Time for a change

An interesting decision awaits the worlds scientists in 2015.

There has been a push from some countries to abandon GMT and time as we know it and to convert everything to atomic time, where everything is regulated in a scientific manner.

As the world's rotation is slowing down, every few years a leap second is added to calendar's to keep them in step with time as we perceive it. A switch to atomic time would negate the need to make any more of these changes but you then have the problem of time going out of step with nature and our own physical perception of time. It would then mean adding leap minutes or hours every so often to keep instep.

Personally, I like my perception of time as is, and the thought that midday could appear at sundown is wierd. Sometimes, it goes back to, just because we can, it doesn't mean we should.

It does raise a few interesting thoughts, are days and nights getting longer as the earth slows down. Will the earth ever stop rotating?

And why are the French so petty as to try and get rid of GMT just because we got to have the meridian to go through London and not Paris. :p

It's all just our arbitrary way of trying to keep track of time. Since it is arbitrary, I oppose anything that involves work on my part. I don't care if, over the course of centuries, the solstices and other astronomical events change their dates because our dating system is inaccurate.

I would like to shift the human schedule. Let's tweak time so the bulk of people have several hours of daylight after work even in the winter and thus the sun would be setting at closer to midnight in my area in late June.

As far as atomic time, the benefit seems negligible and thus means there is no reason to do this.

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Originally posted by Zuul

Since it is arbitrary, I oppose anything that involves work on my part.

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Damn skippy.

The change would be far to gradual to mess with any living individual's perception of time.

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Originally posted by What Exit?

I would like to shift the human schedule. Let's tweak time so the bulk of people have several hours of daylight after work even in the winter and thus the sun would be setting at closer to midnight in my area in late June.

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See, this POV I don't understand.

Midday should be the middle of the day with equal amounts of sunlight before and after it. That's why its called midday.

Why not just change the working hours, so everyone works from 6am - 2pm. Then there is plenty of sunlight after work, regardless of the time of year?

I agree. I've never gotten why people are so married to particular arbitrary times for waking and sleeping. Having it mean something, however trivial it might seem, makes sense for both tradition and logic.

While the Earth is slowing down ever so slowly (about 1 ms out of the day per century) the leap-seconds aren't added for that reason (as made obvious by that rate). They're added primarily because the day is not exactly 86,000 seconds long.

I don't know for sure, but it would seem that the rate of slowing down is more likely to stabilize or decrease than increase over time. Taking 1 ms/century as an estimate, the sun will devour the Earth and burn out before we need worry about melting with you.

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Originally posted by CatInASuit

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Originally posted by What Exit?

I would like to shift the human schedule. Let's tweak time so the bulk of people have several hours of daylight after work even in the winter and thus the sun would be setting at closer to midnight in my area in late June.

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See, this POV I don't understand.

Midday should be the middle of the day with equal amounts of sunlight before and after it. That's why its called midday.

Why not just change the working hours, so everyone works from 6am - 2pm. Then there is plenty of sunlight after work, regardless of the time of year?

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That is actually what I meant, I just found a terrible way to say it. :(