4 ms·
We humans, without the use of a clock, do not have the faintest idea when midday or midnight is. We can't judge when the sun is highest in the sky, and we certa
by twic 8y ago
We humans, without the use of a clock, do not have the faintest idea when midday or midnight is. We can't judge when the sun is highest in the sky, and we certainly can't judge when it's lowest under our feet.
The sun isn't even highest in the sky at noon! Firstly because of timezones (your noon is based on highest-sun in the middle of your timezone, not your current longitude), and secondly because of this whole epicyclic botheration:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equation_of_time https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equation_of_time
- InitialLastName 8y agoWe sure can judge whether it's before or after sunset though.
- twic 8y agoNope. Is sunset when the lower limb of the sun touches the horizon? When it's halfway? When it disappears completely? And is that the actual horizon where the sun happens to be today? The treeline above it? The tower block in the way? Where sea level would be if there wasn't land there? Or just when it gets dark? But then is that civil twilight? Nautical twilight? Astronomical twilight? When the light from the sun gets dimmer than the light from the streetlights that happen to be in your area?
- bacon_waffle 8y agoI've been surprised at how "in tune" I've become to time, at times, when I've lived outside for substantial periods. Certainly it's not hard to have better than the "faintest idea" when midday or midnight is, if +/- 30 minutes qualifies? Plenty good to decide when to have lunch... In the higher latitudes, it requires even less acclimation once you've got an idea of your orientation, and maybe what the stars look like. To the point that, at the poles, a clear sky is a direct-reading 24-hour clock.