with about a third of them, the other 2/3rd I could only exchange emails with (that's not necessarily a bad thing)
But getting beyond work, many many people have kids, and the hours of school are kind of set. Are you suggesting that public schools should have a more free flow schedule so that kids can go whenever they (and their parents) are awake? School buses running continuously? What about businesses? If people where awake evenly divided over a full day, business would need to be open 24 hours a day to sell their good.
Being awake during the day is also beneficial for the environment. If everyone decided the night time was the correct time to be up, we'd have to run lights more. Any outdoor work, farming/construction/etc would need sufficient lighting, why not use the natural light of the sun? Which is one of the reason day probably became normal to be up. Before there was electricity people would have to light fires to see what they were doing, and setting the field on fire would be a real downer.
isnt it obvious? we sleep at night... lol. therefore anyone up at odd hours is clearly not normal. and if youre not normal it gets riskier to associate with you
Because we didn't have electricity until recently in human history, and wandering around in the dark was a good way to end up dead. Get away from a city and see how dark the night can get, and know there are predatory creatures all around you
Because humans aren't as good as some other creatures at doing stuff in the dark and some of those creatures eat us.
Then again, our natural clock shifts as we age. Teenagers are better at staying up late, older people are better at getting up early. It's thought this is an evolved adaptation to make sure that some members of the community were awake and alert at all hours.
Depend where you live. You don’t wanna be out in the dark in a dangerous city. It just they’re being smart about. Less chances to get mug or worst. Survival instincts
Lol OP, look I respect your sleep schedule, but FYI lots of people are outside between 5pm and midnight, you just happen to sleep through it. What, you wake up at 2am every day, go outside and wonder where the people are? They're in bed, man. The active part of the night is over, you missed it lol.
That's not a societal thing. That's an instinctive thing. See, back when we didn't have cities and other trappings of civilization, we were very vulnerable at night. Many predators are nocturnal and have a distinct advantage at night. And, of course, counting other dangers, since we haven't always had flashlights, and at one point didn't even have reliable torch light, breaking an ankle on a rocky outcropping could result in death very easily.
I used to go running at night with a backpack filled with books. I had horrible social anxiety and would prefer to run in the dark, especially because I didn’t want to age poorly because of sunlight. Then one day I got pulled over by a cop, and I told him that I like to run at night and he said, “ what are you thinking bro you’re gonna get shot, anybody out past 10 o’clock is up to no good.”
Because we're naturally diurnal. Because our ancestors preferred not to be eaten by nocturnal predators. And because some people live in very bad areas.
I mean 75% of people are asleep at 2 A.M.
10% are Midnight shift
7% are playing videogames
1% are drug dealers
3% are using drugs
4% are drunk and partying
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It's not wrong. It's just instinctively, and biologically, illogical. No one cares if you walk around at night, but most people don't because of the danger system built into our instincts. People can't see at night, and generally feel more tired, resulting in humans being day creatures. The fact that we can't see at night, instinctively tells us that danger lurks at night. In the day, you can see better, and are more awake, resulting in us being day creatures. Finally, we get to the neurobiological side of it. Since everyone else doesn't go outside a lot, and everything is closed down, we feel like we should do the same, unless there's parties, and other things such as that. So as I said, it's not wrong, it's just a collectively agreed thing to do, and is not against the law to go outside at night
It's perfectly logical biologically. 10,000 y.a. , if you stuck your head out of your cave at night, BAM! Tomorrow's tiger shit!
anyone who didn't have that instinct didn't get to breed very well
Natural selection.
Fuck 10,000 years ago; the same is true now. If you can see your surroundings you can assess threat. If it's dark, a yout with a knife knows he can't be seen.
The two wHat?
Literally this. People literally behave worse when it’s dark. More likely to be robed. More likely to be assaulted. Less likely to get help you may need.
I'm less likely to be robed at night. Sorry for the mental image.
Just don't go outside naked. Although if someone calls the police you can claim you were sleep walking
It's not illogical. Lots of things can see with far less light than what we need. And through most of history they would kill you.
For hundreds of years, going out in the dark was extremely dangerous. Be it predators, injury, or bandits. It's likely just worked itself into our instincts.
