It only solves a small part of the issue at the cost of less convenience and consistency. Propose a “metric” time that solves more of this issue problem and I’m all for it
There was a metric clock after the revolution, it didn’t last long, because it was bad. It made the day (as in, the 24 hour day) 10 metric hours long, and contained 100 minutes and 100 seconds. Meaning a metric hour is about 2.24 standard hours. Having only 10 hours in a day meant it was harder to schedule things, and you had to be much more precise. 10 is also just not as divisible as 12 or 60. There’s a reason why base 12 systems have staying power, even when they’re converted into base 10 and feel clunky.
My suggestion for a better metric clock, still keeping the standard base 10 of metric, would be to divide the day into daytime and nighttime hours, and giving each of them 10 so it feels all nice and frenchy. 100 minutes, 100 seconds.
That makes the metric hour about equivalent to 72 standard minutes, and the metric minute about 43 standard seconds
1 metric second would be a little less than half our current second.
The day is nearly divided into two segments, daytime (DT) and nighttime (NT) that parallels the am/pm system. I don’t particularly like this, as I prefer a 24 hour clock in our currently system, but it’s still an improvement on the actual metric clock from the revolution.
Now, if you want an actual improvement, and not just a clock that goes well with your other systems of measure, you’d need to attend on my Ted Talk on why we should transition to base 12 for everything (not go to the American/imperial system, but actual base 12. As in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, X, E, 10). The meter can stay the same physical length, the dozenal kilo would balance a scale with old one, but divide everything in the new system, giving us significantly more ways to divide things evenly, and keeping the nice round “10s.”
What? … seriously, which convenience and consistency are you talking about.
24h only has one “inconsistency”, going from 23:59 to 0:00. How is that less consistent than 12am being after 11:59pm and 12pm being after 11:59am. Solves all parts of the issue except for one. Which is a lot better than the 12h system.
This has messed with me for the longest time. 24h just wraps around at 24, simple modulo 24 arithmetic.
12h? The hour and am / pm wrap around independently, and hence I am always confused whether 12pm is supposed to be midnight or noon. Zero based would have made more sense (with x pm being x hours after noon…)
Heh thanks for explaining it, I never knew if noon was 12am or 12pm. In German we say “11 in the morning”, “12 o Clock (noon*)” , and “1 o Clock (in the afternoon)”
But typically we don’t say whether it’s am or pm, it’s clear from context if “i need to be in the work meeting at 9”
Clocks, TV listings, my work timesheet read 24h times. We read 15:00 as “three” most of the time.
Btw some software tools (my timesheet for work) differnciate between 0:00 and 24:00. I can work (theoretically) from 0:00 to 8:00 (8h in the night to morning) and from 16:00 to 24:00 (8 hours from afternoon to midnight).
So 0:00 and 24:00 are the same moment but thought to belong to the next or previous say, respectively.
Why are the 60 minutes in an hour but 24 hours in a day? What functional difference is there between tne 12 and 24 hour clock? Are you showing up to your friend’s dinner party at 6am because you weren’t sure what time they wanted to start dinner? Are you unsure if your picnic is supposed to be right after midday or the middle of the night? Maybe your friend wanted to meet up for coffee and a bagel when you normally go to bed instead of right before you head off for lunch
You don’t need the am or pm 90% of the time because obviously a lunch date is happening sometime around noon, not midnight. A lunar eclipse or meteor shower isn’t visible while the sun is up, or a midnight snack isn’t happening in the middle of the day. Obviously if you are talking trains and flights, you need AM and PM. But people who are used to 12 hour time don’t want to figure out when 16:00 is, so they don’t.
i’m pretty sure for 90% of europe there’s been a generational shift from saying “four in the afternoon” to just saying “16”, after digital clocks started replacing analog ones.
If you know basic addition and you know how a 12 hour clock functions, then you know how a 24 hour clock functions. If you can’t figure it out, that doesn’t make it inconvenient, it just makes you incredibly stupid.
It only solves a small part of the issue at the cost of less convenience and consistency. Propose a “metric” time that solves more of this issue problem and I’m all for it
There was a metric clock after the revolution, it didn’t last long, because it was bad. It made the day (as in, the 24 hour day) 10 metric hours long, and contained 100 minutes and 100 seconds. Meaning a metric hour is about 2.24 standard hours. Having only 10 hours in a day meant it was harder to schedule things, and you had to be much more precise. 10 is also just not as divisible as 12 or 60. There’s a reason why base 12 systems have staying power, even when they’re converted into base 10 and feel clunky.
