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Comment by dsauerbrun | Hacker News Reader

I'd challenge you to board up the windows in your room so that absolutely no light gets in. just do it for 5 days. you'll find waking up without natural light is an awful experience.

I stayed in a room without a window for a week a few years ago. I wouldn't recommend it.

if the trade off is that I can't afford alternative housing I'm finding housing in a turn that I need to commute from. I went to ucsb and knew a few people who commuted from Ventura which is 45min away and much cheaper than Santa Barbara.

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I love natural light and get as much as I can when I'm awake, but it's not required in my bedroom, especially if alternative options are a long commute, sharing a room with a stranger, or going deeper into debt. To me it's crazy that you would choose a 45 minute commute over a small and/or windowless room in college, but I understand people have different priorities; I'm sure there will be at least 4,500 students that will appreciate and choose the option to live alone, cheaper, and have the other amenities in exchange for a window. There's no need for outraged outsiders to pre-make that decision for them.

And, incidentally, I don’t need to accept the challenge to block my windows. I already have blackout curtains that I never open because the only time I’m in my bedroom is when I'm asleep or it’s too bright/hot to open. And I can’t use the natural light to wake up since where I live sunrise varies from about 4:00 to 6:30am, which doesn't work with my schedule at all. I've considered buying an automatic curtain opener to make use of the light as an alarm, but haven't gotten around to it, so for now the curtains just stay closed.

I agree with you that we can let people decide what trade offs they value; however, there is an issue where the university could find out that this is harmful to mental health or simply that students aren't willing to make this trade off. Now you have this giant building that isn't being optimally used and it could be expensive/difficult to repurpose it.

Also, I sleep with blackout curtains too! It's a much different experience than waking up in a pitch black room.

Small slivers of light make it through the edges of the curtains and that makes a HUGE difference in my own experience. Even in the winter when it's dark in the morning is a different experience than the pure pitch black. I know what I'm describing sounds silly and ridiculous but it's hard to explain how unsettling it is to wake up in a room like that.

Been there, done that, for much longer, because I wanted it that way. Hot tip: people are different.

Agreed. However, if you're building something as massive as this you likely want to appeal to a broad market. I could be wrong but I suspect that most people would prefer having a window in their bedroom as opposed to not having one.

> you'll find waking up without natural light is an awful experience

Consider I had to wake up before sunrise and got out of classes after sunset, there wasn't much sun to deal with in my dorm.

you're right. I think I should have clarified, waking up in a pitch black environment is the real issue, not necessarily the absence of natural light. I still think you want ambient light from outside as opposed to switching a lamp on in the inside of the room. This was my personal experience though so I could be wrong.

I feel pretty strongly that data would back up my anecdotal experience though... not willing to take the time to look it up though so i'll stay out of the conversation from now on.

> you'll find waking up without natural light is an awful experience

Isn't California trying to switch to permanent DST? In Santa Barbara that will move winter sunrise to as late as a little past 8 AM. That's going to limit how effectively a lot of people can use natural light to help wake.

No idea what CA is doing with DST. As I mentioned in another comment, I misspoke. My issue was less about waking up to natural light and more about waking up in pitch black and using artificial light in place of natural light.

In the winter I wake up before sunrise; however, there is still small slivers of ambient light out there(from the moon) that makes it through my blackout curtains which makes a world of difference.

Again, all anecdotal evidence but I'm inclined to join the rabble on this building given my personal experience.

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