Will we ever adjust the "zero-year" of our calendar? What's a good alternative?

[iamaphazael]

I posted this on askreddit today, but it got buried quickly. I figured I'd see what you folks thought:

Despite the fact that we've switched (at least in academia) from the BC/AD designation to the BCE/CE designation in an attempt to make it seem like our calendar is not based on a mythological event, the fact remains that the calendar in use for most of the Western world is based around the central premise of a religion that not all of us subscribe to.

Ideally, our calendar would be centered around something that was more universal, or at least something less divisive. However, it would probably be too much effort/confusion/resistance for something with limited tangible benefit.

If we were to re-center the calendar, what would a good start date be? I'm a computer science guy, so my choice would be the "Unix epoch": Jan 1, 1970. It is pretty much the standard as far as timekeeping in computing goes (ie, the date in your computer is stored internally as the number of seconds since then), so there's a practical reason for adopting it.

Additionally, it roughly marks the beginning of the Space Age, which looking ahead to the distant future seems like a good point to measure from. So, Yuri Gagarin's first spaceflight would have happened in year -9, and Apollo 11 in year -1.

[Camacha]

I am a strong supporter of keeping religion out of everything else (as it should be personal), but this one I really do not feel needs changing. Whatever you are going to pick, it will be arbitrary and loaded with some type of political notion, even if only because the event you picked took place at a certain location/country. You will end up with the same problem you started with, and produce a huge amount of work in the process due to the switchover. We can spend that energy and money somewhere else in much more useful ways.

I think the BCE/CE thing is a politically correct attempt to fix something that is not broken - if you truly feel something needs to be done about a seperate state/day to day life and church, please work on the numerous real problems that do still exist in society. To me, it feels like a band-aid on a barely scraped knee while the patient also has appendicitis, delusions and possibly some broken bones.

[Brotoro]

Switching from BC/AD to BCE/CE struck me as silly to begin with. Do they think anybody doesn't know where the numbering originates from because they stuck that little fig leaf over it? Some things are just artifacts of history. Should we also change the names of the days of the week because many of them are named after gods?

[N_las]

Maybe the birthday of some more popular character than Jesus:

Harry Potter - July 31st, 1980

or

Skynet (Terminator) - August 12, 1997

Edited March 22, 2014 by N_las

[Accelerando]

I am a strong supporter of keeping religion out of everything else (as it should be personal), but this one I really do not feel needs changing. Whatever you are going to pick, it will be arbitrary and loaded with some type of political notion, even if only because the event you picked took place at a certain location/country. You will end up with the same problem you started with, and produce a huge amount of work in the process due to the switchover. We can spend that energy and money somewhere else in much more useful ways.

I think the BCE/CE thing is a politically correct attempt to fix something that is not broken - if you truly feel something needs to be done about a seperate state/day to day life and church, please work on the numerous real problems that do still exist in society. To me, it feels like a band-aid on a barely scraped knee while the patient also has appendicitis, delusions and possibly some broken bones.

truth, kinda. some things can be considered pan-human â€â€*if we started the calendar at the closest solar equinox to now for instance, both the equinox and the present time can be independently agreed upon by observers across humankind

also, congrats on your 1337th post

[Brethern]

It's not broke and it doesn't need to be fixed.

[Dispatcher]

The current set up doesn't bother me, whether its for years or days of the week or lunar cycles; any of that. I also tend not to inject my opinions which might be prohibited by the forum rules.

[jwenting]

Switching from BC/AD to BCE/CE struck me as silly to begin with. Do they think anybody doesn't know where the numbering originates from because they stuck that little fig leaf over it? Some things are just artifacts of history. Should we also change the names of the days of the week because many of them are named after gods?

It is silly, and it's purely political. I for one won't fall for it, unless the world switches to the Jewish calendar

[SargeRho]

1961, the year we left Earth for the first time.

[Sillychris]

I think 1977 should be year zero... the year star wars was released. Then our dates would be BS and AS (Before Star Wars, After Star Wars). I was born in year 6 AS

[J.Random]

If there will ever be any change, it will be "before The War" and "after The War". If there will be any "after", of course.

[Omicron314]

I was thinking about this last night, actually. I thought that perhaps we should measure the years since Cleisthenes' reforms to Athens which were the first example of democracy in the world. The calendar would start on January 1, 507 BCE such that we can keep our months, but link the calendar to something that is important to everyone in the developed world.

[Camacha]

I was thinking about this last night, actually. I thought that perhaps we should measure the years since Cleisthenes' reforms to Athens which were the first example of democracy in the world. The calendar would start on January 1, 507 BCE such that we can keep our months, but link the calendar to something that is important to everyone in the developed world.

I think the link with democracy will not sit well in some parts of the world. That is pretty much the problem - everything will have a connection to something someone will have (or find) a reason to object to.

