> The lack of agreement on this point tells us something about why we change clocks and why we should continue to do so (albeit more smoothly).

Personally, I see the options from best to worst as:

1. permanent standard time

2. permanent daylight time

3. change clocks twice a year

4. change clocks more frequently but by a smaller increment.

Lack of consensus as to which of the first two should be #1 isn't an argument for #4.

Lots of comments like this in this thread, but no one has given a principle that generates such a ranking. However, there is a principle that recommends seasonal clock changes, quite apart from the (false) folk stories about why the U.S. (never mind most of the world) has them.