2007 AD or 2007 CE or?

[ruby27]

2007 AD as being the accepted time is colonisation but it is here to stay is it not. How much currency does CE have, I have chosen to use it but in my milieu it meets more in, then comprehension. In the world today especially with computers should not the various timescales, days of celebration etc be as widely published and used as much as an old hang over

[luna-tic]

Hello ruby,Could you please elaborate?

[Whickerman]

CE as in 'Christian Era', surely carries the same connetations and hangovers as AD?

[jackthehat]

I thought it was 'Common Era' and 'Before Common Era' for AD and BC; although I think I'd rather have my eyes poked out than fiddle about with the recognised designation. I can see no good use for the change. Those nations and cultures who have an entirely different set of designation for the passage of time don't seem to have too hard a time accommodating the use of BC/AD.

[Whickerman]

oooh, you could be right, sorry

[Theland]

Does not CE begin at 4BC?

[Whickerman]

..but even then it's taking year 0 as the birth (or is it death) of Jesus, so it's tied to religion???

[Theland]

...... Yep! .....

[beryllium]

I asked Mani this q 2 qs down about it's meaning :-) and he answered it. I guess I could have googled the answer but it's much nicer to ask another who will have the answer :-)

Ruby? I think in some diaries and on some wall calendars they do print the various different holidays and celebrations etc.
They certainly did in my carers diary. But not with those letters H/CE
as for the analogy of old hangovers??? history has a habit of repeating itself lol.... :-)

[jackthehat]

Thanks to 'Tiny Denis' we move from years 1BC to 1AD without a transitory 0, which should mark the year in which Jesus was born.
Of course the way in which years are numbered is all tied up with the Christian faith. Only a fool would deny the impact that the Christian religion has had in all aspects of life, however, whether we now all agree about the legitimacy of the historical claims of religion is another matter.
Having said that, I see no good reason to tinker with what we have now as a sign that we reject all things predicated on what more people are coming to believe is a myth/legend/fable.
The Church was quite content to let us keep using the names of days when they are based on predominantly Norse deities.

[ruby27]

jackthehat and others
Common Era is my understanding
Not sure I would accept blindness and pain before change, but its your choice.
I think your point about the Christian timetable being based on pagan festivals is a very good point.
I am not suggesting that we change the year, its hard enough to remember its 07 without doing anything different. Its just I would like CE to be have more common usage to move away from the Christian myths and make other calenders a bit more privileged so that we can in the West and those not in the West be reminded that our calender is just a calender that has been made up and not some sort of truth that is better than other markers of the month year etc.

[jackthehat]

I don't believe that changing the designation BC to BCE or AD to CE would be any more than a nod to 'all inclusiveness' and indicative of the 'all must have prizes' mentality, and I certainly don't believe that other nationalities/cultures feel excluded by the recognised traditional 'Western' usage. Of course it's all based on Christianity and the church's insistance that Jesus be at the centre of all aspects of life. But we can't jetison all traditions because we feel that Christianity is no longer relevant to certain portions of society or the wider world.
The best example of 'forward modern thinking' and 'off with the old' is that the French decided to replace many of the old systems after the revolution and ended up with months including Thermidor and Germinal and a metric/decimal calendar.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it !!

[ruby27]

jackthehat
"would be any more than a nod to 'all inclusiveness' and indicative of the 'all must have prizes' mentality". I hadn't thought of that way before as was probably too involved in trying to make sure everyone was given a prize and no one lost which is a bit unrealistic. Thanks has given me some more thinking and rationalizing to do
Bit about other cultures "Those nations and cultures that have an entirely different set of designation for the passage of time don't seem to have too hard a time accommodating the use of BC/AD". Maybe they do may be they don't. But for me its not whether they object or not its about recognizing and validating that there are many and equally valid way of recording time and passing, its just a historical fact one is privileged over another, all probably equally of merit or ridiculous. True the French may have gone a little OTT post revolution but given the women sat knitting and dipping into the blood of murdered aristos, it�s not surprising. Not into maths but pre decimal pounds shilling and pence was nonsense as is pounds and ounces, maybe 10 months a year should also be brought in?

[jackthehat]

Pre-decimal currency worked fine for them as used it, so, incidently do pounds and ounces and pints and gallons and degrees farenheit. The uproar, ill-feeling and problems caused by tinkering with an old system far out-weigh any perceived benefit at the point of change. Granted, accommodations are eventually made by the older practicioners and as a younger group come along completely attuned to the new system these problems usually dissipate, but to claim that one is better, or another is a 'nonsense' because you believe it to be so is a purely subjective argument.

[ruby27]

jackthehat
'nonsense' I accept that I ought not to have stated this as if it were an objective truth, when it is my opinion and therefore subjective. Especially as I hold to the belief that nothing in terms of knowledge can be objective as knowledge and knower can not be separated

But, it was late for me and I was tired and using shortcuts.

I did use pre decimalization and understood it, but decimalization, kilos etc where the multiplication is by 10 is so much easier, don�t know why as don�t do maths.
Can not remember the world stopped when we were forced to make the change but that might be because I was young then and and unaware of the impact.
My husband still often works things out and comments that would be worth whatever bob, but even he wouldn�t go back and only does it because he can, his life has not been impaired by using multiplications of 10. Therefore still wonder if 10 month calendar might not be better.

[Teddio]

Ruby, the old system of pounds shillings and pence worked very well and greatly improved children's mental arithmetic skills. 240 pennies in a pound does sound strange at first but 240d has the divisors 120d (10 bob), 60d (crown), 30d (half-crown), 24d (two bob), 12d (shilling) and of course the 6d and 3d.
Delia Smith still sensibly uses pounds and ounces for cookery. Grams and kilograms are unsuitable for domestic cookery. 227g may sound more precise than half a pound but in the kitchen context it isn't.