3 ms·
> the culture-specific BC/AC split Any dating scheme is going to be culture-specific. The point you pick to be "year zero" is always going to be a point in ti
by Perceval 12y ago
> the culture-specific BC/AC split
Any dating scheme is going to be culture-specific. The point you pick to be "year zero" is always going to be a point in time that's culturally valuable.
> The ascendance of the net is the beginning of the real CE.
That's an assertion that a marker you find culturally important (as a techie) is more meaningful to you than a marker that other people find culturally significant.
You could just as well choose the Before Present dating scheme, which defines "present" as 1 January 1950, roughly the point in time when the number of atomic explosions made radiocarbon dating obsolete (and the beginning of an astronomical epoch). But that is also culturally-specific, relative to the concerns of a certain epistemic community.
- weinzierl 12y agoThere is no year zero in Common Era/Anno Domini.
- Perceval 12y ago"Year Zero" was more a reference to the idea of trying to wipe out symbols of past culture (i.e. Anno Domini) for political reasons: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Zero_%28political_notion%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Zero_%28political_notion%...
- mlinksva 12y agoYou're right, thanks. The claims in my comment require lots of qualification, are embarrassing without. I enjoy your a[s]t[ron]omic epoch year zero idea. One could start from much further back (eg beginning of universe, earth, modern humans, writing) but those would all be specific to the culture estimating them and to what that culture valued.