Weird, this feels easier to read. Less grating somehow.
Comment on How did people refer to clockwise movement before the invention of the clock?
OldManBOMBIN@lemmy.world 10 months ago
A guy I know owns this clock, which basically proves that everything in life is pointless and arbitrary: Image
1luv8008135@lemmy.world 10 months ago
OldManBOMBIN@lemmy.world 10 months ago
You left-handed?
Diabolo96@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 months ago
Hey, don’t put us all in the same bag ! I am left-handed and i still got weirded out by it. He’s just a weird guy that may happen to be left-handed.
EdanGrey@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
I have one of these, it was a gag gift from a friend. I’ve had it up so long now though I have to double check which clock in looking at before I tell the time because I’ve got so used to it
OldManBOMBIN@lemmy.world 10 months ago
That’s pretty cool. Also, your username contains an anagram of the name of the man who owns the clock from my comment. That’s also pretty cool.
rm_dash_r_star@lemm.ee 10 months ago
Also why the seemingly arbitrary graduations, 24 hours, 60 minutes, 60 seconds. If it was say 10 hours in a day, 100 minutes in an hour, 100 seconds in a minute, seconds would be close to the same amount of time. Same with latitude and longitude, why 360 degrees in a circle with 60 minutes in a degree and 60 seconds in a minute.
superkret@feddit.de 10 months ago
It’s all based on 12, which is nice cause it’s divisible by 2, 3, 4 and 6.
A system based on 10 gives you issues if you want to divide the year into 4 seasons, the day into morning, midday, evening and night, the compass into cardinal directions, etc…Harrison@ttrpg.network 10 months ago
The units of time we use come from a bronze age civilisation that used base twelve instead of base ten. They’d count on their hands using the finger joints of one for single digits, and then the joints of the other for multiples.
themeatbridge@lemmy.world 10 months ago
The short explanation is that those numbers are more easily divided by a larger set of denominators. 24 is divisible by 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 12. 100 is divisble by 2, 5, 10, 25, and 50. 60 is divisible by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 20, and 30.
Metric is great for scaling up and down ad infinitum, but it sucks for fractions. Fractions are easier for daily use without precision measuring equipment.
AlexisFR@jlai.lu 10 months ago
That’s called Decimal time and revolutionary France already tried it.
FunkFactory@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Other commenters hit on the reasoning, just adding that they’re called highly composite numbers. My favorite!
Honytawk@lemmy.zip 10 months ago
Oh, you mean like the order of the Alphabet?
OldManBOMBIN@lemmy.world 10 months ago
That’s actually the only non-arbitrary thing in existence. If the alphabet wasn’t in alphabetical order, we’d all be dead right now.
ki77erb@lemmy.world 10 months ago
This is correct. Alphabetical Order is one of the fundamental laws of nature. A universal constant.
OldManBOMBIN@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I like how I was joking but we still ratio’d that guy.
wahming@monyet.cc 10 months ago
You just flipped the image!
(/s)
kadu@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I find this deeply unsettling, please delete