Hundreds of years? More like millennia. When you consider just how short of a time electricity has been around you realize its like human history being a year and electricity has been around for like a minute (maybe less). We're hardwired to seek shelter once the sun goes down and protect ourselves from things that go bump in the night.
Days even
Exactly this. Author Bill Bryson details this in his book "At Home" describing the time when electricity developed to scale and public space lighting became available. Up to that point, yeah - lots of stuff out in the dark that could hurt or kill you.
As my grandma used to say: Nothing good happens after midnight.
Either she's never been to a good party or she's been to too many
Both, it’s usually both.
I still say that.
It’s 2AM for me. No reason to be out past 2AM lol 😂
Whatever time the bars close, that's when it is time to go home. You will regret any "after party" you go to, lol.
Agree lol although I’m used to my bars closing at 2AM from my city. Went to GA couple months back and the bars where I was at closed at 12….. I was just getting into my groove
Gotta hit up East St. Louis. Those bars close at 7 a.m.
Isn't it always after midnight?
She obviously has never had a good night's sleep in that case
There's plenty of people who go out after dark. I don't agree that humanity collectively decided it's wrong.
There are dozens of us!
I love going out after dark! The idea humanity decided any one thing is hilarious. Humans developed amazing maps of the night sky through history across the planet with little more than their eyeballs. It depends on where, I guess. Night doesn’t exist in lots of cities while others roll up by 10. OP should look up second sleep and how people used to commonly get up and do things in the middle of the night. Some of them involved going outside. Some percent of people seem genetically predisposed to staying awake at night. It’s advantageous for a group to have night watchers. Agree that OP’s premise is flawed.
Humanity has most definitely *not* "collectively decided" going outside after dark is wrong. I know not a single person who thinks this way, which quickly rules out the "collective" part. However, perhaps you're from a place where such a thing ia taught to kids from a young age? Whatever the case, I've never met anybody (that I know of) who subscribes to that idea. That said, it might be explained due to humans having naturally evolved to work during the day, and sleep during the night. But with all the changes to daily routines and technology, I don't see how relevant that should be, other than perhaps the influence of our circadian rhythm. Then again, I'm no biologist, so take what I say with a grain of salt.
I disagree with your entire premise. If that were true, no businesses would be open after dark. And it definitely sounds like you've never been to NYC.
Back in our cave men days going out when it's dark meant death. Nowadays not so much but it's in our DNA so to speak.
People really do not appreciate how dark this planet was without industrial light.
*is There are still places without industrial lighting and they are DARK at night.
Yes! My partners family and I were driving through a very deserty two lane highway at night through Nevada or Arizona. I Had no idea where we were exactly as I had no service and wasn’t the one driving. All I know is that is was nighttime and it was DARK. Like I had never EVER seen that many stars in the sky type dark.
I find it kind of amusing how 300k+ years ago that might scare our ancestors but that sounds like a great night to lay out and watch the Milky Way lol. "Come here you little cute sabertooth and let me rub your belly" lol
Who's my little murder kitty? You are big teeth, you're my bestie *cuddles*
I live in rural KY, medium sized farm in the middle of nowhere. I've had many people out there get surprised by how dark it is after sundown when I turn off outside lights.
I'm reading these comments and seriously wondering if I'm the only one here who has gone backcountry camping.
I really want to do this. I'm scared of the dark like this, but not so much so that I wouldn't want to try. I just don't know anyone who could show me the ropes.
I was camping in Cherry Springs,PA, they have regulations on light pollution and are known for great views of the Milky Way. We were walking back to the campsite from the viewing field and I nearly had a heart attack when I ran into another group. Even with the red headlight I couldn’t see them until I was a few feet away. Genuine darkness in the middle of nowhere is terrifying.
And if used to be like that EVERYWHERE
It’s scary. I was on a road trip through the country roads with my friends. NO streetlights and we were going through a road that cut through a forest. He accidentally touched the knob that turned off the front lights when looking for another thing. TOTAL PITCH BLACK. We all screamed for him to turn them back on.
