this post was submitted on 01 Feb 2024
235 points (90.4% liked)

Today I Learned

17770 readers
796 users here now

What did you learn today? Share it with us!

We learn something new every day. This is a community dedicated to informing each other and helping to spread knowledge.

The rules for posting and commenting, besides the rules defined here for lemmy.world, are as follows:

Rules (interactive)


Rule 1- All posts must begin with TIL. Linking to a source of info is optional, but highly recommended as it helps to spark discussion.

** Posts must be about an actual fact that you have learned, but it doesn't matter if you learned it today. See Rule 6 for all exceptions.**



Rule 2- Your post subject cannot be illegal or NSFW material.

Your post subject cannot be illegal or NSFW material. You will be warned first, banned second.



Rule 3- Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here.

Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here. Breaking this rule will not get you or your post removed, but it will put you at risk, and possibly in danger.



Rule 4- No self promotion or upvote-farming of any kind.

That's it.



Rule 5- No baiting or sealioning or promoting an agenda.

Posts and comments which, instead of being of an innocuous nature, are specifically intended (based on reports and in the opinion of our crack moderation team) to bait users into ideological wars on charged political topics will be removed and the authors warned - or banned - depending on severity.



Rule 6- Regarding non-TIL posts.

Provided it is about the community itself, you may post non-TIL posts using the [META] tag on your post title.



Rule 7- You can't harass or disturb other members.

If you vocally harass or discriminate against any individual member, you will be removed.

Likewise, if you are a member, sympathiser or a resemblant of a movement that is known to largely hate, mock, discriminate against, and/or want to take lives of a group of people, and you were provably vocal about your hate, then you will be banned on sight.

For further explanation, clarification and feedback about this rule, you may follow this link.



Rule 8- All comments should try to stay relevant to their parent content.



Rule 9- Reposts from other platforms are not allowed.

Let everyone have their own content.



Rule 10- Majority of bots aren't allowed to participate here.

Unless included in our Whitelist for Bots, your bot will not be allowed to participate in this community. To have your bot whitelisted, please contact the moderators for a short review.



Partnered Communities

You can view our partnered communities list by following this link. To partner with our community and be included, you are free to message the moderators or comment on a pinned post.

Community Moderation

For inquiry on becoming a moderator of this community, you may comment on the pinned post of the time, or simply shoot a message to the current moderators.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

I feel that this is what we should be using instead of the current illogical time system.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 98 points 9 months ago (6 children)

We also need to switch to 13 months at 28 days each. Makes things so much easier.

[–] [email protected] 43 points 9 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 20 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I had a roommate for a semester in college who essentially lived on a 40 hour schedule. He'd stay awake for 24 hours straight, then sleep for 16 hours. Not sure if he managed to pass any of his classes that year.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I had your mom for a semester in college

[–] [email protected] 11 points 9 months ago

I hope you cleaned her urn when you were done.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

I honestly feel pretty close to that, not as egregious but maybe like 16 to 20 hours awake to 8-12 hours asleep. Roughly 16-10

[–] [email protected] 27 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

There's pros and cons., though personally I used this calendar for my fiction writing.

I'd like to find a way to sync the lunar cycle and solar cycles since the earth's, moon's, and revolutions around the sun are soooo close (5 days off) plus it'd make sense to keep in theme with the Babylonian-esque base-60 system (where 60 is readily divided and a factor of 360 days, 12 months, 30 days, etc).

Which is pretty much what the Ancient Egyptians did.

*edit: pretty much have 5 "fake days" and add a sixth "fake" day to account for the gradual desync.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 9 months ago (1 children)

New year's week sounds good haha

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago

That is really nice! People take vacations around the new year anyway.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

[https://piped.video/-zgX-2ULT68?]](https://piped.video/-zgX-2ULT68?%5D)

Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 9 months ago (6 children)

I'd personally prefer 12 months with 30 days each, a 6-day week (makes for even rotations in shifts, 4 on 2 off), and an inter-calary week of 5 to 6 days at the new year.

