Looper's Delight Archive Top (Search)
Date Index
Thread Index
Author Index
Looper's Delight Home
Mailing List Info
[Date Prev][Date Next]   [Thread Prev][Thread Next]   [Date Index][Thread Index][Author Index]

RE: OT: begin of millenium.

>Digital counting may start at zero, but that has nothing to do with how we
>count years.  And it should not be really called "digital," but binary.  
>And
>you will have to agree that the binary system is rather different from the
>decimal system.  In the decimal system the first number is 1, the tenth 
>one
>is 10, and then we start over, as in 10+1 gets 11; 10+2 gets 12, etc.

the fact of beeing binary or decimal is not related to include zero or not.
But a digital counter naturally includes zero, whereas a mechanical 
watch for example not so much, you just have to paint 12 instead of 0.

>There was no "year zero."  There was the year 2 B.C., 1 B.C., and then
>immediatetly following that there was the year 1 A.D.  Beginning in 1 
>A.D.,
>counting sets of one-thousand years, we end the first one in the year 1000
>A.D., and we end the second set in 2000 A.D.  The third set of 
>one-thousand
>years-- the third millennium-- starts in 2001 A.D., exactly the first 
>second
>of 1 January 2001 A.D.

I understood this view and it makes sense. But obviously, there are 
others and you dont spread good news by calling them "idiots" or 
saying: "the truth is:...".

>I saw an idiot journalist last night talking about people in Europe in 999
>A.D. on the onset of the new millennium.  This is tantamount to lending
>$1,000 to someone and expecting to get only $999 back.  Everybody knows 
>how
>much you would expect back in such a loan.

Why should he not talk about people in the same phase, exactly 1000 
years ago? They might even have crashed the heads of some that said 
that the millenium started at 1.1.1000...
Nothing to do with $, for a change.

We are free to change things. Whether there was a year 0 or not, 2000 
years ago, is not the end of the story. The roman empire ended, we 
changed about every rule...

The europeans decided to count 24 hours, and they use 0 rather than 24.

Although in another post someone cited an old idea that with the 
inclusion of zero, the decline started, it might simply be progress 
(and the fear of it...) ?
If the majority of mankind wants to include 0, thats probably the way to 
go.


          ---> http://Matthias.Grob.org