Fear of the Night and Night Shifts

According to director Ian Cheney, “There is a controversy over whether more light leads to less crime, but there is agreement that light seems to make people feel safe, almost like it’s built into our genes to move closer to the campfire or to the brightest city” (City Dark). As a human species, we are hardwired to fear the darkness. It is indeed part of some kind of genetic instinct that we do not yet understand, but we all know and have experienced this fear. As a young child, I remember the cripplingly gloomy sensation of a dark corner or shadow. I am sure I wasn’t the only one who used to do this, but sometimes I felt the need to dash through hallways of darkness to reach the next light. Older now, I am not as naïve when it comes to the darkness within my own home, but outside, or any other place outside my comfort zone, the fear is still ever present.

I don’t believe that fear is only inside our species. Just as the instinct and will to survive is in all creatures, fear is present in all. However, many creatures also depend on the dead black of night. Those depend on it for hunting, such as jaguars and sharks. Others depend on it for navigation, such as the newly hatched sea turtles trying desperately to reach the sea. So the light of a campfire or a lamp can have many meanings; comfort, exposure, or hope.

Us humans in particular, although we suffer physical and mental abnormalities at too much light exposure, there is little chance that we would give up the convenience of a bright night for the sake of a few victims. Like George Brainard, a neurologist at the University of Pennsylvania says, “…we really need to know how much light and what quality of light and often and at what time of night it is the most problematic” (qtd. in City Dark). It is the easiest solution, in common perspective, to adjust ourselves to these new environments rather than remove the harmful exposures. As a few examples, we could place late night shift workers in very dim and dark work spaces (with a reasonable amount of light for proper performance). If a shift worker cannot be kept in dark work spaces, we can encourage little light in their homes to keep the balance in how much light they take in. And again, it is the natural response to choose the most convenient method rather than the healthiest one, so we cannot expect people to just stop working during the night. The world demands service during the night, and humanity demands relief to those who must endure the hectic lives they must run to support themselves.