Re: [OT] Friday the 13th

[Ron Johnson <ron.l.johnson@cox.net>]

On 02/11/2009 05:17 AM, Dave Sherohman wrote:
> On Tue, Feb 10, 2009 at 01:11:06PM -0600, Ron Johnson wrote:
> > Days beginning (near) daybreak, and years beginning on a seasonal 
> > boundary and having 13 each 28 day months are also good ideas that 
> > won't get implemented.  Too much inertia.
>
> How would "days beginning (near) daybreak" cope with extreme latitudes?
> Vary the lengths of hours so that the day starts at (what we currently
> call) 1am in the summer and at 3pm in the winter?  Or when you get above
> the arctic circle, where the sun may not rise/set for multiple 24-hour
> periods?

Extremes are, by definition, outliers.  Like all outliers, they'll 
have to make do with something designed for the majority.

> No, I think the much better idea would be to ditch timezones and put the
> whole world on UTC.  Get rid of DST and 12-hour clocks, too, while
> you're at it.  There is absolutely no real benefit to having the clock
> say "7am" when you wake up and "11pm" when you go to sleep instead of
> (assuming UTC-6) waking up at 1:00 (which, remember, represents the same
> actual time as is currently called "7am" in that timezone), working
> 3-12, and going to bed at 19:00.

Of course time zones are a good idea.  Humans are still diurnal and 
like seeing the clock say "morning" when they wake up after a 
night's sleep.  A clock who's 00:00 is at what is now 06:00 would be 
coherent with our nature.

And yes, DST *is* a good idea in a non-agrarian society, since we 
"all" (note the quotes) go to work at the same time.  Even though 
during the summer the Sun rises earlier in the day, we still "all" 
go to work at the same time, so that extra amount of daylight in the 
early morning is wasted, since there's nothing we can do with it.

Thus, shifting back the clock one our artificially gives us one 
extra hour of light in the evening.

--
Ron Johnson, Jr.
Jefferson LA  USA

Supporting World Peace Through Nuclear Pacification