Thread: The 2012 'Paradigm Shift.' Is it in its beginning stages?

No I think that is because days are shorter and longer, so we need the leap year. We sort of just make up for it all at a certain time to get back to normal. At least I think that's why.
Did the Mayans have it worked out so this is unnecessary? Or did their calendar/time slowly become wrong?

I checked in to ask peeps how they think the Egyptian military's crackdown on protesters fits into the whole 2012 thing?

Originally Posted by Omnis Dei

Mayan calendar did not require a leap year like ours does. It was more accurate.

Our calendar is based on

- cycles of the Earth on its axis, and
- cycles of the Earth about the sun,

and is exact.

I suppose the Mayans knew about the precession of the equinoxes? Edit: oh, and they knew about the rotation of galaxies too, awesome. This would be technologically incredible so please give one piece of historical evidence.

Originally Posted by tommo

No I think that is because days are shorter and longer, so we need the leap year. We sort of just make up for it all at a certain time to get back to normal. At least I think that's why.

What the... basic astronomy?

A day is how long it takes for the Earth to spin around. The Earth is not constantly accelerating and decelerating, this length of time is always 24 hours. The amount of time we can see the sun through the day changes throughout because of the Earth's tilt.

Any calendar with years and days needs leap years, because the Earth does not spin around a whole number of times when it orbits the Sun once. It's close to 365 ¼, so every four years has 365*4 + 1 days.

Originally Posted by Xei

What the... basic astronomy?

A day is how long it takes for the Earth to spin around. The Earth is not constantly accelerating and decelerating, this length of time is always 24 hours. The amount of time we can see the sun through the day changes throughout because of the Earth's tilt.

Any calendar with years and days needs leap years, because the Earth does not spin around a whole number of times when it orbits the Sun once. It's close to 365 ¼, so every four years has 365*4 + 1 days.

You would be the worst teacher ever. And thanks for the info. I did know that, I just hadn't bothered to think about it in the slightest since I was 5.