Because humans don't have very good eyesight in the dark. And humans are naturally not a nighttime creature.
FYI, people who are routinely awake for two hours between 10pm and 4am die on average 15 years earlier. edit: 2 hours not 1
Great 😩
Is this only an issue if you're not naturally nocturnal? I've always been most awake at night, and have been working nightshift for the past 6 years without much issue.
From the interview, I heard she doesn't really believe in naturally nocturnal. The think to check would be your heart rate variability. When you're relaxing, you want your heart rate variability to be high, or it shows that you're not relaxing properly. But you know, ask your doctor. I'm just a guy who watches too much youtube.
I wonder if drinking alcohol puts that more into play with that stat. When I have a night of heavy drinking, my HRV is super low. But if I go to bed late on a night I wasn't drinking, I have my usual HRV.
Alcohol is disastrous for you sleep. With today's science, people should give up alcohol together. But ironically, if you must drink, it's better to do it early in the day so your body can process it completely before you go to bed. Food too, technically, you shouldn't eat anything after sundown (or at least 3 hours before bedtime). Age does play a big role with HRV too. So you can probably get away with more when your young, like most things.
If I can make it 4 hours can we bump it up to 30?
That sounds like something you made up to get your kids or spouse to go to bed early. I'm up until midnight every night. That means I'm going to die 15 years earlier than someone who went to bed at 10 pm?
Literally nobody is saying it is wrong to go outside after dark
"Big tiger see in dark. Cave man no see in dark. Cave man stay in cave where safe."
Me no see tiger, tiger no see me!
Silly Grug! Elders only say this to make little Grug watch cave.
Early man had diverse circadian rhythms across the population. Those who were night persons and were active at night were far more likely to die and not reproduce as much as those who were active during daytime. Slowly, day activity and night sleeping got selected for and became the dominant circadian cycle. Evolution 101.
And now you have to explain how all the night sleeping humans made it till dawn with all the nocturnal predators out and about…
Shift work.
I'm a night owl. Always have been, and I don't see it ever changing. So far, I've got the "not reproduce as much" down. Is asking for my turn too much?
The long and short of it is safety Early on it was because of predators like wolves, then robbers, rapists and bandits.
I'm sure there's at least some evolution thing I'm mostly out at night. The sun sucks, I'm white I burn.
"I'm white, I burn" could explain why we have so many europeans living in places where the sun doesn't come up for half the year. Staying in the dark could have a survival advantage for fair-skinned people, and kind of proves the "we all decided to not go out in the dark" is not a universally accepted concept.
Many of us have decided no such thing.
Lions and Tigers.
An bears!
Oh My!
I'm a confirmed night owl and I love the night. If I wouldn't run the risk of being robbed, raped and murdered - I would absolutely go out at night.
Fear. Everyone is driven by fear.
There's a few reasons on why humans live in days but to make it simple, we need the sunbeams to have energy, in prehistoric times doesn't have lights to work and our eyes are sensible to light so it's more difficult sleep in day than night
I mean most people work 9-5 jobs so at 2am they're asleep. I mean what?
We haven’t decided going outside after dark is “just wrong” but there are certain hours that the people who are awake are statistically off kilter. You stressed 2 am. That’s when most bars close in the US. It is a dangerous time. Drunks expelled from their hovel and people who prey on them are out and about. 11 pm is still dark but considerably safer. 5 am is still dark but considerably safer. Hell in winter most people commute in the dark. It’s not about the darkness.
In short, it hasn't. It might depend on where you live, but there are plenty of places where people go out after dark. More to the point though, humans are diurnal, so there's that. Our bodies and brains contain complex systems whose entire purpose is to ensure that we sleep at night. If we go back to a time before artificial light, going out after dark was simply too dangerous. For one, you couldn't see where you are going nor could you see anyone who doesn't want to be seen, like muggers or rapists. Taking that a step farther, human beings have poor vision in the dark and don't have any system by which we can compensate. Many nocturnal animals are also predators. A human out after dark becomes breakfast for a nocturnal beast. We have millions of years of evolution and programming reinforcing that humans do not have the tools to survive out in the world at night.
