Go
New
Find
Notify
Tools
Reply
  
BC/BCE Login/Join
 
Member
posted
In this article, http://news.yahoo.com/s/livesc...searliertextsuggests
it is stated that BC=BCE. I don't think so. Since I'm not a Christian I see the term, "Before Christ" as nonsense, and since the historical date of birth of the person whom Christians call "Christ" has never been pinpointed, "Before Common Era" makes much more sense. Am I splitting hairs, or does this make sense to others?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Geoff,


It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. -J. Krishnamurti
 
Posts: 6187 | Location: Muncie, IndianaReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of Richard English
posted Hide Post
You have to start your dates from sometime - and one mythical figure is much the same as another mythical figure do far as I can see. It would be nice if we could all agree on the same mythical figure, though, so we all use the same calender.


Richard English
 
Posts: 8038 | Location: Partridge Green, West Sussex, UKReply With QuoteReport This Post
<Proofreader>
posted
Someone stole my colander so I've been desieved.
 
Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
I find that comment really draining, Proof! Big Grin


It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. -J. Krishnamurti
 
Posts: 6187 | Location: Muncie, IndianaReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of Kalleh
posted Hide Post
quote:
Since I'm not a Christian I see the term, "Before Christ" as nonsense,
I am with you completely on this, Geoff. It has amazed me, with all the scientific advances we've made, that we haven't come to a more scientific term than BC. I also am not aware of any complaints about its use, which surprises me. Maybe I've just missed them.
 
Posts: 24735 | Location: Chicago, USAReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
Actually, the <number>AD|BC convention was a spectacular advance over the previous system, which was to specify dates with something like "in the days when Herod was king of Judea". But why is AD an abbreviation for a Latin phrase and BC an abbreviation for an English one?
 
Posts: 1242 | Location: San FranciscoReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of Richard English
posted Hide Post
I was amazed to learn just how many dating systems there are - I make it around 30 according to this Wikipedia article - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calendar_era

I thought that maybe a thoroughly practical system, not based on deities or other persons' supposed lifetimes, would be the best. Then I read the article on Unix time - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix_epoch - I am sure that there must be people around who understand it...Frown


Richard English
 
Posts: 8038 | Location: Partridge Green, West Sussex, UKReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of arnie
posted Hide Post
quote:
Then I read the article on Unix time [...] I am sure that there must be people around who understand it...

That article was obviously written by a Unix geek. Reams of information but virtually no intelligible content to non-geeks. Anyone who wanted to find out about Unix time at that level of detail would consult the documentation or a Unix-specific site, not a general site like Wikipedia. That article should have been drastically pruned by the editors.


Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
 
Posts: 10940 | Location: LondonReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of zmježd
posted Hide Post
I have always found how people track time (from seconds to years) to be a fascinating subject. Is it to be a solar or lunar calendar or a solar-lunar hybrid. Some people are still using the Julian calendar, e.g., most of the Eastern Orthodox churches calculate Christmas and Easter based on a system that must be more than a fortnight out of sync with the Gregorian calendar by now. When did the British stop labeling their laws (acts and such) by the reigning monarch's name and year of reign. The Japanese still keep track of eras named for their emperors.


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
 
Posts: 5148 | Location: R'lyehReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
Is it not odd that we've gone to the base ten metric system, but have kept units of twelve for time and distance?


It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. -J. Krishnamurti
 
Posts: 6187 | Location: Muncie, IndianaReply With QuoteReport This Post
<Proofreader>
posted
quote:
Is it not odd that we've gone to the base ten metric system, but have kept units of twelve for time and distance?

It's our tribute to the aliens that spawned us.
 
Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
My family stuck with the French Republican calendar. Happy Decadi, everybody!
 
Posts: 1242 | Location: San FranciscoReply With QuoteReport This Post
  Powered by Social Strata  
 


Copyright © 2002-12