The B.C./A.D. Calender

[Saturday]

sort of a random fact that I found recently but very interesting, "tidal acceleration":

wikipedia wrote

Tidal acceleration is an effect of the tidal forces between an orbiting natural satellite (e.g. the Moon), and the primary planet that it orbits (e.g. the Earth). The acceleration is usually negative, as it causes a gradual slowing and recession of a satellite in a prograde orbit away from the primary, and a corresponding slowdown of the primary's rotation. The process eventually leads to tidal locking of first the smaller, and later the larger body. The Earth–Moon system is the best studied case.

400 million years ago, years lasted 410 days, meaning that days were 21 hours long. This is because the Earth's speed of rotation was once much faster than it is today. When the Earth formed, a day was around 6 hours long; it has been slowing gradually, but slowed more rapidly when liquid water began to form (~3.5Ga).

mind blowing

If we want a perfectly effective calendar, which we mind as well have if we're going to remake the entire thing, we would have to account for that too.

[clambake]

9opiles wrote

...The reason the idiots that adopted the calender, from Caesar, then calculated for leap years via the Gregorian calender, are actually idiots,...

That these "idiots" were able to determine a simple formula for keeping a pretty good track of the yearly cycle long before the fucking telescope was invented is fairly impressive to me.

But what the heck, we should fix the 24 hour day too, since it's never exactly 24 hours and hell the Earth rotates once in less than 24 hours every day. Even worse there's actually 366 days every year not 365 so WTF is up with that?

[edited: Oops, other direction for number of days! Originally said 364]

[Davin]

9opiles wrote

The reasons I gave are childish?

Yes.

9opiles wrote

Because I say it isn't right for a planet to operate under the theological calender of a particular religion?

That isn't what is happening. The calendar comes from the Romans and before that, the Greeks, it maintains much of the nomenclature. The Gregorian calendar comes right from the Julian Calendar which comes right from the Roman Calendar.

9opiles wrote

The start of the calender was established 500 years after-the-fact, for an arbitrary event that didn't happen, and there is no year zero.

Again, you're wrong. The Gregorian Calendar "started" in the 1500's, which was just an adjustment to the Julian Calendar which was took effect in 45 BCE.

9opiles wrote

I write things expecting the other person to deduce certain things on their own, by doing some reading of their own because I am not their teacher, nor am I their personal database, but:

With the amount of incorrect things you've presented, you should stop worrying about other people reading on their own and start to focus on yourself.

9opiles wrote

The calender is inefficient because it has no year zero. The reason the idiots that adopted the calender, from Caesar, then calculated for leap years via the Gregorian calender, are actually idiots, because, no matter the pattern by which one calculates for leap years[...]

Wow, that is one big, run on sentence. Perhaps you can try again in English.

9opiles wrote

The Mayan calender already accounts for all of this because the civil part of their calender is exactly 365 days long, with no fractions, and they do both have their months divided up differently and have the 5 "ghost days".

But a year is not 365 days long, a year is about 365.2422. So how can a calendar that is not accurate be more accurate?

9opiles wrote

This is a calender that includes both religious and secular information, technically.

So you're fine with all the Religious shit in the Mayan calendar, but not in the Gregorian? And you don't think you sound childish?

9opiles wrote

These same idiots[...]

Coming from you, calling other people "idiots" doesn't have much power.

9opiles wrote

Because there is no year 0, I find it rather inconvenient to distribute a "base year" throughout a calender, as an incredibly convenient way to get around the whole "by the way jesus never existed" bit.

There is a year zero, it's just arbitrary.

9opiles wrote

Me bitching about the fact that the calender is a theological calender based on the birth of some arbitrary and irrelevant figure is not childish.

It is childish. It's even more childish when you take such great pains to whine and cry about the start year because it's Christian, but then advocate for the Mayan calendar that is based around religious ceremonies. You sound like a baby, because you don't really have a problem with religion in the calendar as you pretended to claim, you only have a problem with the Christian part. And it's just one part of the calendar that's loosely Christian.

9opiles wrote

I'm not looking for you to agree with me. But don't call someone childish for things I'm sure you were more than capable of deducing yourself.

That's not why I called you childish. Your arguments are childish, and severely lacking in consistency. It might be good that you're not looking for me to agree with you, that could mean that you have at least some self-awareness of how pathetic your arguments are.

9opiles wrote

Why do I call you a troll? Because you can figure this out for yourself, as this seems self-evident.

I don't give a fuck why you incorrectly call me a troll... but that is a stupid reason, because that's not a descriptor for a troll. I do feel a bit bad that you spent all that time writing out the huge, barely English post.

[9opiles]

Saturday wrote

sort of a random fact that I found recently but very interesting, "tidal acceleration":


mind blowing

If we want a perfectly effective calendar, which we mind as well have if we're going to remake the entire thing, we would have to account for that too.

The Greeks invented something called the Antikythera Mechanism 100 years BCE. It's awesome. And I quote:

The true genius of the mechanism goes beyond even the complex calculations and craftsmanship of a mechanical calendar. For example, the ancients didn't know that the moon has an elliptical orbit, so they didn't know why it sometimes slowed or sped up as it moved through the zodiac. The mechanism's creator used epicyclic gears, also known as planetary gears, with a "pin-and-slot" mechanism that mimicked this apparent shifting in the moon's movement. This use of epicyclic gears is far ahead of what anyone suspected ancient technology was capable of.

And Davin...how can you draw a number line without a 0? How do you get from -1 to 1 without 0? How is zero arbitrary?

Oh wait, shitfuck, I keep taking your bait.