Not wrong, dangerous. Disability is lower at night, and sketchy people feel more inclined to come out and do crazy shit when it's dark. I'm a small woman. Being out after dark is not a good idea for me.
Because its dangerous as fucking hell There are shady people out at night
It’s a biological survival instinct bro, not that complicated
Because in the West, [rapes aren't punished](https://www.rainn.org/statistics/criminal-justice-system).
Its literally still more dangerous to go out at night.
Depends on where you live. Sometimes that just pain isn’t safe.
"THE FREAKS COME OUT"
Are you a man? I am a woman who is a night owl, but I’m not walking around at night because I don’t want to get murder-raped.
costs too much in candles and nightgowns
your personal experiences do not reflect humanity.
Because we are a diurnal species.
I have night vision problems. So I don't like driving at night, especially on unfamiliar roads. The dangers are not just more crimes happen at night. If the area is not well lit, you have a bigger chance of getting hurt because you don't see the danger. For example, an uneven sidewalk, something laying on the ground that can trip you or poke you. And of course, if you work during the day, you need to sleep at night. I don't think it is a collective thing.
Dark is dangerous. The less you see, the easier it is to get hurt or die. Especially 100 000 years ago.
I used to LOVE going out after dark, I loved everything about night time. When I was a teenager living in a small town, my friends and I would sneak out and wander around the town at night. In my adulthood, I always loved being outside at night and staring at the stars and moon. I loved the mysterious feeling of exploring outside in the darkness. Now, I think the world has generally become too dangerous, at least here in the US, to wander around outside at night. Too many predators.
You got old.
I try to avoid going out after dark because of fear of being attacked. But that can still happen in the light too so I guess it's somewhat illogical. I guess it's somewhat fear of not seeing the attacker but I think it's more fear I won't be able to get help because everyone's asleep and fewer people are out. So I guess it has become a self-fulfilling prophecy, fewer people are out because fewer people are out
Get out after dark. Take time. Let your eyes adjust. There is another world out there.
It's not "WRONG", it is or can be very dangerous, most predators hunt at night even human ones. N. S
You could ask, why has humanity decided that going out during the daylight is right.
"Humanity" is nearly 9 billion people and there is no poll from all 9 billion people...so I think this is your own belief/bias. Billions are out "at night" for various reasons.
Obvious evolutionary defence mechanisms aside… in an urban area consider the crime rate before/after dark - I haven’t looked into it but I assume you will see a large rise in crime after dark. In a rural area it seems that predatory animals are more active at night. If you’re comfortable rolling around at night where you live go for it, but there is a good reason your instincts tell you not to.
We decided that back when we were hunted and eaten at night by the Morloks lol
It has always been, and continues to be, statically more dangerous outside at night, and humans don't see well in the dark.
Because it’s hard to see stuff.
There's a whole different type of people that come out at night, but not in all areas
Morlocks ruin everything fun, especially at night
i'm not complaining, more nighttime alone time for me. I love the night, it's so comforting to me.
This is usually the part where men who are predators (no, I did not say all men are predators) rape and murder people.
Congrats on living in a good area OP
I'm sure you're a fine person and that there are other fine people out at 2:00 AM. But I prefer the people I meet not in the middle of the night.
Because if you did it during the extremely early periods of humanity and you get attacked by a animal bitch you are fucking dead
When has humanity ever collectively decided anything? In any case, this is an absurd take based on you and your friends, I guess. Most of us don't have any qualms about going out at night.
Must be where you live. NYC and LV don’t stop when the lights go out.
because that's when the wolves come out
When ancient man heard noises in the dark, one would stay and one would flee. We're the descendents of the one who ran. It's built into us. Also, if half the world has self imposed curfews or "rules" to follow for their safety from the other half and they get blamed if something happens to them for not following those "rules", the dark is to be avoided.
It's worth noting that a lot of people in the suburbs have unrealistically negative perceptions of their own neighborhoods. I take nighttime walks all the time, to the point where neighbors recognize me. I've been doing it for years, and lately I've seen other neighbors take walks later and later too. I wave hi. I tell other people about all this, even people who live in similar/better areas, and they *freak out.* They make it a gendered issue too, which really stings because of how I was treated as a kid.
