I hate this joke and I’m going to address it seriously.

The majority of us sleep and wake at similar hours. If someone feels like sleeping only at 2:00 or 3:00 a.m., they are probably not a night person, there might be something wrong (e.g., too much caffeine, major depression). People who naturally feel the need to sleep extremely early or extremely late are rare.

Now, same bell curve logic, most people have a not-too-early and not-to-late natural clock. ‘Early birds’ and ‘night owls’ are also not the norm. The so-called morning people who naturally wake up at 7:00 a.m. or earlier and sleep early too are not only in the minority but also impacted by all the night lights, night life, “important ceremonies are at night”, etc. As students, many cannot go to sleep early because of homework, practices or activities in the dormitories. We are all affected by unrealistic schedules, especially people in demanding fields (e.g. medical field). This is why we have normalized taking stimulants.

Lastly, I need to say it, a lot of gamers think they are night people because they like to stay awake playing videogames. That’s not how circadian clocks work. I understand the quiet and freedom of nighttime, but that’s not necessarily our biological preference. When we are adults, we ought to find what our bodies need and provide it because our health (and future quality of life) depends on it. I’m giving this advice because it’s advice I would’ve liked to hear when I was younger.

Back to the meme, blaming the morning people is, again (we do it in many debates), shifting the blame from capitalism and a culture of “we need to do all the things, at all hours, cities that don’t sleep” to a group of people that’s not the 1%.