The nature of time has been one of the great scientific mysteries that humans have ever encountered.

Albert Einstein stood conventional wisdom on its head in 1905 with his paper “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies” in which he presented what came to be called his Special Theory of Relativity. This proposed that time is not constant for everything; rather, it is relative to the motion of a particular object. The speed of light, Einstein wrote in his paper, is always the same.

Now that we have that paradox of time and space resolved, I’d like society to confront another: Why in the world do we bother pushing our clocks ahead one hour early in the year only to reset them back an hour a few months later? The daylight-saving/standard time schedule has annoyed me for many years, particularly because it’s unnecessary.

Following several other nations, the United States began observing daylight-saving time in 1918. The idea is to allow for more daylight in the evening and less in the morning from late winter to the middle of fall. Then we switch back to standard time for the next few months.

It used to be that we set our clocks ahead an hour the first Sunday of Apriland set them back the last Sunday of October. But this timetable will change this year. We now will set our clocks ahead an hour on the second Sunday in March (this weekend!) and back an hour the first Sunday in November.

Yes, it’s nice having the additional sunlight in the evening. And if we have to observe this, it makes sense to preserve more sunlight later in the day because the sun rises earlier in the morning as the days grow longer.

But for this modest pleasure, it’s irritating trying to remember when to do this and which direction the clock should go at what point in the year. Even the old saying “Fall back, spring ahead” is misleading.

Spring doesn’t start until the third week of March, so daylight-saving time officially begins in winter. Now using the terms “spring” and “fall” makes sense if you’re taking advantage of the double meaning (using these words as verbs as well as nouns); saying “winter ahead” just doesn’t have the same punch. But, technically, “spring ahead” is incorrect.

The other thing that proves tricky is what time people should adjust their clocks. Traditionally, it’s been about 2 a.m., which is pretty early to get up and reset all your clocks. It’s worth it if you gain the extra hour, but a real drag if you lose it. Now instead of your being awake at 2 a.m., you’re awake at 3 a.m.

Some people choose to reset them the night before or the morning after. But what if you forget?

In lieu of setting our clocks ahead an hour early in the year and back an hour late in the year, I’ve long proposed that we split the difference. This year, let’s set our clocks ahead a half-hour — and then leave it that way forever. If Pope Gregory XIII could wipe 10 days out of existence in 1582 through a papal decree, Congress should be able to add a permanent half hour onto the national clock. It can’t be that hard, right?

We may not get all the additional sunlight we want in the evening. But we won’t have to worry about what date to adjust our clocks or getting up early to reset them. And I’ll stop losing sleep over the “spring ahead” controversy.

Jerry Moore is a news editor with Liberty Suburban Chicago Newspapers. He can be reached at jmoore@libertysuburban.com.