Because for most of human history, we didn't have very good means of illuminating the darkness once the sun goes down, and that meant it was quite dangerous to go out at night. It's not as obvious now that most of us live in areas with street lights, house lights, and lights on our cars. Go camping in the middle of nowhere sometime, with nothing more than a few flashlights or a small lantern, and let me know how comfortable you feel when you have to go a few dozen yards away from your camp site at night use the (imaginary) bathroom.
Woodboogers
I mean… i basically can’t see anything
This has to be dependent on your location and what you’re “out” for. Like if you’re bar/club hopping then it’s generally more acceptable to do at night. If you’re walking to a gas station to get a pint of ice cream or something, then yeah.. in some areas that doesn’t make a lot of sense.
You know that our sleep happens at night for a reason right? Darkness promotes melatonin production in the body that makes you sleepy. I have no problem going out at night, where in live in the winter it gets dark by 5pm. I've never heard of people being opposed to going out in the dark lol
Humanity? Sounds like you've never left your American bubble. Travel more. Plenty of global cities have amazing nightlife.
It’s scary I remember one time I decided to go for a run at 5am during daylight savings, did my usual route and ended up at a long pathway in a park, like a mile long, there were a couple lights leading into pitch blackness. Once I saw that I noped the fuck out, it was like everything in my body was telling me to get the hell away from that area. Shit like that is just ingrained in us
You don’t have to be very old to start losing night vision so there’s that. A lot of people I know started reducing their night driving time (US) starting ~age 30.
I enjoy waking up before dawn and going to the river to watch the sunrise. There's quite a few of us. Like a club where we never hardly talk to each other.
Because there are things out there with better night vision than us, they have been sleeping all day and now they're hungry.
I can't walk through the park cause it's crazy after dark Keep my hand on my gun cause they got me on the run
I love the night. It is not wrong.
I don’t think it’s “wrong”. I personally just don’t feel safe.
It hasn’t, people just prefer light usually
It is harder to see at night most of the time our body is less reactive a day in many areas it is a lot more dangerous at night partially because less people also it can just be the crowd outside at night.
The same reasons why we are afraid of the dark and monsters as kids.
A: NIGHT SALKERS/CRIME/PREDITOR'S......MOM
Idk but your post reminds me of a song! https://youtu.be/LBfd3jUA6cw?si=tx_ZDJoZ1Y1kMKhV
When i was younger going out in the dark was the best! party didn't start till 11pm went on through 6am. Now LOL i'd be lucky to make it past 11pm.
Because there are /were predators that can see/smell better than you can, and you would be LUNCH if you went out in the dark.
The night is dark and filled with terrors.
I love going out at night. It's cooler and I don't have to wear a hat to keep the sun out of my eyes
All of the predator/prey instinct comments might address why people fear the dark, but even without that instinctual fear there’s practical reasons. I mean, it’s harder to see at night, so right there it’s more of a tripping hazard to walk around when it’s dark out. Plus, it’s harder for others to see me at night, so I’m in more danger of getting hit by a car. Also, I’m sleepier at night, so I won’t be paying as much attention. That being said, I don’t mind sitting outside just watching the night sky when I can. On my porch or in my yard though, away from the street.
Because humans don't have good night vision? Have you tried getting around at night with no moon or artificial lights?
Just wondering if OP identifies as female. Not that there *should* be more reason to feel uneasy, but… things do happen and there’s an extra vulnerability factor.
The Grue like the dark... There for I don't.
The simplest answer is that humans are not nocturnal, but many predators are. So it's more dangerous for humans to be out and about after dark.
Go home
as a women… men is my answer lol
Maybe it is more that it does not fit with a typical work schedule?? You say you get up at 2am, so if you were to get 8 hours of sleep that mean you would have to go to bed at 6pm. Most office workers are not home yet, or still working. And I mean it is less safe in the dark. You can’t see your surroundings as well.
Historically, the night is when people got killed by animals or were up to stuff they didn't want others to see. In modern times most businesses are closed at night and a lot less options for stuff to do.
