alternative calendars?
Pure Metal
11-10-2005, 15:48
why should athiests use the christian calendar that puts us at 2005 AD? surely there are alternative non-religious calendars out there - anybody know of any? what 'start points' would/could any such calendars use?
ps: arg jolt has changed :eek:
anyone else missing the lines of borders round posts?
The South Islands
11-10-2005, 15:49
Because it's too much damn work to change a calender system.
PS: Yes, jolt changed. The main NS page wouldn't let me on to the forums. Still working the bugs out, evidently.
Pure Metal
11-10-2005, 15:50
hypothetically speaking
PS: Yes, jolt changed. The main NS page wouldn't let me on to the forums. Still working the bugs out, evidently.
nor me
Anarchic Conceptions
11-10-2005, 15:53
We could always go to the French revolutionary calendar.
(I'm such a geek, I know my birthday by it :()
The South Islands
11-10-2005, 15:53
Honestly, I'm sure there are. But, isnt it called "Common Era" and "Before common era" now by the scientific community?
why should athiests use the christian calendar that puts us at 2005 AD? surely there are alternative non-religious calendars out there - anybody know of any? what 'start points' would/could any such calendars use?As far as I know, any in use today are religious in nature. But I hear the Aztecs had one.
ps: arg jolt has changed :eek:
anyone else missing the lines of borders round posts?
Annoying, innit? I've got the feeling that something's going wrong. I can't access the forums from my nation's page...
Anarchic Conceptions
11-10-2005, 15:54
Honestly, I'm sure there are. But, isnt it called "Common Era" and "Before common era" now by the scientific community?
And much of the secular history community (and non-christian history community)
Though, why would the scientific community need to worry themselves with AD/CE and BC/BCE?
Cabra West
11-10-2005, 15:56
It's been tried, and it failed.
During the French Revolution, the French Republican Calendar was invented, basically an effort to change weeks and days to the decimal system. It was used for about twelve years, and the dropped again.
The first year of that calendar was the 1792, the year the republic was proclaimed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Republican_Calendar
The South Islands
11-10-2005, 15:57
Annoying, innit? I've got the feeling that something's going wrong. I can't access the forums from my nation's page...
Evidently, lots of people can't. Look at the timestamps of the last posts on the front page. There are, obviously, very few people here.
Bah, jolt!
Anarchic Conceptions
11-10-2005, 15:58
It's been tried, and it failed.
During the French Revolution, the French Republican Calendar was invented, basically an effort to change weeks and days to the decimal system. It was used for about twelve years, and the dropped again.
The first year of that calendar was the 1792, the year the republic was proclaimed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Republican_Calendar
But it sounds nicer. I much prefer 20th Brumaire to 11th November.
But maybe that's just me.
Evidently, lots of people can't. Look at the timestamps of the last posts on the front page. There are, obviously, very few people here.
Bah, jolt!113 when I took the long way around to jolt...
Pepe Dominguez
11-10-2005, 16:01
Use the Islamic or Hebrew calendar.. those are totally secular I hear.
if you take an art class, there is the "BC and BCE" well, i think that's what my art book said. it mighta been CE. either way, i think it's gay. what's wrong w/ BC and AD? Even if Christ isn't a religous figure to you. the calendar system is based before he was born, and after he died.
Meh, it's not exactly a major concern to me. :p
Uber Awesome
11-10-2005, 16:10
why should athiests use the christian calendar that puts us at 2005 AD? surely there are alternative non-religious calendars out there - anybody know of any? what 'start points' would/could any such calendars use?
ps: arg jolt has changed :eek:
anyone else missing the lines of borders round posts?
Yeah, the forum looks weird (crapper)
As for start points, just wait for the world's oil to run out.
Pure Metal
11-10-2005, 16:16
It's been tried, and it failed.
During the French Revolution, the French Republican Calendar was invented, basically an effort to change weeks and days to the decimal system. It was used for about twelve years, and the dropped again.
The first year of that calendar was the 1792, the year the republic was proclaimed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Republican_Calendar
hmmm interesting.... cheers :)
and therein lies my question about what start date/point of reference to choose. i wonder if there's some kind of evolutionary (biological) or cosmological point of significance it would make sense to count from - a non-cultural point of reference?
if you take an art class, there is the "BC and BCE" well, i think that's what my art book said. it mighta been CE. either way, i think it's gay. what's wrong w/ BC and AD? Even if Christ isn't a religous figure to you. the calendar system is based before he was born, and after he died.
its just that as a non-religious person, i'm not sure if i like my calendar's system being based on the life of a ficticious person as such a point of reference...
but i peronally really don't care, i'm just curious is all
I though you emant alternitive calanders like the WI Alternative calander (The calander girls...) Damm...I actually know the 'girls' and my house is on the film....ah well...
hmmm interesting.... cheers :)
and therein lies my question about what start date/point of reference to choose. i wonder if there's some kind of evolutionary (biological) or cosmological point of significance it would make sense to count from - a non-cultural point of reference?
its just that as a non-religious person, i'm not sure if i like my calendar's system being based on the life of a ficticious person as such a point of reference...
but i peronally really don't care, i'm just curious is all
that's the whole point. Christ wasn't ficticious. some believe his deeds were. but he was a real person.
Dishonorable Scum
11-10-2005, 16:36
hmmm interesting.... cheers :)
and therein lies my question about what start date/point of reference to choose. i wonder if there's some kind of evolutionary (biological) or cosmological point of significance it would make sense to count from - a non-cultural point of reference?
It's not exactly non-cultural, but your computer's internal clock probably believes that the universe was created on January 1, 1970 at 0:00 GMT. Vernor Vinge, in his novel A Deepness in the Sky, had a programmer in a far-future interstellar civilization observe that computers still used seconds-since-1970 as the basis for their clocks and calendars. It was semi-humorous on Vinge's part, but he may have a point - this could easily become the basis for future calendars.
:p
Hata-alla
11-10-2005, 17:04
In the Philip K Dick novel "the last trump" the universe ended 1956. It was destined since God created the universe, and nothing could change it. But since everybody disagreed on which year was 1956, God couldn't be sure, so he recreated earth. Then year 0 would be 1945, the year WW2 ended. So according to Dick, the world ends in 3091...
Dishonorable Scum
11-10-2005, 17:20
Incidentally, there's a date converter for various existing calendar systems here: http://www.calendarhome.com/converter/
Wish I still had the info on the Martian calendar system I once devised. But it's been years since I did it, and I don't feel like going to the effort again.
:p
Jamee Gray
11-10-2005, 17:36
Cuz everyone else uses it!