Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Someday aliens will land and all will be fine until we explain our calendar

twitter.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

701–710 of 1001 posts

Re: Someday aliens will land and all will be fine until we explain our calendar

#701

Post by thaumasiotes »

bawolff wrote: post #692
thaumasiotes wrote: post #636

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would that be considered the first day of Fall? Even taking a purely astronomical perspective, the autumnal equinox would be the center of Fall, not the beginning.

Because https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_lag

Yes, from a seasonal perspective, the timing of a season varies idiosyncratically from place to place. That was the first thing I said. Why would you then want to locate the beginning of Fall on the equinox?

Quoting from your link:

> seasonal lag is not "seasonally symmetric"; that is, the period between the winter solstice and thermal midwinter (coldest time) is not the same as between the summer solstice and thermal midsummer (hottest time).

> In mid-latitude continental climates, [seasonal lag] is approximately 20–25 days in winter and 25–35 days in summer.

> there is no meteorological reason for designating these dates as the first days of their respective seasons.

Re: Someday aliens will land and all will be fine until we explain our calendar

#702

Post by daptaq »

Judgmentality wrote: post #325
_k9eq wrote: post #154

I find the implication that aliens are rational and have no subrational concepts due to tradition and habit interesting, as it sort of implies that these kinds of outgrowths are not necessary and can just be done away with. The narrator starts from a position of not wanting to legitimize or historicize beyond reductive statements like "some ancient civilization did XYZ". I'll admit that I skimmed through the last par…

[flagged]

> Do you also hate every story ever told?

I don't get why this should apply to every story.

> It is funny. You should try laughing at how dumb we are. It's fun.

Individual humans are stupid, probably most of the time, I don't disagree. But what this reminds me of is when people imagine stone age people as "ooga booga"-idiots, instead of human beings that might have not had access to the same technology and intellectual concepts that we can rightfully feel superior about. And as the narrator is implicitly taking sides with the alien, he too is looking down at us backward humans.

I don't know if you have ever met people who hate humanity and try to disassociate themselves the rest. They refer to us as "Humanoids" as if automata that they as superior being have the right to use and manipulate. It is a vibe similiar to this that I picked up, that I object to.

Re: Someday aliens will land and all will be fine until we explain our calendar

#704

Post by madsohm »

octobus2021 wrote: post #63

This is absolutely hilarious, and despite being long form, fits Twitter format very well, with each chunk funnier than the last :) A few notes: - Per my knowledge US is the only country which stubbornly (and illogically) considers Sunday to be the first day of the week; - US (and maybe one or two English-speaking countries) are the only ones using 12h time, the rest of the world uses 24hrs, however 12h _sometimes_ is…

In Denmark we use 24h, but we call them by their 12h equivalent, e.g. "15:15" is "a quarter past three". However, you could also say: "It's now 21 30" to signify half past nine. Or some people would say: "It's half 10". Okay, having 24h clocks don't make it easier it seems.

Re: Someday aliens will land and all will be fine until we explain our calendar

#705

Post by kazinator »

These aliens called babies land in our world all the time and get the calendar just fine.

It takes them a few years, but a lot of that is due to their lagging cognitive abilities, as such; a different calendar redesigned for utmost simplicity would still take them a few years.

Re: Someday aliens will land and all will be fine until we explain our calendar

#706

Post by davchana »

BlackLotus89 wrote: post #241

They forgot summer- and wintertime, and leap seconds. Oh and afaik only some english speaking countries use AM/PM, the rest of the world uses the 24h based system doesn't it?

Its not some countries. Every country British had ruled uses 12h for day to day life; & 24 for military speak & railway time tables display board. & British ruled a lot of countries.

Re: Someday aliens will land and all will be fine until we explain our calendar

#707

Post by davchana »

freetime2 wrote: post #288

How about the fact that 10/11/12 can variously refer to October 11, 2012, November 10, 2012, or November 12, 2010 - depending on what country you are in?

& sometimes even in same country but depending on who is using it. In USA, Social Security will use like mm/dd/yyyy. Passport will have dd MMM YYYY. Immigration documents from USCIS will have mmddyy. Some state documents will have mm-dd-yy

Re: Someday aliens will land and all will be fine until we explain our calendar

#708

Post by saalweachter »

unity1001 wrote: post #530
octobus2021 wrote: post #63

This is absolutely hilarious, and despite being long form, fits Twitter format very well, with each chunk funnier than the last :) A few notes: - Per my knowledge US is the only country which stubbornly (and illogically) considers Sunday to be the first day of the week; - US (and maybe one or two English-speaking countries) are the only ones using 12h time, the rest of the world uses 24hrs, however 12h _sometimes_ is…

> DST I always felt that DST was invented to prevent people from realizing that they are forced to wake up and get out of the house before dawn during the winter. It would literally alienate people from work life.

Winter time is "real time". Summer time is when DST takes effect.

Re: Someday aliens will land and all will be fine until we explain our calendar

#709

Post by 3pt14159 »

beltsazar wrote: post #677

> "uh, it's supposed to be the birth of a religious leader, but they got the math wrong so it's off by 4 years, if he existed at all." > "if? You based your calendar off the birth date of someone you're not sure exists?" I find it quite offensive. Not all scholars agree that Jesus was raised from dead, but the existence of Jesus is accepted even by non-Christian scholars. > Virtually all scholars of antiquity agree t…

(For background, I'm a Christian.)

I've learned that most of the people online that are 35 or under don't really try to get details right for work like this. It's a sort of intentional sloppiness that portrays a relaxed style in an aloof manner.

I don't especially like it, but I always did wonder how getting out of touch with the young-ins would look and I guess being curmudgeon and pedantic about factual correctness is something I could embrace as I slowly fade out of style.

If the Tweet chain had gotten every other detail right, I'd take some offence too, but this is the internet equivalent of someone goofing off at a party.

Try to roll past it with a head shake.

Re: Someday aliens will land and all will be fine until we explain our calendar

#710

Post by omegabravo »

beltsazar wrote: post #677

> "uh, it's supposed to be the birth of a religious leader, but they got the math wrong so it's off by 4 years, if he existed at all." > "if? You based your calendar off the birth date of someone you're not sure exists?" I find it quite offensive. Not all scholars agree that Jesus was raised from dead, but the existence of Jesus is accepted even by non-Christian scholars. > Virtually all scholars of antiquity agree t…

You're honestly offended by that? I'm genuinely curious, not trying to be judgemental. It might be a cultural difference
Post reply on HN