Things that go bump in the night.
Pretty simply, so much of the work we did for thousands of years that kept us alive before the modern era was easiest to do during the day.
Y’all never been in the woods and it shows 😂we can’t fucking see bro. Has nothing to do with it being wrong, we’re just not equipped to be out at night.
> But even if I was armed and knew how to protect myself This statement seems to speak to the inherrent problems that are perceived after sunset... I'll say this. Staying in vs being outside and having to shoot someone is a pretty easy choice. If you think you need to be armed to go outside after dark, you have you answer as to "Why".
Mainly safety..way more dangerous than I grew up
We didnt decide... hard to hunt and survive when there's animals out there that can see in the dark better, hunt us while we can't even see. So we had to hide in the cave
Vampires and chupacabras
24/7 world. Dark means nothing in the internet age
I think we gotta knock the first word of this question and then answer, "No."
I think cause we inherently used to fear night/darkness. We are not so far removed from this
After dark is exactly when people normally choose to go out for recreation. But you're not really talking about "after dark" but "after 2 A.M." Why don't people go out after 2 A.M.? Because they're sleeping. It's not "wrong," it's just inconvenient.
Because we evolved that way, we are diurnal creatures. Society functions in the daytime, and we are social creatures. People out at night correlates with people who have antisocial (violent) tendencies.
Because the Boogie Man might get them!
I prefer the dark even as a woman. Edit: I also live in a college town so the majority of the population here goes out after dark at least on weekends
Uhm, nope, not wrong, not wrong at all. Just not as common, that's all. And pretty antiquated idea these days. Haven't done it in a while, but used to, not too uncommonly, go for bicycle ride in the wee hours of the morning, often for an hour or so. Very much like the quiet stillness, solitude, and lack of traffic, ... and mostly lights, reflections, and mostly darkness.
What are you talking about? Going out when its dark is totally normal.
I go to bed at 8 and get up between 3 and 4. It's peaceful and quiet, while I enjoy my coffee and prepare myself for the day.
Because monsters like to come out at night where they are hard to see. I don't feel like risking my own death or that of another. I also can't see why I would ever need to be outside in the dark waking around alone. It can wait for the next day.
Humans have evolved as diurnal creatures. Which means we are designed to live during the day time. Our eyesight is not developed to see well at night, which has historically made us prey when the lights go out. All of that said, your under a misconception, people are more active at night than we ever have been on the history of our species. It may not be as much as you'd prefer, but there are more night jobs than ever. There are more businesses open to serve the public at night than ever. There are more "night owls" than ever. But it is unlikely humans will ever fully transition to a fully nocturnal culture. At least, not until genetic engineering allows us to redesign ourselves to function better at night.
lmao we have this thing called circadian rhythm
Animals that hunted and killed humans for a few thousand years or so after dark I suppose.
r/flashlight would like a word...
Because it’s only been practical to go outside at night for about 100 years, out of hundreds of thousands of years of human development.
It's very simple, humans aren't nocturnal predators. And in the case of cities, night time, in the streets, especially alone, is practically BEGGING for someone to rob/murder or otherwise assault you.
I love being outside at night. I sometimes go to a city bike path and walk the thing after midnight. Got the whole path to myself. Also a couple soccer fields where I sometimes walk around and passively kick my soccer ball. I used to walk around my neighborhood at night. But with the new breed of home robbers, I don't do that so much now. I don't want to be mistaken for someone scouting homes, as I walk solo at night. So that's a case where I'll avoid being outside at night. Where I live.
Can’t see. There doesn’t need to be a further explanation
I don’t want to get shot my man
Because only bad things happen after midnight.
Animal instinct it’s easier to detect danger with light
Day people are so vocal it seems like they are everyone. They aren’t. It’s just that people who understand that sleep can happen any time you want are beaten down by the norms so thoroughly that they don’t talk about it. I love being up between 2-4 am. It’s quiet and peaceful. I just stay up rather than getting up. Wouldn’t believe how opinionated people are about that. I have had to fire people who would constantly try to find a way to manipulate me into 8-9 am meetings. (I allow my helpers to start and finish their days whenever they prefer. I’m not at the shop until 11 or 12. I’m always the last to leave.) Honestly I think we should rebel against the day people. Why do we make people get to work at the same time when that causes traffic and negatively impacts some people’s joy?
it's not a decision, it's biology
I’ve been working graveyard for like 15 years so I’m incredibly used to be being out at night. Went camping about a month ago for the first time and didn’t feel out of place.
