Why Did We Lose 1 Hour?

It's that time again when most of us had to set our clocks ahead an hour for no good reason I can think of other than to be on the same schedule with the rest of those around us. Why is this still done? It's been proven that even changing the clock by an hour impacts one's circadian rhythm and can lead to a couple of days of reduced productivity, grogginess, etc. I know there are a few states in the U.S. that wisely decided not to participate in the concept of daylight savings time, and I wish my state was one of them.

Do any of you readers have a good reason why we should still lose and gain an hour twice a year? Does artificially changing the hours in which the sun is visible in the sky still help us in any way? I'd appreciate your comments on this, as I sincerely don't know why we still follow this tradition of playing with our perception of time and daylight.