My suggestion for a better metric clock, still keeping the standard base 10 of metric, would be to divide the day into daytime and nighttime hours, and giving each of them 10 so it feels all nice and frenchy. 100 minutes, 100 seconds.
That makes the metric hour about equivalent to 72 standard minutes, and the metric minute about 43 standard seconds
1 metric second would be a little less than half our current second.
The day is nearly divided into two segments, daytime (DT) and nighttime (NT) that parallels the am/pm system. I don’t particularly like this, as I prefer a 24 hour clock in our currently system, but it’s still an improvement on the actual metric clock from the revolution.
Now, if you want an actual improvement, and not just a clock that goes well with your other systems of measure, you’d need to attend on my Ted Talk on why we should transition to base 12 for everything (not go to the American/imperial system, but actual base 12. As in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, X, E, 10). The meter can stay the same physical length, the dozenal kilo would balance a scale with old one, but divide everything in the new system, giving us significantly more ways to divide things evenly, and keeping the nice round “10s.”
Global electricity output would instantly more than double!!!
Dammit, that wasn’t supposed to post yet. I’m still in the process of revising! Lol.
Not to worry, we will use the Babylonian watt for
megaimperial-tonne-fortnights to come.What? … seriously, which convenience and consistency are you talking about.
24h only has one “inconsistency”, going from 23:59 to 0:00. How is that less consistent than 12am being after 11:59pm and 12pm being after 11:59am. Solves all parts of the issue except for one. Which is a lot better than the 12h system.
This has messed with me for the longest time. 24h just wraps around at 24, simple modulo 24 arithmetic.
12h? The hour and am / pm wrap around independently, and hence I am always confused whether 12pm is supposed to be midnight or noon. Zero based would have made more sense (with x pm being x hours after noon…)
Heh thanks for explaining it, I never knew if noon was 12am or 12pm. In German we say “11 in the morning”, “12 o Clock (noon*)” , and “1 o Clock (in the afternoon)”
But typically we don’t say whether it’s am or pm, it’s clear from context if “i need to be in the work meeting at 9”
Clocks, TV listings, my work timesheet read 24h times. We read 15:00 as “three” most of the time.
Btw some software tools (my timesheet for work) differnciate between 0:00 and 24:00. I can work (theoretically) from 0:00 to 8:00 (8h in the night to morning) and from 16:00 to 24:00 (8 hours from afternoon to midnight).
So 0:00 and 24:00 are the same moment but thought to belong to the next or previous say, respectively.
Why are the 60 minutes in an hour but 24 hours in a day? What functional difference is there between tne 12 and 24 hour clock? Are you showing up to your friend’s dinner party at 6am because you weren’t sure what time they wanted to start dinner? Are you unsure if your picnic is supposed to be right after midday or the middle of the night? Maybe your friend wanted to meet up for coffee and a bagel when you normally go to bed instead of right before you head off for lunch
Because 12 and 60 are great numbers to divide. You can take a half of it, a third and a quarter and still get whole numbers.
Iirc the French did try decimal time at one time, it was not convenient.
I asked why the am/pm system is apparently more convenient and consistent than the 24h system. I didn’t ask about 24h in a day and 60min in an hour.
You need 2 numbers and 2 letters to accurately specify time in the 12h clock instead of just 2 numbers. Seems convenient to me.
You don’t need the am or pm 90% of the time because obviously a lunch date is happening sometime around noon, not midnight. A lunar eclipse or meteor shower isn’t visible while the sun is up, or a midnight snack isn’t happening in the middle of the day. Obviously if you are talking trains and flights, you need AM and PM. But people who are used to 12 hour time don’t want to figure out when 16:00 is, so they don’t.
Fun fact: Many countries use both systems actually.
For speaking, it’s quicker to say something like: “The party starts at 8” instead of “The party starts at 20 o’clock”.
For writing though, you would never use the 12 hour system.
i’m pretty sure for 90% of europe there’s been a generational shift from saying “four in the afternoon” to just saying “16”, after digital clocks started replacing analog ones.
If you know basic addition and you know how a 12 hour clock functions, then you know how a 24 hour clock functions. If you can’t figure it out, that doesn’t make it inconvenient, it just makes you incredibly stupid.