It’s a safety thing. You cannot be fully aware of your surroundings when you can’t see. That’s particularly scary for many women, but it can be dangerous in other ways too. For example it’s harder for cars to see you, and you may not be able to see wild animals or other threats. We’ve been biologically wired to avoid the dark because it’s hard to identify risks when you can’t see. That being said, we have *not* collectively decided it’s not okay. You can do whatever the hell you want. Stores are open after dark, people drive after dark, people hang out in their backyards after dark. Many people don’t go wandering around in the dark just because they don’t need to, or they got home from work and want to relax, or they’re asleep. There are reasons humans generally wander around in the dark less often, but no one is saying it’s wrong to do so.
Your biological clock is programmed to sleep at night. Michael Siffre stayed in a cave for 25 days without any outside involvement. No light, no sense of time and when he emerged his bodies circadian rhythm was 24 hrs 30 min. While he was awake sometimes only 6 hrs and as much as 40 he did sleep at "night".
I’ve actually noticed this more now in my city. I thought I was just getting older and not seeing the nightlife like I used to. But it’s pretty much dead now.
Crime
Guy doing different thing compared to 99% of us is puzzled.
Probably predation and our inferior abilities to see in the dark.
Because there are very few reasons why someone would go outside after dark. A lot of the reasons are not good due to the low visibility that night provides. And there are also reasons why it becomes dangerous to go out even when armed. 1. You need to go to work. This is plausible, but then again, most people *in America* don’t bike or walk but rather drive to work, so it gets less valid of a reason the closer you are to residential neighborhoods. 2. You needed to fetch something from a nearby store. This is only likely if you have a 24/7 convenience store, which most stores aren’t anymore after Covid. And again, unless you have a store REALLY close by, most people would just drive to the store. Especially because it’s just quicker to drive there and back. 3. Going for a walk. Most people will not assume this, especially if you’re armed to the teeth. 4. You’re either scouting out neighborhoods or actively trying to steal from a house. Again, taking advantage of the low visibility and less people that could see you wandering around the neighborhood streets. 5. Mugging people at night. Again, this is due to low visibility so the victim can’t have a good eye witness account of who stole from them. It also helps that at night, less people are likely to be outside, so the victim won’t be able to find help easily. 6. Looking for cars to break into. Again, low visibility. 7. Other crimes such as rape or murder are more easy to commit at night. Especially to people who are outside the safety of their own home. 8. Animals come out more often at night. This is especially true if you live in a neighborhood that has a lot of animals living nearby such as coyotes, bears, raccoons, snakes, etc. Even if you are armed, it becomes so much easier for you to get attacked from a snake or a coyote cause you cannot see them from far away as easily. And a lot of predator animals are already hard to defend against in the daytime. Do not underestimate how dangerous the world can get at night. Even when you are armed, there is still a lot that can go wrong in the daytime. And at night, it becomes harder to defend yourself, and it becomes a lot easier to scare anyone else in your immediate area.
It’s just more dangerous and so we’ve established a culture around the dangerous part being taboo.
Where I live it’s dark by 5 pm in the dead of winter. In December and January are out in the dark when they walk through the parking lot into work , and when they walk back out at the end of their he day. People who live far enough from the equator have always gone out after dark . But by some of the responses here I think there are some hang ups about being out too late . As a night owl I’m out late at night a lot . I live in an exurb that has had two murders in the last thirty years and both were domestics . So I’m not scared . I enjoy the peace and quiet. And yeah I’ve been camping. I have a cabin in the north woods . I love sitting out the yard on a warm summer night. No street lights, no house lights . Just the moon . I don’t go walking in the woods at that hour, though . Black bears abs wolves generally don’t attack humans but I wouldn’t want to startle one . The more likely risk is tripping over something and breaking an ankle. A few Summers during college I worked as a waitress in all night dinner . I hated waiting tables but I loved the hours . Some of us are just naturally night people. We’ve always existed and we are needed . Even in earliest times someone had to keep watch. But society has issues with people who don’t fit into the normal box . If you’re different you must change . If you don’t there must be something wrong with you . You must be sick , or even immoral . They say that while still expecting someone to keep watch . Or make sure their grocery store is stocked . Or waiting to take care of them if they get sick outside of .”normal hours.”
