Would the world be better off with only 1 time on the clock and we could all then just adjust to the circumstances ?

No. it won't. Having one time, which I suppose you mean by GMT, would cause inconveniences. Like, sunrise would be at 1am and sunset at 4pm. This would result in lost meaning of day and night, noon and midnight.

Well , I suppose , if the worldwide clock had to have a time on it , it could be set at midday when the sun is south on the line of longitude going through Greenwich on mid summers day .

Well , I suppose , if the worldwide clock had to have a time on it , it could be set at midday when the sun is south on the line of longitude going through Greenwich on mid summers day .

 

I couldn't get you.

There you are , sitting in Greenwich , England , mid summers day , on the zero longitude line , sun appears exactly south , set the clock to read midday .

There you are , sitting in Greenwich , England , mid summers day , on the zero longitude line , sun appears exactly south , set the clock to read midday .

 

So, do you want all clocks to have the time which Greenwich has or do you want them to set their time as the sun appears south?

What advantages do you think this would bring? (Don't worry about the disadvantages: I already have a long list.)

I just thought this could be how the Greenwich , England clock would be set . All the world would have the same time as this clock . It's the general principle of whether 1 time is a good or bad thing for the world ?

 

So , Would the world be better off with only 1 time on the clock and we could all then just adjust to the circumstances ?

Edited June 13, 201114 yr by Hal.

I will assume that what was meant was that the entire world just have one time zone.

 

Actually, before mass travel, the opposite extreme existed, with each individual town having its own time and keeping its clocks properly set to the local position of the sun. This all had to change in the 19th century, however, with the invention of the railroad, which made it possible to travel at such speeds that frequent resetting of clocks would become too burdensome.

 

There are some countries today like Saudi Arabia which keep their own time for religious reasons, so there are sudden time differentials across its borders. Somehow people travelling back and forth across borders in those areas accommodate this idiosyncracy.

 

But I'm not sure there would be much of a problem if the world were just one gigantic time zone. We would adjust to it by just not all calling the same position of the hands on a clock face 'noon,' 'dusk,' 'day,' or 'night.' So what if noon at Greenwich were 12:00 and in New York noon was 7:OO? That might prove more convenient than having to guess time zone intervals all the time and readjust watches during international plane flights, especially given the difficulty of dealing with time-set electronic devices.

Johannesburg , right now , has the same time as Paris . Johannesburg is in winter and Paris is in summer . The length of day and night varies a lot in these 2 cities but it probably doesn't matter .

So , Would the world be better off with only 1 time on the clock and we could all then just adjust to the circumstances ?

I have absolutely no doubt that this is a thoroughly impractical, undesirable, expensive idea which would attract no support from any culture or country on the planet. I currently know that if I am in Houston, or London, or Singapore, or Dubai, or Perth what time I need to get up to go to work. What time I can expect restaurants to open and shops to close. With your system I would continually have to remind myself what was breakfast time in KL, or wherever I happened to be. Chaos and confusion. And I ask again, what possible benefit do you think would accrue to this insanity?

Ophiolite , I could handle a system like this , in a simple world , doing simple things , living quite simply and without insanity , quite happily progressing along .

 

The time in Paris and Johannesburg is not very different throughout the year , if at all . So , in principal the French and the South Africans would have very few problems agreeing to the same time .

Fine. The world is a global marketplace. We don't live simply anymore. This idea would be disruptive and counter productive. France and South Africa are already at pretty much the same time. You obviously give no thought to Iranians, New Zealanders, Chileans, Alaskans, or Indians. Let me try again: it's not a good idea.

The principal that agreement would exist is there in groups . It's trying to merge those groups that is the barrier to my ' one time ' view . It's too early in the thread for me to conclude that it is not a good idea .

 

 

I think any country is free to adopt UTC as their clock, rather than having an offset, but if it were to be set by international agreement you would open up a big political can of worms. Which latitude would get UTC where the sun is overhead at noon, and who would be slighted (or feel that way)?

I think any country is free to adopt UTC as their clock, rather than having an offset, but if it were to be set by international agreement you would open up a big political can of worms. Which latitude would get UTC where the sun is overhead at noon, and who would be slighted (or feel that way)?

I think that one time zone is a great idea, and while I agree with swansont, I think that several big countries would need to agree to change to one timezone at the same time in order for it to catch on in other nations.

 

At least countries with multiple timezones should, IMO, use a single timezone.

Edited June 13, 201114 yr by Brainteaserfan

I think that one time zone is a great idea,

Hal is unable or unwilling to tell me what the advantages of the idea are. Will you?

Here is a disadvantage to varying timezones that would be solved in the use of one time zone . I lived in a foreign country for a few years and every day while there , I always calculated the time back in my country by applying a small math calculation , every time I read the clock . I was living in two time zones simultaneously , where in one of them I thought it was getting late and in the other I still had an hour to get to that way of thinking . Seven times a week and the cumulative effect was the equivalent of missing a nights sleep .

 

 

I think that one time zone is a great idea, and while I agree with swansont, I think that several big countries would need to agree to change to one timezone at the same time in order for it to catch on in other nations.

 

At least countries with multiple timezones should, IMO, use a single timezone.

I think the existence of multiple time zones in one country is an indication that they would not be willing to adopt a singe worldwide time zone.

There is just one time zone; it's called UTC.

It's the official legal time throughout the world.

Practically nobody uses it on a day to day basis.

I think that answers the question about how useful it is.

Ophiolite , I could handle a system like this

 

You could but some religions won't allow you to do it. They might war over it. Many religions have been moving on the basic idea that noon is at 12 and midnight at 12. Even those tribal who use sundials would find it difficult to co-up with time of different kabilas.

Technically we who use the Internet all use UTC on a day to day basis; though maybe not directly. So we already do use, and have one unifying time zone. As time is relative; I think it is best to have many ways to identify time, but it is comparably important to have one unifying standard time. It just depends what one is trying to do.

Edited July 29, 201114 yr by wanabe

My internet link might use UTC, but my computer is set to record and display times as BST at the moment (and something rather close to UTC in Winter).

I don't use UTC explicitly; it just happens that it coincides with local time here in Winter.

It has been recognised for ages that we need a standard time reference (UTC, or GMT before that) but we don't usually use it because we prefer something that tallies with the local sunshine. It's an arbitrary choice, but it's the on we have made; and you will struggle to get people to change it without some really solid reason..

Hal is unable or unwilling to tell me what the advantages of the idea are. Will you?

For starters, some towns are in between two time zones, making it difficult, and there are lots who regularly travel between them. It, IMO, would eliminate much confusion.

For starters, some towns are in between two time zones, making it difficult, and there are lots who regularly travel between them. It, IMO, would eliminate much confusion.

Ummm.....no. There are no towns that are in between 2 time zones since there are no gaps between time zones. Towns that lie on the line that separate 2 time zones are technically in 2 time zones.

 

BTW, disadvantages of the current system are not automatically advantages of a new system. What "advantages" are there in the new system?