Town meeting, January 2010

[Techguy]

Time to break out the new calendar and day minder.

Question: is 2010 the dawn of a "new decade" as the media claim or not? I say not, because decades don't start with 0, they END with 0. We went through this back in the day in 2000, which was touted as the start of the new millenium. I say 2000 was the END of the second millenium, the end of the 20th century. The new millenium started in 2001. Similarly, the new decade will start in 2011.

Mrs. T and I had a wonderful time in California over the holidays with friends. We spent Christmas in the San Francisco/Oakland area, and New Year's in the LA area. Our southern California hosts are Ohio State alums and were able to score tickets to the Rose Bowl game for the 4 of us. Needless to say, we all had a very happy New Year's Day in the Buckeyes section!

[Sirenna]

But then in which decade did the first ever January 1st fall?

A newborn,in the year he approaches one-year old, is really somewhere between zero and 1 - not entering his first decade until his first birthday?

There's twelve months unaccounted for somewhere, I'm thinking.

;D

From an esthetic point of view, I'm liking the numbers 2010 - elegant yet modern. Count Dracula would be proud of me

[Techguy]

Using the Big Bang Theory, the very first January 1 occurred in year 1; hence, the first decade of 10 years was from Big Bang at the start of year 1 until the end of year 10, ie, 10 full years.

A child is in year 1 from birth to age 1; therefore, the child's first decade is from birth at the start of year 1 until the end of year 10, ie, 10 full years. This is why I think a new decade begins with years that end in 1, and ends with years that end in 0.

Techguy, who needs the help of Stephen Hawking AND Michio Kaku to figure this one out

[Ladyheather]

Oh yea Go Bucks !!!!! What a wonderful win !!!! Glad you had a great time Techguy. We watched from home but wished we had been there.

Again GO BUCKS !!!!

[jeffan]

Good questions and observations Techguy and Sirenna.

I, too, think of a decade as starting in a "one" year but, when I think in centuries, I become unstuck!

It's a rote point but always interesting to discuss.

[Sirenna]

Further to techguy's explanation - I was reading this in the National Post

'The end of a decade'? Don't count on it
National Post
Published: Thursday, December 31, 2009

Peter Keith


Re: Various articles concerning "the next decade," Dec. 26.

Enough of this innumerate nonsense about a new decade. The following quotation from the world authority, the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, should set the record straight for those who still need to have it explained.

"In the Gregorian Calendar, which we use, there is no year zero and the sequence of years near the start runs as follows; ..., 3BC, 2BC, 1BC, 1AD, 2AD, ... Because there is no year zero, the first year of the calendar ends at the end of the year named 1AD. By a similar argument 100 years will only have elapsed at the end of the year 100AD. Since 2000AD is the 2000th year of the Christian calendar, it will be the last year of the 2nd millennium. So the 3rd millennium and the 21st century will begin at the same moment, namely zero hours UTC (commonly known as GMT) on 1 January 2001."

So this decade will end at the end of 2010 for the same reason that we celebrate our tenth birthday and first decade at the end of our tenth year, not after only nine years. Although millions of people made fools of themselves 10 years ago and welcomed in the new millennium one year early, that is no reason to repeat the same folly now.

Peter G. Keith, Calgary (in a letter to the Editor)

My persepctive - skewed as it is- is that the calendar's inventor choose an arbitrary place marker (the birth of Christ around 1AD) which the new world ubiquitously embraced as the starting point of history. These are the same people also accepted Columbus' claim that he 'discovered' America - albeit on his way to India. LOL We live in a universe filled with Nano technology, string theory and fractals all of which we a just starting to explore yet all tentatively indicating something always come before the beginning ad inifitum.

So my question is, as we almost near the end of a new decade: Would a Martian agree with this accounting?

I personally am going to go with Year zero as the start, then year 1, 2 etc. - in case I bump into any aliens or fall into any black holes in the next decade.

[Techguy]

Everyone has their own opinion/perspective on the subject of when decades/centuries/millenia start and end, based on what works best for them. It just makes more sense to me to start counting these time periods at years that end in 1.

How about this? There's also a question of the "correct" way to pronounce the year 2010. Is it "twenty ten" or "two thousand ten"?

Certainly there are more urgent and important subjects of interest--just ask anyone who has taken an airline flight lately, especially over the holidays? Hello, Department of Homeland Security?

I don't know which pronunciation of 2010 is "correct" but I prefer "twenty ten" for neatness and simplicity. In the not-so-distant past, we pronounced a year like 1999 "nineteen ninety nine" not "one thousand nine hundred ninety nine." The former is neat and simple, the latter looks and sounds clumsy and cumbersome. I'm all in favor of the neat and simple, and so I choose this pattern to continue in the 2000s years.

[Sirenna]

LOL, I like twenty-ten too.

As for light vs weighty subjects - light ones during the holidays are definately more my cup of tea. It was intentional to avoid any references to misdirected farting goons in Arlington causing Canadian goons at Pearson and around the world, to start taking nude silhouette pics of children who, after reviewing the images, may or may not know what to do with the information.

Hmm. It's so LAST decade, lol

[Techguy]

In my "defense" I must confess I have been accused of not just being last decade, but last century!

Before I forget and any more time passes, Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary to all who celebrate this month.

Has the Ghost of Christmas Past Due Bills come to visit yet? ;D

[NikkiGreen]

Twenty-ten works for me, too.

Happy Birthday to all January babies.

[SarahIvy]

Happy Birthday January babes!

Lovebug and Sirenna, thank you for the kind comments re: my wee one (Would have posted in that thread, but it seemed weird to drag the December thread back up just to say that.)

[Sirenna]

that's an example of 'threadiquette'
;D

[Metella]

Twenty Ten for me

simple - easy and flows better verbally