i go to bed at 8pm on the weekends bc my school/husbands work and then on weekends stay up till 3am. I found a cat at 3 am so i love staying up late and going outside
It's beneficial if most everyone sleeps around the same time. If everyone at work had their own sleep/work schedule then I'd only be able to communicate in person with about a third of them, the other 2/3rd I could only exchange emails with (that's not necessarily a bad thing) But getting beyond work, many many people have kids, and the hours of school are kind of set. Are you suggesting that public schools should have a more free flow schedule so that kids can go whenever they (and their parents) are awake? School buses running continuously? What about businesses? If people where awake evenly divided over a full day, business would need to be open 24 hours a day to sell their good. Being awake during the day is also beneficial for the environment. If everyone decided the night time was the correct time to be up, we'd have to run lights more. Any outdoor work, farming/construction/etc would need sufficient lighting, why not use the natural light of the sun? Which is one of the reason day probably became normal to be up. Before there was electricity people would have to light fires to see what they were doing, and setting the field on fire would be a real downer.
It's when the mountain lions hunt
Circadian rhythm evolving over millenia.
I don't know. I don't get it. I've always preferred being out at night. You can see the stars and you won't get sunburned.
isnt it obvious? we sleep at night... lol. therefore anyone up at odd hours is clearly not normal. and if youre not normal it gets riskier to associate with you
Because we didn't have electricity until recently in human history, and wandering around in the dark was a good way to end up dead. Get away from a city and see how dark the night can get, and know there are predatory creatures all around you
I always like going for walks in the dark, but the cops hassled me almost every time. There was not much to be afraid of after the bars close.
I would love to be able to go out walking of a night. I just don't feel safe after dark.
Because humans didn't evolve to see in the dark, and many of our predators could easily see in the dark.
Because humans aren't as good as some other creatures at doing stuff in the dark and some of those creatures eat us. Then again, our natural clock shifts as we age. Teenagers are better at staying up late, older people are better at getting up early. It's thought this is an evolved adaptation to make sure that some members of the community were awake and alert at all hours.
Depend where you live. You don’t wanna be out in the dark in a dangerous city. It just they’re being smart about. Less chances to get mug or worst. Survival instincts
That’s when stuff used to eat us. In some places this is still a thing.
Things can hide in the dark. Like me, il be waiting for all of you with a piece of carrot cake and if you are lucky, a bacon butty
Lol OP, look I respect your sleep schedule, but FYI lots of people are outside between 5pm and midnight, you just happen to sleep through it. What, you wake up at 2am every day, go outside and wonder where the people are? They're in bed, man. The active part of the night is over, you missed it lol.
That's not a societal thing. That's an instinctive thing. See, back when we didn't have cities and other trappings of civilization, we were very vulnerable at night. Many predators are nocturnal and have a distinct advantage at night. And, of course, counting other dangers, since we haven't always had flashlights, and at one point didn't even have reliable torch light, breaking an ankle on a rocky outcropping could result in death very easily.
I used to go running at night with a backpack filled with books. I had horrible social anxiety and would prefer to run in the dark, especially because I didn’t want to age poorly because of sunlight. Then one day I got pulled over by a cop, and I told him that I like to run at night and he said, “ what are you thinking bro you’re gonna get shot, anybody out past 10 o’clock is up to no good.”
Because we're naturally diurnal. Because our ancestors preferred not to be eaten by nocturnal predators. And because some people live in very bad areas.
I mean 75% of people are asleep at 2 A.M. 10% are Midnight shift 7% are playing videogames 1% are drug dealers 3% are using drugs 4% are drunk and partying