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Then we invented everything else and along with that UTC. Which works until we have colonies on another planet. We should go ahead and move to a galactic time s

Then we invented everything else and along with that UTC. Which works until we have colonies on another planet. We should go ahead and move to a galactic time standard.

imoverclocked 7y ago
We already have Mars time which is based on Mars Sols. Once we get to the point that we have to worry about galactic time, society will (hopefully) have a better understanding of relativity and how time isn't really linear anyway. Also, at the point that we have scheduling issues between planets, we'll have some pretty crazy infrastructure in place! By then, we should have figured out that timezones are pretty silly inventions to keep bringing forward. It would be really cool if we could just skip to that step.
snarf21 7y ago
We just need to bite the bullet and move everything to UTC. In the short term, just post both EDT (e.g.) and UTC on websites and signs and then eventually drop UTC. The math of knowing what time to call your uncle halfway around the world doesn't change, you still know their normal day runs at an X hour offset.
- DoreenMichele 7y ago
  Knowing when to call a relative involves more than knowing their time zone. It also involves knowing a bunch of other details about their life, like their work schedule, if they have the kind of job where it is okay to call them at work if you keep it brief (eg overnight security guard who walks around once an hour and otherwise watches video feeds from cameras), whether they are a morning person or a night person, what non work activities they regularly attend (church, hobbies) and when they attend them, etc. In practice, if you keep in touch on a regular basis, you don't actually need to remember their time zone at all. You can remember the correct time to call in relation to your own schedule: "Got to call Grandma as soon as I get home from work. If I wait until after I eat dinner, she will be asleep." In actual practice, that's how most people seem to handle long distance relationships where they keep in touch regularly. (Or maybe that's just me.) Plus, it's the relatively rare Luddite that you can only contact by phone these days. A lot of people keep in touch with long distance relatives via email, Facebook or text messages, all of which allow you to send the message whenever you feel like it without worrying if the other party is currently available for live interaction. If you can contact them via such a method, you can arrange an appointment for a live discussion by asking them when they would be available for such.

Then we invented everything else and along with that UTC. Which works until we have colonies on another planet. We should go ahead and move to a galactic time standard.

imoverclocked 7y ago

We already have Mars time which is based on Mars Sols. Once we get to the point that we have to worry about galactic time, society will (hopefully) have a better understanding of relativity and how time isn't really linear anyway. Also, at the point that we have scheduling issues between planets, we'll have some pretty crazy infrastructure in place! By then, we should have figured out that timezones are pretty silly inventions to keep bringing forward. It would be really cool if we could just skip to that step.

snarf21 7y ago

We just need to bite the bullet and move everything to UTC. In the short term, just post both EDT (e.g.) and UTC on websites and signs and then eventually drop UTC. The math of knowing what time to call your uncle halfway around the world doesn't change, you still know their normal day runs at an X hour offset.

DoreenMichele 7y ago
Knowing when to call a relative involves more than knowing their time zone. It also involves knowing a bunch of other details about their life, like their work schedule, if they have the kind of job where it is okay to call them at work if you keep it brief (eg overnight security guard who walks around once an hour and otherwise watches video feeds from cameras), whether they are a morning person or a night person, what non work activities they regularly attend (church, hobbies) and when they attend them, etc. In practice, if you keep in touch on a regular basis, you don't actually need to remember their time zone at all. You can remember the correct time to call in relation to your own schedule: "Got to call Grandma as soon as I get home from work. If I wait until after I eat dinner, she will be asleep." In actual practice, that's how most people seem to handle long distance relationships where they keep in touch regularly. (Or maybe that's just me.) Plus, it's the relatively rare Luddite that you can only contact by phone these days. A lot of people keep in touch with long distance relatives via email, Facebook or text messages, all of which allow you to send the message whenever you feel like it without worrying if the other party is currently available for live interaction. If you can contact them via such a method, you can arrange an appointment for a live discussion by asking them when they would be available for such.