[DaveofDefeat]

We should also rename the planets considering they are all named after gods too.

[Stargate525]

If by 'based on a mythological event' you mean 'three to four years after Christ's birth,' then yes. It is, essentially, arbitrary, but no less arbitrary than basing one on a random event deemed significant by the scientific community.

I'm in agreement with one of the above posters; we'll probably keep this one until something so massive happens that it destroys society. (going from Anno Domini to 'After the Bombs Fell')

[Brethern]

We should also rename the planets considering they are all named after gods too.

Don't forget the apollo, gemini and mercury missions.

I mean seriously come on renaming something just because someone doesn't believe in it is stupid. It's thinking like that that destorys our heritage.

[Space_Kraken]

If I may add, the economies of the world will not like all this change. America still uses Fahrenheit mainly because it would be very expensive to convert everything to Celsius, and because it would take at least 20-30 years to successfully inject it unto the majority of Americans lives. Just think how expensive it would be to change the zero year, not to mention the countless protests and politics against it. I understand the technical terms are BCE and CE now, but how many people outside of the scientific community use it on a regular basis? I conclude my reasoning.

[MBobrik]

I'd rather keep the calendar the way it is now.

[magnemoe]

If there will ever be any change, it will be "before The War" and "after The War". If there will be any "after", of course.

Excellent suggestion, think lots of people agree, now select the war, and yes the Napoleon war looks a bit stupid in hindsight.

WW2 sounds good, now get the Chinese to agree on the 1939 as start date, Vietnam thinks the Vietnam war was more important.

[Stargate525]

Excellent suggestion, think lots of people agree, now select the war, and yes the Napoleon war looks a bit stupid in hindsight.

WW2 sounds good, now get the Chinese to agree on the 1939 as start date, Vietnam thinks the Vietnam war was more important.

I think the idea of his suggestion was that the war was bad enough there is no longer a WAY to ask the Chinese (or anyone outside reasonable walking distance) what they think.

[J.Random]

Excellent suggestion, think lots of people agree, now select the war, and yes the Napoleon war looks a bit stupid in hindsight.

WW2 sounds good, now get the Chinese to agree on the 1939 as start date, Vietnam thinks the Vietnam war was more important.

You're either trying to troll, or have completely missed the point. I wasn't talking about previous wars. There is no need to change current "zero year". Such need may arise only if there will be some world-wide cataclysm, by its nature dividing the timeline into "before" and "after". WW3, for example.

On the other hand, it may be the day of machine rebellion. Or the day when humans become immortal. Take your pick.

Edited March 22, 2014 by J.Random

[Brotoro]

If you insist that the zero year must be changed, then I'll go with starting the calendar with Year 1 at 12014 years ago. That way I can just drop the leading digit whenever there is no ambiguity (just like I sometimes refer to the current year as 14). Also, no event in recorded history will need to be referenced using a "before" anything. Only people doing ancient history will be seriously inconvenienced (having to remember that the Roman Empire was founded in the year 9974, etc.).

Also, in my new year numbering, there will be no "before" or "after" designation... the year before the new Year 1 will be Year 0, and the one before that will be Year -1, etc.

[robopilot99]

It will never be changed aside from such a significant event that no one can remember what day it is

[Tiberion]

Yeah, down this road lies madness.

The days of the week and the months have to go too. Oh and most of your names have religious origins as well. Might as well lose those too.

"Greetings Human #7F2279B, I have your daily informational download for Day 1, 17th of Month 12, 2025 CE. Additionally you will find your allotted vitamin supplement in the delivery tube. Your assigned task for today is once again Data Entry in the historical records department. We are 27% through conversion of the worlds historical documents into our new enlightened format. Your mass transit pod will arrive in 7 minutes."

[Accelerando]

Yeah, down this road lies madness.

The days of the week and the months have to go too. Oh and most of your names have religious origins as well. Might as well lose those too.

"Greetings Human #7F2279B, I have your daily informational download for Day 1, 17th of Month 12, 2025 CE. Additionally you will find your allotted vitamin supplement in the delivery tube. Your assigned task for today is once again Data Entry in the historical records department. We are 27% through conversion of the worlds historical documents into our new enlightened format. Your mass transit pod will arrive in 7 minutes."

i love myself some slippery slope fallacies.

edit. i notice the OP said nothing about accommodating the insecurities of every human being who ever lived on Earth or who is alive at this moment. they just said "more universal" and "less divisive" which are apparently trigger words for people whining about political correctness. i'm sure not every person in the world approved countries giving women the right to vote, but it certainly hasn't led to us becoming mock-robots

that said, indeed it would be resisted by private interests. maybe with good reason. i'm not sure of the real implementation cost

Edited March 23, 2014 by Accelerando