If we're going for broke on this I'd also want to convert to the dozenal system over decimal, as 12 is more easily divisible by smaller numbers which means easier division for numbers we use more often (like 3 or 4), which means that ¼ would be 0.3 and ⅓ would be 0.4.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 9 months ago (2 children)

12? Ew. As someone who relies on my fingers to count I repudiate such discriminatory system!

[–] [email protected] 13 points 9 months ago (1 children)

you can still use your fingers. it's how we got our standard of time. Back then they counted the joints in our fingers minus thumb. 4 sets of 3 for our four fingers and 3 joints per finger. Then 5 sets of 12 to make 60. as they would use the fingers on the other hand to track how many times they counted to 12.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

My favorite system like this is the Oksapmin counting system. They use a base 27 system. It's based upon counting upper body parts.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

The Babylons had a great counting system using the segments of their fingers

Thought I prefer the binary counting system

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

So, like, I understand the binary one, I see what you did there and all. But a system where ☝️ means "2" is just wrong.

Also, what number is the shocker?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

You still get to count on your fingers. You use your thumb to count each bone in your 4 fingers to get up to 12. ("10" in the new system). Then you have the option to either continue with your other hand up to 24, or use it as an abacus, keeping your place while you count up to 144 ("100").

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

You expect me to remember all that? Which thumbs? How many knuckles? When? Who?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago

Wow. A dozenal system sounds useful! We should use it for measuring distances!

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago

Fuck it. Lets get real and just go all the way back to Sumeria. Sexagesimal numbering system here we come.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I like that with 13 each month starts on a Monday and ends on a Sunday. Makes that calculation super easy.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

With six days a week for a 30-day month, each month would also start with the same day.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

True. But I think as long as the weeks aren't cut up by months it's still a massive simplification.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

I would say that at the very least we could adjust February by taking a day from July and August and the extra day every four years could be added inbetween them as a "monthless" day in the middle of the summer.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (3 children)

A dozenal system is more difficult in multiplication. Decimal: 10^7 =10000000, 10^8=100000000, 10^9=1000000000, etc.
Dozenal: 12^7= 35831808, 12^8=429981696, 12^9=5159780352.
Gets very messy very quick.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago (1 children)

That's because you're working in base 10. That person wants to covert to base 12.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 9 months ago (2 children)

In which case teaching kids to count becomes more difficult because we have ten fingers

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Unless you use your thumb to point to the phalanges of each finger.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Ok that's me convinced. I'm on board train dozenal!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Since we can count to "10" (12) on one hand, we can use the other hand to count sets of "10", bringing us up to "100" (144). With decimal, we're stuck at 20, and that's only if we're wearing sandals.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

If you're pointing to the last phalange on both hands, that would be "110" (156) though wouldn't it. Since it would be "10" x "10" + "10".
We could also use this method to count to 100 in base-10 using only the first 10 phalanges of the hand.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Wait till you hear about these things called inches!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

Yeah that's true.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

In base 12 12^7 would be written as 10000000 too.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

In dozenal (duodecimal), 6+6= a dozen, but we write "dozen" as "10". A dozen dozen is not 144; it is "100". 3 dozen is not 36; 3 dozen is "30".

We would have two additional digits between 9 and "10".

We would have to rewrite our multiplication table entirely. 2 * 6=10. 3 * 6=16. 4 * 6=20. But, when we do memorize the new table, it is just as consistent and functional as our decimal system.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago (4 children)

Math checks out, but who do we name the other month after? Another Roman emperor?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

We can just name it after some guy named John. We can call it Johnuary

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Smarch. Just gotta watch out for that lousy Smarch weather.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

Not to mention the Ide of Smarch. Beware!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

How about Sextuary after August and before September? It counts up from there until December anyway.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Honestly just numbering them would be easier haha

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

But then do we skip unlucky 13, and right from 12 to 14?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Nah, we swing hard the other way: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 666

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

That'll make Christmas interesting.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago

Yes please! I love that system so much I made it the default in my fantasy novels.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

An alternative is 10 months where each are 36 days for even numbered months and 37 days for odd number months

A benefit for 28 days is all months are 4 weeks.