Days should start at 1am instead of 12am

Posted by ktbee4@reddit | CrazyIdeas | View on Reddit | 46 comments

It makes sense to start at 1, it’s the smallest number.

It’s also weird to say “no we start at 0, there is no 12, it goes to 11:59 and then 0”… but the clock has a 12 on it, so you’re saying clock is a liar?

Idk it might be crazy

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DumpoTheClown@reddit

0 is the first number. When you start a walk, you start at 0 miles walked, then eventually arrive at 1 mile walked. That distance between 0 miles and 1 mile is distance. You cant begin a walk at 1 mile traveled becauses you havent taken the first step yet.

The 1 on a clock is not the beginning. It marks that 1 unit has passed since the beginning.

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FadeIntoReal@reddit

I don’t find this idea to be crazy. I find it to be somewhat sensible.

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dokdicer@reddit

12 am should be 12 pm.

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Bananaramajama420@reddit

Most of the world uses the 24hr clock while the US uses the AM/PM (12/12) clock. It starts at 0:00 which makes sense because so does everything else. You start a video at 0:00, you start a stopwatch at 0:00, and timers only end/begin at 0:00. Unless I'm just missing something here (?) 🤷‍♂️

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Nate_Christ@reddit

It's easier using 12 for analog

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Bananaramajama420@reddit

Is it though? look hyma

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Remarkable_Coast_214@reddit

that... looks awful

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Numerous-Surprise875@reddit

Here https://a.co/d/0aRU8HaF I found a clock that makes the 24 hour one look pleasant.

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Death_Balloons@reddit

I used to have one of those in my grade 7 classroom. Stopped about 90% of the kids from being certain of what time it was.

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DodgerWalker@reddit

The term o'clock is derived from bells. In the old days there would be a clocktower in towns and they'd ring the bells on the hour, with the number of chimes corresponding to the hour.

If you ring the bell 0 times, then well you haven't really rung it, so there's no 0 o'clock. Now you could go 1-24 but who wants to count that many chimes? And it's not like you're ever going to wonder if the time is am or pm after hearing the chimes. Now we don't typically get time from hearing the bells of a clocktower anymore but the system we have of keeping time is so ingrained in society that we're not going to change it lol.

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ktbee4@reddit (OP)

Maybe my real crazy idea is to remove the 12 on clocks , I think you solved it 🙏🏼

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0x14f@reddit

You are not missing anything. P's idea doesn't work.

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pakrat1967@reddit

There are multiple ways to write out the time. The number followed by o'clock is (or was) very popular. 11 o'clock, 12 o'clock, and 1 o'clock all look normal. But if you change the 12 to 0, it becomes 0 o'clock. This could be very confusing with some fonts or handwriting.

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Blocked-Author@reddit

This is only an idea from someone that doesn't know how time, clocks, or numbers work.

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ktbee4@reddit (OP)

Hi 🥲

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jfk_47@reddit

A common phrase is “zero hour” which basically means the beginning.

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Pure_Option_1733@reddit

Even in the US it’s possible to set some clocks to the 24 hour clock, which is what I’ve done.

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erisod@reddit

How is 1 the smallest number?

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ktbee4@reddit (OP)

On a clock it’s the smallest

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erisod@reddit

Ah I see

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Nate_Christ@reddit

Smallest of the set 1-12

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Device420@reddit

Hold your hand up. Now with you fingers, get ready to count to 5. Are you holding 1 finger up already? Would be kinda silly huh? Would only get to 4 before you ran out of room. If you don't start at 0, 1 would have no value. The 1 represents the total of the journey from 0 to 1. 2 represents the total of the journey from 0 to 1 added to the total of the journey from 1 to 2.

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AstroPug22@reddit

the "hour" digit in time is a measure of how many hours have passed since the day started. The day starts at midnight (0:00 in 24-hour time) and once an hour has passed, it's 1:00.

It's understandable why this is confusing though, it's the same type of thing that's confusing with centuries (like how the 1800s are called the 19th century because it's the 100-year period leading up to 1900, which seems weird at first but makes sense when you think about the first century being the 100-year period between 0 and 100. so in the same way, the first hour of the day is the 60 minutes leading up to 1:00)

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BunnyBlushies@reddit

The first hour of the day finally matches human intuition instead of computer logic.

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inode71@reddit

But can I still say “zero dark thirty” for a 12:30am?

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Sjoerd85@reddit

I just say "zero thirty”, or more usually "half one".

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ktbee4@reddit (OP)

Absolutely

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inode71@reddit

Then I’m in!!

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Sjoerd85@reddit

My clocks all go from 23:59 (and 59 seconds, if the clock shows the seconds too) to 00:00...

So yes, the stay starts at 0.

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Bancatone@reddit

Nothing starts at 1

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chucks86@reddit

It was mentioned earlier, but I'm fairly certain that 0 is smaller than 1.

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ktbee4@reddit (OP)

They should put 0 on the clock, as it stands 1 is smallest clock number

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chucks86@reddit

Not sure about your clock, but my analog clock puts the 1 about 1/12 around the circle.

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SeaGiraffe7489@reddit

They start at 12:00. That 00 is 1 in 1-60. I hope I don’t have to come back and explain this any further.

It’s like when a kid turns 1. That day they start their second year. So when the clock hits 1, 1 hour has passed, and we are starting hour 2.

Stay with me.

If you start your clock at 1, you’re starting it at the beginning of the second hour. So what happens when we start with 12? The start of the first hour.

They wouldn’t arbitrarily build a system like this incorrectly.

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fieldsofanfieldroad@reddit

They wouldn’t arbitrarily build a system like this incorrectly.

My boy doesn't know about months. I hope I don't have to come back and explain this any further.

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ktbee4@reddit (OP)

We seriously need to redesign clocks

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