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Thread ID: 82484	2007-08-28 23:31:00	Why is an hour 1/24 or a day?	mejobloggs (264)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
585786	2007-08-28 23:31:00	:confused: Seems like everyone will tell you a different answer as well. Let's see how much we get here. A year, month, and day all are measured by things (sun/mood/earth), but an hour... seems to be pretty random. Same with minutes.	mejobloggs (264)
585787	2007-08-28 23:59:00	:confused: Seems like everyone will tell you a different answer as well . Let's see how much we get here . A year, month, and day all are measured by things (sun/mood/earth), but an hour . . . seems to be pretty random . Same with minutes . The answer to that question is 42 (Ref . "Hitchikers Guide To The Galaxy") Ken	kenj (9738)
585788	2007-08-29 00:14:00	Interesting topic. Some answers can be found from the following webpages: en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org	developer (4447)
585789	2007-08-29 00:39:00	Here's my opinion. There is no pointing looking without for the answers - for this we have to look within. Humans are naturally lazy so why not make things easy for ourselves? In the days of the abacus, pencil & paper, parchment & stylus etc, it makes sense to pick a number that is easily divisible by lots of other numbers. Is it any wonder there are 360 degrees in a circle? Not really once you consider 360 is naturally divisible by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20 and so on. Work out how many numbers divide into 24 and 60 and there is your answer! There would be little sense picking prime numbers for these functions in the days before calculators. So yes the day and year are based on events from without, but the calendar month, hour, minute and second are purely human inventions designed to make life easier (in theory). Just my opinion..... Andrew	andrew93 (249)
585790	2007-08-29 00:48:00	I like that..it's better than the idea I had about humans originally having six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot.	SurferJoe46 (51)
585791	2007-08-29 02:09:00	Well, if the hours were different, they wouldn't match the clocks.	R2x1 (4628)
585792	2007-08-29 02:13:00	I like that..it's better than the idea I had about humans originally having six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. Don't suggest that, I have enough trouble with daylight saving now; if I have to change my gloves as well as my clocks, a year is too short. :mad:	R2x1 (4628)
585793	2007-08-29 05:27:00	Here's my opinion. There is no pointing looking without for the answers - for this we have to look within. Humans are naturally lazy so why not make things easy for ourselves? In the days of the abacus, pencil & paper, parchment & stylus etc, it makes sense to pick a number that is easily divisible by lots of other numbers. Is it any wonder there are 360 degrees in a circle? Not really once you consider 360 is naturally divisible by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20 and so on. Work out how many numbers divide into 24 and 60 and there is your answer! There would be little sense picking prime numbers for these functions in the days before calculators. So yes the day and year are based on events from without, but the calendar month, hour, minute and second are purely human inventions designed to make life easier (in theory). Just my opinion..... Andrew Well done Just think If the ancients had decided that there would be 5 hours in a day we would now only be working for 2 hours a day ! Seriously I did read an article about why there virtually must be 360 degrees in a circle. Those Greeks and Egyptians were pretty good and the Indians invented the number 0 Regards Digby	Digby (677)
585794	2007-08-29 05:58:00	Man, why can't people just post short answers... My answer would be....because. That's the way it is and it always has been, so there is nothing you can do about	--Wolf-- (128)
585795	2007-08-29 06:17:00	Notice also 24 = 2 x 3 x 4 and 60 = 3 x 4 x 5 (why they didn't use 120 is beyond me) and 360 = 3 x 4 x 5 x 6 which I think lends credence to the (very smart) laziness factor. A	andrew93 (249)
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