EU to end daylight savings time

[factotum]

Anyone who has family living in another time zone or, perish the thought, multiple time zones have to think about it fairly often and that's a fair larger amount than you'd expect. Add to that people have friends outside their own country and time zones become a real hassle. Making sure I can play video games with my friends in the Netherlands is a logistic nightmare and if I don't wake up early, I won't get to speak to my parents because they're old and like to wake up at the crack of dawn

But all of that is because the time of day is different where they are, not because the clock is different. Even if their clocks said the same as yours do that wouldn't change, unless you're expecting half the world to get up in the middle of the night?

[Razade]

But all of that is because the time of day is different where they are, not because the clock is different. Even if their clocks said the same as yours do that wouldn't change, unless you're expecting half the world to get up in the middle of the night?

Yes. That's how timezones work. I am more than aware of that.

Manga asserted that people really only worry about their Local Time and it's fringe people that need to worry about other people's local times relative to theirs. Which isn't true. I wasn't making any point on a standard time zone.

But yes. If it's 2am here and 2am in New Delhi at the same time you'd either have to make people work later in the day to get more sunlight (which is a terrible idea for all sorts of reasons) or force people to work when the sun is down. Which is also not a great idea. It's why a standard time is a terrible idea and exactly what most of us were responding to that prompted Manga's assertion.

[veti]

I guess living in Germany I would get lucky if this change ever happened but if we decided to pick another meridian for utc, say somewhere in Asia because population I would not care if my new day was waking up at 12am, going to work at 2am, getting home at 10am etc.

You may not care, but by the same token what exactly would you gain from it? You'd still need to care about timezones if dealing with people in a different one.

I'll tell you something you'd lose, though. There's a vast body of culture - basically, approximately every book, film, game, whatever written to date - that includes the baseline assumption that noon/midday happens at 12:00 and midnight at another 12:00. Of course this isn't always, or even often, particularly relevant to the story, but it's built into the culture on the same way as the assumption that sugar is sweet and wood is flammable. Change it, and every future person in every country is going to be that bit more cut off from all human culture to date.

And frankly the gap between our world and our parents' is already uncomfortably wide for my liking.

[Vinyadan]

You may not care, but by the same token what exactly would you gain from it? You'd still need to care about timezones if dealing with people in a different one.

I'll tell you something you'd lose, though. There's a vast body of culture - basically, approximately every book, film, game, whatever written to date - that includes the baseline assumption that noon/midday happens at 12:00 and midnight at another 12:00. Of course this isn't always, or even often, particularly relevant to the story, but it's built into the culture on the same way as the assumption that sugar is sweet and wood is flammable. Change it, and every future person in every country is going to be that bit more cut off from all human culture to date.

And frankly the gap between our world and our parents' is already uncomfortably wide for my liking.

To make a comparison, think about how difficult it has become to understand things like "the first hour" (6:00) or "the ninth hour" (15:00).

[LibraryOgre]

To make a comparison, think about how difficult it has become to understand things like "the first hour" (6:00) or "the ninth hour" (15:00).

Or the revulsion so many people get when you use a 24-hour clock. People are PROUD of not using "military time". Only people prouder are those who don't know math and old people "who don't know computers."

[farothel]

As I said above, north-south is also a consideration. I'm surprised Belgium is big enough for that to be a thing there.

It actually isn't, but there's a lot of politics and history at play here and I won't go into detail, since it's way too long to explain (in as much as I understand it all myself) and it's also against forum rules.

[Vinyadan]

Or the revulsion so many people get when you use a 24-hour clock. People are PROUD of not using "military time". Only people prouder are those who don't know math and old people "who don't know computers."

And people who don't do metric.

[snowblizz]

Or the revulsion so many people get when you use a 24-hour clock. People are PROUD of not using "military time". Only people prouder are those who don't know math and old people "who don't know computers."

And people who don't do metric.

And a significant overlap between the groups I imagine.

[Brother Oni]

And a significant overlap between the groups I imagine.

Or we're suffering from inertia.

As an example, I cannot do science in Imperial measurements - foot pounds? [Board inappropriate comment] that, give me joules anyway.

However I cannot get a frame of reference for body weights and heights in metric. Calculating population statistics and BMI, metric all the way, but telling me you're 90 kilos and 1.75 m, I have to convert that to stone and feet, then I know what you're on about (14 st 2lb and 5' 9" incidentally, so a fairly chunky individual).

[veti]

Or the revulsion so many people get when you use a 24-hour clock. People are PROUD of not using "military time". Only people prouder are those who don't know math and old people "who don't know computers."

Meh. When you think of the sorts of things that tend to excite "pride", those traits seem to fit right in. People are proud of the country they were born in, the language they grew up speaking, the recipes they cook and/or eat, the schools they go to, the teams they cheer for...

Being "proud" isn't so much a matter of thinking you're better than anyone else. It's more a statement of individuality, "this is me, like it or not is up to you, just don't forget I'm here".

[snowblizz]

but telling me you're 90 kilos and 1.75 m, I have to convert that to stone and feet, then I know what you're on about (14 st 2lb and 5' 9" incidentally, so a fairly chunky individual).

How did you know that?

And who you calling chunky, twig?


Although I've not checked the scales ina bit, may be a tad over 95 atm. I amy have to conceed the chunky part.