No Time Zones

[Grok]

Let's get all countries to drop time zones, adopt a global clock.  The number representation of the current time is only a relative offset from other times.  No point in the 24-hour time is fixed to any global event, so why both having 24 separate clocks?  Getting the whole world on the same clock would be more efficient.

[Adron]

It would mess with (paper) calendar makers. Suddenly they would have to make three different versions depending on where in the US you are. Or they would have to put in all 24 hours.

[MyndFyre]

I really, really want to say this is silly.  But I'm having trouble justifying my position.

[shout]

That happend in 3001: The Final Odyssey.

I think it is a good idea.

[Blaze]

People are used to when its 9:00PM its dark out, and if its 12:00AM its bright out (Weather permitting).  Why take that away from them?   It would just cause mass confusin.

[iago]

People are used to when its 9:00PM its dark out, and if its 12:00AM its bright out (Weather permitting).  Why take that away from them?   It would just cause mass confusin.

They'll get over it. 

I set my watch to GMT over a year ago.  Perhaps I should begin referring to myself as a pioneer?

[Grok]

As it should be iago.  The planet has one time.  That we have segmented it into 24 arbitrary parts is our own faults, and that we have grown accustomed to certain digits being "now" (which changes daily despite our comfort...how dare it?!) is also our fault.

Give the world one global time heartbeat.

[hismajesty]

Shut up, that's stupid. Why make everyone on Earth adapt to something that does nothing except make life harder? If you haven't noticed, it's light in DC when it's dark in California. It being the same time is overly retarded, for the same reason Blaze said.

[MyndFyre]

Shut up, that's stupid. Why make everyone on Earth adapt to something that does nothing except make life harder? If you haven't noticed, it's light in DC when it's dark in California. It being the same time is overly retarded, for the same reason Blaze said.

Justify your position or post somewhere else.  Saying it's stupid because "it [...] is overly retarded" is not a justification.

I happen to agree with your position, but I can't think of a good reason.  However, I would offer this as an analogous argument:

The United States should use metric measurements.

Sure, it may cause problem in the short term.  But it is so exceedingly easier than the customary system (Why is freezing 32 and boiling 212?  Why are there 12 inches in a foot and 5280 feet in a mile?  For that matter, why is the speed of light roughly 186,282 miles per second?)

24 arbitrary parts

If the parts being arbitrary is a problem, what makes you think that only one arbitrary time will be any better?  We have an arbitrary mean time, GMT.  But why is GMT correct?  In fact, "now" is relative to everyone.  Why not have an individual clock at every minute of longitude?  Why not one every second?

Having time offsets allows our circadian rhythm function regularly when we travel large distances.  As you'll see in the article, the retina has a neural pathway to the hypothalmus and the region of the hypothalmus that controls this internal clock.  We cannot control this stimulus (light perception) entirely, and therefore couldn't successfully or easily prevent the internal clock from adjusting to it, short of severing that connection at all.  However, as the article also says, subjects with a severed connection simply do not have a regular sleep/wake cycle.

Having a universal clock implies that all businesses and people operate during the same hours.  Frankly, I like to sleep when it's dark.  I have things covering light sources in my room, and I bought a special Indiglo-brand clock so that I could turn off the backlight when I sleep at night.  I have trouble sleeping when there is a light on, and I have trouble sleeping during the day.  If that's not what you're gunning for, you should clarify.

[Grok]

MyndFyre, your automatic assumption that everyone operate on the same clock schedule reinforces to me that we need one global clock.  That is not what I said, implied, or intended.  Take for example, that I get up at 7am GMT-5.  If we adopted GMT time, that would be 1200.  So rather than setting my clock at 0700, I would set it for 1200, because that's when it makes sense for where I live on the planet.

The benefit of having everyone use the same time is you can accurately record events anywhere without needing to translate/shift to adapt recordings to where they took place.  Sometimes "across the street" can mean an hour ago, or an hour from now.  It's nonsensical.

I have no idea what sleeping with the light on, sleeping during the day, have to do with this.  You would still get up and go to bed at your normal solar events.  The time on your watch would reflect global time, and you would come to accept that is the world time.

[Mephisto]

I tend to agree with Grok.

[Forged]

Let's get all countries to drop time zones, adopt a global clock.  The number representation of the current time is only a relative offset from other times.  No point in the 24-hour time is fixed to any global event, so why both having 24 separate clocks?  Getting the whole world on the same clock would be more efficient.

Lets work on adopting a universal measurement system first.  Then try and slip in this idea also.

[Topaz]

Let's get all countries to drop time zones, adopt a global clock.  The number representation of the current time is only a relative offset from other times.  No point in the 24-hour time is fixed to any global event, so why both having 24 separate clocks?  Getting the whole world on the same clock would be more efficient.

Lets work on adopting a universal measurement system first.  Then try and slip in this idea also.

You're about as likely to get these implemented as you are a universal religion.

[MyndFyre]

MyndFyre, your automatic assumption that everyone operate on the same clock schedule reinforces to me that we need one global clock.  That is not what I said, implied, or intended.  Take for example, that I get up at 7am GMT-5.  If we adopted GMT time, that would be 1200.  So rather than setting my clock at 0700, I would set it for 1200, because that's when it makes sense for where I live on the planet.

The benefit of having everyone use the same time is you can accurately record events anywhere without needing to translate/shift to adapt recordings to where they took place.  Sometimes "across the street" can mean an hour ago, or an hour from now.  It's nonsensical.

I have no idea what sleeping with the light on, sleeping during the day, have to do with this.  You would still get up and go to bed at your normal solar events.  The time on your watch would reflect global time, and you would come to accept that is the world time.

Everything would be off when you travelled.  So, if you crossed the normal time zone line, and the businesses started keeping different hours (for example, instead of 8 am local time, businesses opened here at 3 pm universal time), then I crossed into California, where businesses opened at 4 pm universal time, I would need to adjust what time I was used to businesses opening.  That would create a much bigger hassle IMHO than having 24 time zones.  Of course, the hassle would only be to travellers.

Otherwise, you'd need to have universal times, which is the assumption I made earlier.

[Blaze]

While we are on the subject of unity, why don't we make one big government for the whole world instead of having silly little ones.  Also we shouldn't have countries.  We should just be humans.