h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I don't know what it is like in other countries, but in the UK we are currently being bombarded with lots and lots of crap about the Millenium. I still cannot get my head around the fact that EVERYONE is a year too early. If this event is soo important, you think we could try and at least get it right. The 20th century started on 1st January 1901- this means that the 21st century starts on 1st January 2001- hence this is the start of the new Millenium. Yet everyone still claims it will kick off in four weeks time. And this is ignoring the facts that the majority of people in the World are not Christians and do not follow this Calender...
I think the whole party is going to be one of the dampest squibs mankind has ever seen- and the fact it is being celebrated on the wrong day is playing a part in this lack of enthusiasm- 2001 would have been (and will be) much better. No one I know is really excited about this day, or planning anything special- most people apart from the media and Governments just seem to be treating it as just another Hogmanay.
Has anyone out there planned anything truly original or exciting?

And a question was asked last week in the upper chamber of the mother
of parliments (House of Lords, UK, in case you wondered) which said
the same thing. The government reply was that for practical purposes
it was going to treat 2000 as the millenium year, but 2001 would be
the first year of the new millenium (ie 100 years from the start of
the twentieth century)

I think perhaps the reason no one you know is planning anything special is that you probably spend your time with sensible people. None of my friends are planning anything huge either, but I keep hearing of big parties being planned by people I don't know...people who also think 2000 is the beginning of the millennium. They flock together, it seems.

I, personally, don't really care either way. I mean who's to tell folks when to celebrate and when not to. Hey, a party is a good thing any time, right? The problem is that some dudes way back when screwed up and forgot to include a year 0 and now we're all paying for it with this whole silly debate. It's all utterly arbitrary anyway, so who cares when we celebrate the "new millenium"? People are celebrating a number, right? And in our numerical system that is based in 10's it makes a hell of a lot more sense to celebrate the year 2000 than 2001. So let the party animals have their fun. And when 2001 rolls around they'll let you have yours, ok?

I'm afraid I'm going to HAVE to agree with the chap above.
HEAR HEAR!

A lot of people have an issue with the fact that there was never a 0AD and this (I think) is where the 2000-2001 argument stems from. Well, I have had enough of all this and therefore have decided that 1BC _was_ 0AD .... you see, Jesus wasn't born on new years day [yes, I know he was born before 4BC !] so 1 BC was the year before and including his birth and 0AD was the part-year after his birth.

There - can I get back to planning my piss-ups now?

Hmm- yes because of changes to the calender, the actual third Millenium began four years ago. And the Bible clearly talks of Shepherds working their flock in the pastures- which is pretty unlikely in the middle of Winter. Thus the Jesus of the book, was probably born in the Spring of 4 BC...

Why, thank you! Except I'm no chap. I'm a chapette, if you will.

What I think is more of a conundrum is what we're going to call the next couple of decades. Maybe we should just skip to the roaring '20's?

The best suggestion I've heard for what to call the next decade is "the noughties"! It makes the future sound like fun!
The 2010-2019 one is more of a problem. Errr... "the teenies"?

There's a whole long thread on this under the guide entry "unfinished business of the 20th century"...my personla favourite so far is the MMs (from the Roman) but the Oh-Ohs and the naughties appeal too.

Perhaps another unfinished business is to unhook the start point of the calendar from the religious side - a day is one revolution of the earth, a year is one revolution around the sun - surely there's a recent enough cosmic occurence that we can date to within a year (a supernova or such) and reset the calendar to this?

Incidentally, yes I am a computer contractor so monkeying around with the date system is in my financial interest

Better than that- if we really want to move the Earth forward into a new multicultural millennium, then we should go for it- forget all this Anno Domini stuff and start from the beginning again. Lets say next year is Year Zero (not 2000) and everything can begin from there. Years before this date can continue to be called say 1066AD or 200BC but the all new calender will have no initials following it, and everyone, regardless of religious convictions can follow it. What about the Chinese, though- we'd need to bring their Year calender back into line with ours. Or perhaps we could adopt theirs- and Year Zero will begin at the Chinese New Year- it would help break Crimbo and Hogmanay up a bit...

Not a bad idea - except that the phrase "year zero" has some pretty horrific historical associations with Cambodia, Pol Pot, killing fields etc. Perhaps it'd be better to start the new calendar with Year 1.

Er - isn't that the problem we have with the present calendar - that there wasn't a year 0?

We do appear to be going round in circles.
Perhaps we should jutforget about the year altogether.
After all, the only year it's ever possible to be living in is this one, the day of the week is only ever 'today'.
Never anything else.
Lets just foget the whole damn time thing or else we're all going to become temporophobics.

That seems to be a very good idea. I have just written my first letter headed "Today" Since I write so few cheques, it ought to be OK on those as well. Happy Several Days after Tomorrow !

Nah.. Ewes will invariably lamb in the midst of the worst snowstorm in history.

(Trust me on this one. )

Don't you mean 'Happy several rotations after the next one!' ?

Probably. Or not, as the case may be - as long as whatever it is is happy

Thank you! my point exactly and everyone called me a looney when I said it but, hey now someone agrees with me.

Thank you! my point exactly and everyone called me a looney when I said it but, hey now someone agrees with me.