Big plans this weekend: I’m doing something stupid. No offense, but chances are, you’re going to do it, too.

We’ll all turn the clocks back at 2 a.m. on Sunday. So, not for the first time, allow me to shout from the rafters about how utterly stupid Daylight Saving Time is (or more to the point, ending Daylight Saving Time).

Why are we still doing this? Especially since:

• It's all based on a 100-year-old, totally outdated theory.

• It's really bad for us, from a health and economic perspective.

• And almost everybody basically hates it.

There's a reason. Two, actually, and you're not going to like them. Let's break it all down.

The messed up history of Daylight Saving Time

First some history. We've been turning the clocks back and forth, on and off anyway, since 1918.

We started out copying Germany in World War I. Nobody here liked it, so most states gave it up but during World War II we went back to it a bit to get the whole company synched up.

After that, it was every state for itself for decades, until the energy crisis came along in the 1970s, and we were basically willing to try almost anything.

So, the U.S. standardized daylight savings again starting around 1975, on the theory that it would save energy. There have been a few updates since then, tweaking the dates when we start it and stop, but basically, we've mostly continued on the same path for 43 years.

Except that we don't save energy...

There's no real energy savings (even if there originally might have been some back in the early days of the 20th century).

For one thing, we don't just shut off our lights and go to bed when it gets dark, the way people did a century ago. And, we use way more air conditioning. 

Also, here’s some hard data. The state of Indiana bucked the trend and didn't implement Daylight Saving until 2006. Result?

Residential electrical use actually increased 2 to 4 percent according to the National Bureau of Economic Research.

...also, it destroys our health...

Okay, but at least the extra sunlight during the spring and summer months increases health and makes people feel better, right? Actually, no. The lack of sleep in the spring for an hour has some serious ramifications.

"Car accidents, strokes, and heart attacks spike in the days after the March time change," Ben Steverman summarized at Bloomberg.

Granted, some people do get an extra hour of sleep when we turn the clocks back. But not everyone. I'm pretty sure that if you're part of one of the 35 percent of U.S. households that has at least one young child, you're nodding your head at this.

Your kids will likely wake up as they're biologically used to, at "the new 5:30 a.m." tomorrow. That means, so will you.

...and it hurts our economy.

The history's lousy, it hurts people's health, but it boosts the economy right?

There are winners and losers. Restaurants love it in the summer, as do golf courses and sports venues.

But, overall it actually hurts the economy more when we switch back in the fall than we gain in the spring.

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. found that consumer spending goes up a bit at the start of daylight savings, but it crashes another 3.5 percent in the wrong direction when it ends.

Maybe that's just an argument for keeping the clocks "spring ahead" all year long. And in fact, that's what a lot of people would like to do.

But we're not doing it.

So why are we still turning the clocks back?

At this point, we keep this all up for two reasons.

The first is probably that there are some industries that do benefit from the current system's inefficiencies. For example, when Indiana switched and its energy consumption rose, that worked out to another $9 million in electricity costs. 

The second, bigger reason is probably just plain inertia. There are some states, Massachusetts for one, that have moved toward full-time, year-round daylight savings.

Technically Massachusetts's idea is to switch full-time to Atlantic Standard Time, which is an hour ahead of New York. It's the same result as staying on Eastern time but never switching the clocks back.

But what's holding them back, along with a few other states, is the desire for uniformity. So, you're either waiting for Congress to act, or for a whole bunch of states to get their act together at once. Good luck with that.

Meantime, we're stuck with it. But we don't have to like it.

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7 other things worth your time

• The family of David Saunders, 98, who died of Covid-19, and who thought his remains would be used for medical research in accordance with his wishes, say they were shocked to learn that his body was dissected in front of an audience in a Marriott hotel ballroom. Spectators had paid $500 for the show, part of something called “the Oddities and Curiosities Expo, which travels across the country.” (KING)

• During arguments Wednesday, at least six of the nine members of the U.S. Supreme Court appeared ready to strike down strict gun control laws in New York state (and several other states). (CNN)

• Maine voters passed the nation’s first “right to food” constitutional amendment on Tuesday. “Maine voters passed the nation’s first “right to food” constitutional amendment on Tuesday.” (AP)

• Tom Hanks said Jeff Bezos offered him a seat on a spaceflight before William Shatner, but that he turned it down because it was too expensive. "I ain't paying" $28 million, Hanks said. (Yahoo News)

• British Royal Marines forced their U.S. Marine Corps opponents to surrender days into a training exercise at Twentynine Palms, which is a huge Marine base in the middle of the California desert. Apparently, the Brits quickly told The Telegraph newspaper about victory, which made the whole thing go viral. (Sky News)

• A nuclear power plant in Scotland has an unusual problem: Jellyfish keep clogging the plant’s cooling intake pipes, “which has previously prompted temporary shutdowns of the plant.” (Vice)

• Breaking up causes more emotional pain for men than for women, according to a new psychological study out of the UK. (Lancaster).\

Thanks for reading. I have been ranting against turning the clocks back in the fall for a long time, long before I was writing anywhere, and also on Inc.com. Photo credit: Pixabay. Want to see all my mistakes? Click here.