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Is it really a new year?
#1
Is it really a new year?
Happy new year to all BTW, but what is it about this point in space that is special ?
Surely a few million miles over there could be a new year?
PS if you're about to post a reply and your response is going to be negative, improper, average, odd, obtuse, irrational, an argument, might change the focus, going off at a tangent or just mean ... go and find a maths forum to post on instead, they'll love you !!
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#2
RE: Is it really a new year?
The 2015 is certainly an arbitrary number considering the earth is 4 billion years old. But our species has in many different parts of history charted the behavior of the sun and moon and stars for a very long time. It is meaningless in the scale of the universe, but our planet still has a consistent orbit around the sun and that is what a year is.
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#3
RE: Is it really a new year?
(January 1, 2015 at 7:47 pm)Brian37 Wrote: The 2015 is certainly an arbitrary number considering the earth is 4 billion years old. But our species has in many different parts of history charted the behavior of the sun and moon and stars for a very long time. It is meaningless in the scale of the universe, but our planet still has a consistent orbit around the sun and that is what a year is.

And that's why I want o make a stand... so happy new year tomorrow
PS if you're about to post a reply and your response is going to be negative, improper, average, odd, obtuse, irrational, an argument, might change the focus, going off at a tangent or just mean ... go and find a maths forum to post on instead, they'll love you !!
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#4
RE: Is it really a new year?
(January 1, 2015 at 7:51 pm)lifesagift Wrote:
(January 1, 2015 at 7:47 pm)Brian37 Wrote: The 2015 is certainly an arbitrary number considering the earth is 4 billion years old. But our species has in many different parts of history charted the behavior of the sun and moon and stars for a very long time. It is meaningless in the scale of the universe, but our planet still has a consistent orbit around the sun and that is what a year is.

And that's why I want o make a stand... so happy new year tomorrow

Good luck with that, 2015 is pretty universal around the world and is the business standard.
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#5
RE: Is it really a new year?
(January 1, 2015 at 7:53 pm)Brian37 Wrote:
(January 1, 2015 at 7:51 pm)lifesagift Wrote: And that's why I want o make a stand... so happy new year tomorrow

Good luck with that, 2015 is pretty universal around the world and is the business standard.
But surely business is not standard in the universe?
PS if you're about to post a reply and your response is going to be negative, improper, average, odd, obtuse, irrational, an argument, might change the focus, going off at a tangent or just mean ... go and find a maths forum to post on instead, they'll love you !!
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#6
RE: Is it really a new year?
(January 2, 2015 at 5:08 pm)lifesagift Wrote:
(January 1, 2015 at 7:53 pm)Brian37 Wrote: Good luck with that, 2015 is pretty universal around the world and is the business standard.
But surely business is not standard in the universe?

What is the point in complaining about marking the time it takes for the earth to revolve around the sun? 365 days is the standard time it takes for the earth to revolve once around the sun.

I agree that 2015 IS an arbitrary number compared to the age of the planet and universe. But that is what we use because that a result of when we started making a calender a standard.

These seems to be pedantic on your part. It would be like saying "Lets not use the metric system or yardsticks because the universe is really big."
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#7
RE: Is it really a new year?
Maybe today is really January 2nd 4,300,002,015!
"Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape- like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered."

-Stephen Jay Gould
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#8
RE: Is it really a new year?
(January 2, 2015 at 5:21 pm)Brian37 Wrote:
(January 2, 2015 at 5:08 pm)lifesagift Wrote: But surely business is not standard in the universe?

What is the point in complaining about marking the time it takes for the earth to revolve around the sun? 365 days is the standard time it takes for the earth to revolve once around the sun.

I agree that 2015 IS an arbitrary number compared to the age of the planet and universe. But that is what we use because that a result of when we started making a calender a standard.

These seems to be pedantic on your part. It would be like saying "Lets not use the metric system or yardsticks because the universe is really big."

My friend, I'm not complaining. I like to "wobble the boat" sometimes, and when I do, I can get some great insights on this forum.
In reality, as you've alluded to, in 57 hours I'm getting out of my pit to go to work on Monday... I'm really not anti-year..
PS if you're about to post a reply and your response is going to be negative, improper, average, odd, obtuse, irrational, an argument, might change the focus, going off at a tangent or just mean ... go and find a maths forum to post on instead, they'll love you !!
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#9
RE: Is it really a new year?
(January 2, 2015 at 5:22 pm)Tonus Wrote: Maybe today is really January 2nd 4,300,002,015!

Exactly, the teller at the bank would be slightly confused if you put that as the date on your check.

(January 2, 2015 at 5:32 pm)lifesagift Wrote:
(January 2, 2015 at 5:21 pm)Brian37 Wrote: What is the point in complaining about marking the time it takes for the earth to revolve around the sun? 365 days is the standard time it takes for the earth to revolve once around the sun.

I agree that 2015 IS an arbitrary number compared to the age of the planet and universe. But that is what we use because that a result of when we started making a calender a standard.

These seems to be pedantic on your part. It would be like saying "Lets not use the metric system or yardsticks because the universe is really big."

My friend, I'm not complaining. I like to "wobble the boat" sometimes, and when I do, I can get some great insights on this forum.
In reality, as you've alluded to, in 57 hours I'm getting out of my pit to go to work on Monday... I'm really not anti-year..

You came across as serious, it is a silly thing to ponder. Science as far as QM and Einstein's theory of relativity are plenty freaky without superficial "what ifs" like the OP.

Every planet surrounding every sun in the universe has its own year and lifespan. On earth we we use 2015 because it simplifies communication.
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#10
RE: Is it really a new year?
(January 2, 2015 at 5:36 pm)Brian37 Wrote: You came across as serious, it is a silly thing to ponder.
trying to be light hearted but you got a bee in your bonnet - every notion in civilisation that changed our perception was a "silly thing to ponder" like I might suggest it's not a geocentric universe, god forbid I suggest that many years ago.

(January 2, 2015 at 5:36 pm)Brian37 Wrote: Science as far as QM and Einstein's theory of relativity are plenty freaky without superficial "what ifs" like the OP.

what do you mean by 'superficial'? it was a light hearted post at new year where I was suggesting Flod from planet FlodFlod in the FlodFlodFlod region of the universe wouldn't necessarily recognise what I was saying!

(January 2, 2015 at 5:36 pm)Brian37 Wrote: Every planet surrounding every sun in the universe has its own year and lifespan. On earth we we use 2015 because it simplifies communication.

There aren't any more 'Suns' in the universe... they're called stars.
And simplifiying comms is a bad reason for shutting down thought processes...

Feel free to see my light-heartedness.... or continue if you wishmy friend !
PS if you're about to post a reply and your response is going to be negative, improper, average, odd, obtuse, irrational, an argument, might change the focus, going off at a tangent or just mean ... go and find a maths forum to post on instead, they'll love you !!
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