59 lines
3.3 KiB
Markdown
59 lines
3.3 KiB
Markdown
---
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layout: post
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title: An Alternate Temporal Convention
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categories: ["ideas"]
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---
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My proposal of an alternate convention for how we split and view the 24 hours in a day.
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--------
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## The Problem
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A day is composed of 24 hours. In most places, the 24 hours on weekdays are roughly divided as follows. Times are in [24-hour clock](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24-hour_clock) format.
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- Around 6 hours of sleep from *`0000`* to *`0600`* when the sun hasn't risen yet.
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- Around 12 hours of day time from *`0600`* to *`1800`*. Adults generally go to work and kids to school. The sun is up.
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- Around 3 hours of family time from *`1800`* to *`2100`*. The sun has set.
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- Around 3 hours of sleep from *`2100`* to *`2400`*/*`0000`*. It is dark outside.
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> I see a couple of problems with this convention.
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1. We have approximately 12 hours of day time and 12 hours of night time, but it is split unevenly across the 24-hour clock as
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- *Day* - *`0600`* to *`1800`*
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- *Night* - *`0000`* to *`0600`* and *`1800`* to *`2400`*
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1. By the time people wake up, we are already approximately 6 hours in. It is absolutely ridiculous to start something from the number `6` instead of the number `0` or `1`.
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## The Perfect split
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To correct the above 2 problems, we can calibrate the time people wake up, and the time the sun rises, to be *`0000`* instead of *`0600`*.
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- People wake up at around *`0000`*. Sun rises at around this time.
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- Adults get ready to work by *`0300`*, Kids get to school by *`0200`*.
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- Work time ends by *`1200`*. Kids get back home by around *`0900`* and play till *`1200`*.
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- Family time from *`1200`*to *`1500`*.
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- Sleep at the end of the day from *`1500`* to *`2400`*.
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> People now wake up at the start of the day. The sun occupies the sky from *`0000`* to *`1200`*, while the moon stays from *`1200`* to *`2400`*.
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The suffices **AM** and **PM** can be replaced by **D** for day and **N** for night. The 12-hour time notation would be simply **0 D** to **12 D** and **0 N** to **12 N**.
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## Implications
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People would require some time to adjust to this convention. However, I think this could be beneficial to humanity in the long run and worth the discomfort.
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- All historical events will have to be shifted by one day on either side depending on the time of the day happened. This would be a one-time inconvenience at the time of implementing this change. This includes your birthday too!
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- Holidays and festivals, now only start when people wake up. People don't have to stay up late to celebrate the new year or Christmas or a friend's birthday. They can come back from work the previous day and sleep. They need not leave work early for planning etc. Celebrations can start the next day after rejuvenation.
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- Late-night parties can be converted into early-morning parties. It could be safer and healthier for people to party in broad daylight. Humans are not nocturnal creatures.
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- When an alien civilization visits us, they would be impressed by our love for symmetry in our time keeping!!
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## I'm sold, can we switch?
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Not so fast. In all seriousness, the cost of adjusting to the new convention is too high that I do not see how this new system will ever be in use in our times.
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However, **if** (or is it "when"??) human beings go extinct, I hope the next intelligent species that gets to shape the Earth, follows this convention while keeping time!!
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