A proposal has been tabled in the Icelandic Parliament about putting the clock back one hour in order to align the country better with its geographical location regarding time zones. Noon would be at... noon, or almost, which is not at all the case now. People like myself would find it easier to get up in the morning during the darkest winter months. This is a good proposal. We are bodily and earthly creatures after all, and our mental and physical health depents on environmental conditions, among other things. If we have the choice of organising society in a way that is better in line with natural cycles we should do so, of course.

Sometimes opposite reasoning is offered, most often by people speaking for business, who want to harmonize Icelandic time with that of majr business partners on mainland Europe. One argument that has been heard is that it seems to be quite OK for Galicians to be in a "wrong" time zone (Central European time) and that no difference is discernible in the mental health between the Galicians and the Portuguese, despite the latter setting their clocks one hour later than the former. But they we might ask: Why do the Portuguese not choose to follow Central European time? It must be very inconvenient for their business with the neighbours in Spain to be in another time zone. Despite this, the Portuguese have chosen to set their clocks approximately "right".

Don't tell me that geographical location does not matter!