The arguement here is being shadowed by everyone's opinions and emotions,sure less hours of light equals less energy to grow,however it isn't a direct comparison to outside anyways as even with lights on 24/7 inside doesn't compare to the sun,and outside cycles are way different anyways,where im at,the sun is never 12/12 or 18/6 for that matter and the amount changes gradually day by day and season by season,closer to the equator it changes even less and is way more intense,as is uv Ray's in higher altitudes,I see nothing wrong with trying to replicate natural cycles and stuff but their is a line somewhere that must be drawn in recognition that indoor and outdoor lighting and environments are different,the reason for the indoor light cycles is to get as much growth as quick as possible in veg and then get the plant to switch to flower as soon as possible and finish as fast as possible. Flowering times are typically a bit longer outdoors as far as the plant transitioning,it's stretched out longer,either way the plant will grow and do what it can with what it has and what it is given,none of us can change that.