Time - What crazy person decided on this?

[Arra]

I've had a problem with our assignment of times to the 24-hour clock for a while, and am having trouble sleeping tonight because I keep thinking about it. Perhaps you've never thought about it before. Perhaps you have. Look at this: 9am, 10am, 11am, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm See the problem? If not, it's probably because you're used to it. But you would surely see the problem if you weren't. There is a scale of times from 1-12, which is iterated through twice daily, once in am, and again in pm. The obvious way to do this should be to iterate through times 1-12 in the am, then do it again but in the pm. But, for some strange reason, only 1-11 is in the am. Then the 12 is in the pm with the next 1-11. Why the hell is it like this? Also, has anyone else been seriously disconcerted by the fact that the new day technically starts at 12am on the previous night? It confuses things. It makes me unsure which date to write down if I'm writing a date past 12am at night. I hear people referring to 'today' at 1am to describe things they're going to do the next day, and there has been serious confusion because I mistakenly think they're talking about something they did today. I think the day should start at about 5am. Here is what would make sense to me, with our current times on the left and the times I think they should be labeled on the right: ... 2am 10pm 3am 11pm 4am 12pm 5am 1am 6am 2am 7am 3am ... 4pm 12am 5pm 1pm 6pm 2pm ... If it were like this, daylight hours would almost always be in the am, and dark hours would almost always be in the pm, something that is currently falsely implied anyway. It would make a lot more sense. I can't imagine what the people who made up the way we do it were thinking.

[DeletePlease]

These are the kind of meaningful discussion I try to have with people but for some reason, they just look at me like I'm weird.

[Seroquel]

[Unelias]

That is why we use 24h clock. So much simpler.

[khh]

that is why we use 24h clock. So much simpler. qft

[Marvo]

That is why we use 24h clock. So much simpler. Pretty much this. The solution to your problem is to use the 0000-2400 format, instead of the 1-12AM/PM format. And while you're at it, start using litres, grams and meters as well.

[khh]

Pretty much this. The solution to your problem is to use the 0000-2400 format, instead of the 1-12AM/PM format. And while you're at it, start using litres, grams and meters as well. And then if only we could adopt m/s, we could all live happily forever after in SI-land.

[Original Poster]

And then if only we could adopt m/s, we could all live happily forever after in SI-land. The metric system, 2400 system and celsius system are all vastly superior to their american counterparts. But while we're talking about time, we should have 13 months 20 days each like the mayans. This Gregorian Calendar bullshit is utterly retarded. Not only would adjusting the calendar correctly make leap-days unnecessary but all those other random days that get added every few hundred or even thousand years that you may not know about.

[Seroquel]

Let's call the sun "day moon" while we're at it too.

[Original Poster]

Let's call the sun "day moon" while we're at it too. I can't tell if you're being double satirical because the strawman is so obvious but that's just like something Xei would say.

[khh]

The metric system, 2400 system and celsius system are all vastly superior to their american counterparts. Yeah, I actually wasn't being ironic.

[Squishdiboo]

I. . . don't understand the problem. I guess because I'm accustomed to it? The way the 12 hour day works doesn't seem confusing to me.

[Oneironaut Zero]

It's because, in the 12-hour system, you don't count the first hour, until the first full hour has passed. The first 12:00am (ever) is like 00:00, so of course, you're not going to get a 1:00, until the first Full (1) hour has passed. At the end of the day the 12tham hour is not over until the 1st hour of the next day begins. Not all that confusing. I also like watching people go batshit crazy over the whole 'month-before-day' thing, when dealing with the date. [Edit] If it helps, it actually makes more sense if you talk it out. 12:15am equals the end of the 12th hour of the previous day (12:00) plus 15 minutes into the next day (a.m.). Put it together and you get 12:15am.

[Darkmatters]

Yep, same as why the 1900's were the "20'th century" and the 2000's are the 21st century - weird, right? But think about it. You don't start counting anything from the number zero, you always start from 1 - this means the 1st decade would be 1 through 9 - and THEN you start using a zero at the beginning of each. Ten through 19 etc. Same for centuries. So we're always behind by 1.

[Arra]

I suppose it makes some sense, although I'd prefer that we just had a 0:00 instead of 12:00, that would make more sense.

[Darkmatters]

Yeah, I wish Europe would just invade the US (and Canada), force us to take on the metric system and replace our government (Canada can keep their government). Any takers?

[Arra]

Canada uses the metric system already. But I wish someone would force me to move farther south where it's warm.

[Darkmatters]

Oh ok - well that makes this much easier. I wish Canada would invade the US. You know - cause of their warlike nature and all.

[Oneironaut Zero]

But I wish someone would force me to move farther south where it's warm. I second this. Come on down. We have (Shepherd's) pie!!

[Darkmatters]

Don't worry Dianeva - a few more years of climate change and we'll all be moving up there!

[Squishdiboo]

Pennsylvania is further south than Canada, but I doubt it's much warmer. . .

[Darkmatters]

Dianeva, you'll always have the distinction of being the person who pushed my likes up to 666

[Arra]

I don't know about the rest of the world, but here, on Sept 12th the weather was July-Aug. Then on Sept 13th, it was October, and it's been like that since. It's the most sudden change to fall I've ever experienced. I hate the cold. I can't think right and don't want to do anything but sleep if its under 70 degrees or so. And my dad gets pissed off when I turn the thermostat over 68.

[Squishdiboo]

Yeah, here it was nice and summery until today when it was suddenly 40 degrees. I basically spent all day sleeping.

[Darkmatters]

Huh - down here in the midwest it's been cool and fall-like for a good week or so.