Question

Kosmiche · 26 Sep 2011 at 21:39

How can we say we are in the day we say it is? Is it just a guess?

Did they keep track of time centuries ago so we know we are in the correct day?

I don't understand how that's possible, so is the date just a best estimate?

Thanks

[FnG]magnolia · 26 Sep 2011 at 21:40

What are you talking about?

Kosmiche · 26 Sep 2011 at 21:41

How do we know its 26/09/2011

Centuries ago surely they would not have had time keeping.

So its just a educated guess?

Cosimo · 26 Sep 2011 at 21:41

[FnG]magnolia;20159408 said:
What are you talking about?

He's not sure about today's date.

kaffe · 26 Sep 2011 at 21:42

Trial and error.

bloodiedathame · 26 Sep 2011 at 21:42

It's a guess and agreement since the beginning of modern time. There used not to be 24 hours a day. Or 7 days a week. Or 12 months a year. Go figure.

Kosmiche · 26 Sep 2011 at 21:42

It sounds stupid but if someone could explain it to me in laymans terms I would be most grateful.

Kosmiche · 26 Sep 2011 at 21:45

bloodiedathame said:
It's a guess and agreement since the beginning of modern time. There used not to be 24 hours a day. Or 7 days a week. Or 12 months a year. Go figure.

Ah ok that makes sense.

Thread can be closed now.

Dano · 26 Sep 2011 at 21:47

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anno_Domini

kaffe · 26 Sep 2011 at 21:52

It's just something that we use to get ourselves organised/world domination. And we use the seasons to judge.

Did you know there used to only be 10 months to a year?
Which is why the last four of the year are numeric (Sept for 7, Oct for 8, Nov for 9, Dec for 10)

Wasn't until man realised seasons were lopsided he figured he should throw a few more in.

Hours to a day, Iuno someone clever spent a lot of time working it out with a sun dial.
Days to a week, God, DUUUUH.

Angilion · 26 Sep 2011 at 22:00

bloodiedathame said:
It's a guess and agreement since the beginning of modern time. There used not to be 24 hours a day. Or 7 days a week. Or 12 months a year. Go figure.

Perhaps the oddest setup I know of was the one used in ancient Rome for quite some time. There were a fixed number of hours between sunrise and sunset and between sunset and sunrise. So the length of an hour varied over the year and there were almost always different hour lengths for night and day.

Although they would probably see our system as being very odd.

Vonhelmet · 26 Sep 2011 at 22:37

The date was set somewhere between 1000 and 1500 years ago, and it's just been adhered to ever since. It's utterly arbitrary, but the point is that the application is consistent.