[Davin]

9opiles wrote

And Davin...how can you draw a number line without a 0? How do you get from -1 to 1 without 0?

Like so:
..., -4, -3, -2, -1, 1, 2, 3, 4, ...
While zero is pretty useful, it's not always necessary.

9opiles wrote

How is zero arbitrary?

I don't know, how is zero arbitrary?

9opiles wrote

Oh wait, shitfuck, I keep taking your bait.

If by "bait" you mean a "discussion," then no, you're not doing that. A discussion involves two or more people communicating with each other over one or more topics. You're ignoring most the points I present, which means that you're displaying behavior indicating that you're not interested in discussion, which actually is troll behavior. But if it makes you feel better to pretend that I'm doing what you're doing, then have fun, guy.

[9opiles]

-facepalm-

I get it

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

YOU COMPLETELY AGREE WITH ME

[Davin]

Good one, troll.

[dogpet]

Your mum!

[selliedjoup]

By protecting the sexist pig, you're only showing your support for the oppression of all women.

[dogpet]

Did Jerry's mum use calendar contraception?

[RationalCat]

Indeed, if you Google "Jesus Christ," something comes up that shows his birthdate as "4 B.C." Gotta love that. Guess it stands for "Before Crap-tastic-ness."

[Semper Idem]

Oooookay...so what calendar DO we use? Do we still have days, months, years? Or will we just have days and years?

What significant event would be Year Zero? If not the alleged birth of Jesus, then what?

Really, a new calendar would be a massive pain to get used to, and too many people (including many atheists) would likely resist the change. But if we need a new calendar, I propose this:

Forget weeks and months; we just number the days and years. We start the calendar with the Spring Equinox, and number forward from there. Year Zero will be the first year the calendar is in effect. Dates would be expressed in date/year format, like so: 123/456, where 123 is the date and 456 is the year.

While we're at it, let's have Greenwich Meridian Time the standard time for the whole world. No more time zones; no more Daylight Savings nonsense.

[mondrian]

Semper Idem wrote

Oooookay...so what calendar DO we use? Do we still have days, months, years? Or will we just have days and years?

What significant event would be Year Zero? If not the alleged birth of Jesus, then what?

Really, a new calendar would be a massive pain to get used to, and too many people (including many atheists) would likely resist the change. But if we need a new calendar, I propose this:

Forget weeks and months; we just number the days and years. We start the calendar with the Spring Equinox, and number forward from there. Year Zero will be the first year the calendar is in effect. Dates would be expressed in date/year format, like so: 123/456, where 123 is the date and 456 is the year.

While we're at it, let's have Greenwich Meridian Time the standard time for the whole world. No more time zones; no more Daylight Savings nonsense.

Some fuckwitch of a god really had it in for me. He caused me to be born just in time for the Y2K issue and the conversion to Euro. To add insult to injury, he also decided to give me a brain that is good for nought else but IT. As a result, I was heavily involved in Y2K and Euro conversion. The frustration, which those two episodes in my life caused, turned me from a meek and mild mannered individual into the evil son of bitch that you now see before you.

Trust me when I say this. NO ONE on this planet, or any other, is changing any fuckin' calendar. What is, is what shall be so for the rest on Man's period of existence. I don't give a freekin' rats ass when and why the calendar started. I couldn't give a flying fuck whether it is based upon the birth of jesus H christ or Donald Bleedin' Duck. I couldn't give a tinker's cuss whether the days of the week are based on Norse gods or fuckin' pop stars. Whether the names of the months are based on Roman gods or the sounds my farts make after eating eggy weggs and baked beanos is fuckin' irrelevant to me. But, if this race of Homo Sapiens has any shed of humanity left in its bones, it will leave the fuckin' calendar alone and not change it. If it even thinks about it, I will find a nuclear trigger and blow this world into the next. Have you guys got any idea what it's like changing computer systems, let alone those that hold historic data?

Now, for the love of all that you hold dear, please, if you have a shred of humanity, please oh please, let this idea of changing the calendar drop.

[Semper Idem]

mondrian wrote

Some fuckwitch of a god really had it in for me. He caused me to be born just in time for the Y2K issue and the conversion to Euro. To add insult to injury, he also decided to give me a brain that is good for nought else but IT. As a result, I was heavily involved in Y2K and Euro conversion. The frustration, which those two episodes in my life caused, turned me from a meek and mild mannered individual into the evil son of bitch that you now see before you.

Trust me when I say this. NO ONE on this planet, or any other, is changing any fuckin' calendar. What is, is what shall be so for the rest on Man's period of existence. I don't give a freekin' rats ass when and why the calendar started. I couldn't give a flying fuck whether it is based upon the birth of jesus H christ or Donald Bleedin' Duck. I couldn't give a tinker's cuss whether the days of the week are based on Norse gods or fuckin' pop stars. Whether the names of the months are based on Roman gods or the sounds my farts make after eating eggy weggs and baked beanos is fuckin' irrelevant to me. But, if this race of Homo Sapiens has any shed of humanity left in its bones, it will leave the fuckin' calendar alone and not change it. If it even thinks about it, I will find a nuclear trigger and blow this world into the next. Have you guys got any idea what it's like changing computer systems, let alone those that hold historic data?

Now, for the love of all that you hold dear, please, if you have a shred of humanity, please oh please, let this idea of changing the calendar drop.

Beautiful!

The least we can do is get the whole world on Zulu time and dump the daylight savings bulldust. I'd have to set my watch ahead five hours, but I can work with that. Just think, finally I can sleep till noon and still put in a full day's work. ;o)