Modern people are addicted to light. So many people now rarely experienced true darkness for more than a few seconds that they don't even think of going outside without a light because they think they won't be able to see even with a clear sky. Spend 20+ minutes without looking at a light source and even the stars will cast a visible shadow.
My family has a cabin in a true dark area and when I bring people there I often have to physically take their phones and lights away to get them to see a full night sky. They literally cannot resist looking at a bright ass light more than 60 seconds, and often with their screens on full brightness too. It makes me feel crazy sometimes, telling them they can see just fine without lights if they wait a minute or two is like you telling people they should try walking sometime and they act like you asked them to join the ministry of funny walks.
Most people living in urban centres haven't ever experienced night vision. They can't, because there are too many lights around. The reason people can't go outside without a light is because after a few seconds they'll be blinded by someone else's light (car headlights are the worst), so everyone is forced to carry a light.
A couple of years ago there were reports of aurora borealis sightings in parts of England. That night looked like it was going to be clear so I decided to take a wander into a large meadow not far from town. Unfortunately lots of other people had the same idea. Cue a bunch of people standing around in a meadow looking at their phone screens and briefly glancing at the sky complaining that they can't see anything. Regular people just have no concept of darkness or night vision. I gave up after being blinding for the tenth time by someone's phone light.
I’m reminded of the panicked calls to the police sometime in the 90s IIRC, in LA. The power went out and the calls were people panicking about the sky. So many lights? Were they UFOs? Nope, just people had never seen the night sky without light pollution.
AngryData · · focus · HN ↗
My family has a cabin in a true dark area and when I bring people there I often have to physically take their phones and lights away to get them to see a full night sky. They literally cannot resist looking at a bright ass light more than 60 seconds, and often with their screens on full brightness too. It makes me feel crazy sometimes, telling them they can see just fine without lights if they wait a minute or two is like you telling people they should try walking sometime and they act like you asked them to join the ministry of funny walks.
globular-toast · · focus · HN ↗
A couple of years ago there were reports of aurora borealis sightings in parts of England. That night looked like it was going to be clear so I decided to take a wander into a large meadow not far from town. Unfortunately lots of other people had the same idea. Cue a bunch of people standing around in a meadow looking at their phone screens and briefly glancing at the sky complaining that they can't see anything. Regular people just have no concept of darkness or night vision. I gave up after being blinding for the tenth time by someone's phone light.
Henchman21 · · focus · HN ↗