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Dating systems: BC and AD, or BCE and CE?
#61
How about a sensible point to start dating from: The invention of writing!
That was around 3500 years ago making today's date 5511 AW (after writing) It makes sense to me because there wouldn't have been any way to record dates before writing!
John Kaler MSG, USA Retired
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#62
Quote:How about a sensible point to start dating from: The invention of writing!
That was around 3500 years ago making today's date 5511 AW (after writing) It makes sense to me because there wouldn't have been any way to record dates before writing!
Nice, but is there a record of the year when the first writing was invented? Big Grin
Robert Vermaat
MODERATOR
FECTIO Late Romans
THE CAUSE OF WAR MUST BE JUST
(Maurikios-Strategikon, book VIII.2: Maxim 12)
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#63
I know how much some will be disappointed by this, but there was/is no year zero in the BC/AD system. That was explained many times back in the Y2K scare. Of course, it will all be forgotten by the time of the Y3K, if there is one.
M. Demetrius Abicio
(David Wills)

Saepe veritas est dura.
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#64
I can agree with Tom Gervasi in this point, that it is completely absurd to choose between two names of the same dating system. As I wrote before it doeasn`t matter how we name it, it is still the same. Then the poll of Epictetus gives only one possibility to choose something different. I don`t think, that archaeology and history could indicate any other moment acceptable in the world scale.
But I think that for this forum it would be the best to choose Roman system and start counting years ab Urbe condita Wink Smile
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#65
Quote:How about a sensible point to start dating from: The invention of writing!
That was around 3500 years ago making today's date 5511 AW (after writing) It makes sense to me because there wouldn't have been any way to record dates before writing!

Hm. What is the earliest occasion for someone dating the year they are in? If we could find that, we'd still have AD as After Dating (not to be confused with the other kind of dating, of course) and BC as Before Counting. Of course, they'd be a few millennia further back. :grin:
M. Caecilius M.f. Maxentius - Max C.

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- Q. Ennius, Annales, Frag. XXXI, 493

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#66
A few millennia, but who's counting? :lol:
M. Demetrius Abicio
(David Wills)

Saepe veritas est dura.
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#67
Quote:
Tom Gervasi post=300887 Wrote:But what if in a paroxysm of national pride, China starts dating everything in terms of the Chinese Calendar?
Who says they don't? But if they want to be published in the (still) mainly Western scientific journals, they know better than to do so. the same goes for any Jewish or Muslim scholars: Jews as well as Muslims have of course their own dating systems, but I'm not sure whether this is included in articles that are not meant for publication abroad.

Ah, but the day might come when that shifts somewhere else... those future scientists could toss the whole system out.

Bottom line of all this silliness is that we can fuss and fume and rant about deconstructivists and The Godless French, but its not going to change anyting and if scientists want to be published they will use the system everyone else uses as you point out. In this case, its BCE/CE Lets get back to What happened, not what are we going to call when it happened? The main ting is that when somebody gives us a date, we know what they're talking about.
Caesar audieritis hoc
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#68
Quote:Ah, but the day might come when that shifts somewhere else... those future scientists could toss the whole system out.
When that day comes (and I'm not a prophet, so I'm not going to speculate on that) the world has already changed, and indeed, they'll have to sort it out themselves.
Robert Vermaat
MODERATOR
FECTIO Late Romans
THE CAUSE OF WAR MUST BE JUST
(Maurikios-Strategikon, book VIII.2: Maxim 12)
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#69
Quote:How about a sensible point to start dating from: The invention of writing!
That was around 3500 years ago making today's date 5511 AW (after writing) It makes sense to me because there wouldn't have been any way to record dates before writing!

Unfortunately, your "AW"-- "After Writing"-- would negate all the posts just written. We could only communicate verbally, like they did in the Stone Age.

Which reminds me-- we could use BI and AI, "Before Ice" (the Ice Age) and "After Ice," but what about all the years people were living IN the Ice Age. They get left out! :woot:

No thank you. I'll stick with the standard socially-incorrect BC (Before Computers) and AD (After Devolvement) because, well, I'm a barbarian. :whistle:
Alan J. Campbell

member of Legio III Cyrenaica and the Uncouth Barbarians

Author of:
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Forging the Blade (2012)

"It's good to be king. Even when you're dead!"
             Old Yuezhi/Pazyrk proverb
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#70
I am a graduate history student at Sam Houston State University. Needed another grad degree. I am old-fashioned...come to think of it, I'm old (72). Anyway, I use BC and AD. It is deemed appropriate.
Petrus Augustinus
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#71
Trained as an ancient historian, and practising as an archaeologist, I invariably use BC/AD. That extra letter in BCE/CE uses extra electricity to transmit or ink and paper to print and thus is positively detrimental to the environment. In fact, I am beginning to suspect BCE/CE advocates may actually be the prime cause of global warming ... ;-)

Mike Bishop
You know my method. It is founded upon the observance of trifles

Blogging, tweeting, and mapping Hadrian\'s Wall... because it\'s there
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#72
Quote: I am old-fashioned...come to think of it, I'm old (72). Anyway, I use BC and AD. It is deemed appropriate.

Ah! Welcome to the 72 Club. What AD year were we born in, anyway? Confusedhock:

To Mike,

When writing just about anything in New Times Roman, the E in BCE can lengthen the line of type, forcing the BCE down to the next line, which causes the overall sentence to become LONGER, which, in turn, forces readers with ADD to give up reading; and in the long run, creates a larger portion of potential history buffs to turn to other forms of entertainment such as watching TV, especially the History Channel, where they can get docu-info quick-time, learning Everything about the Huns in less than one hour, which cuts down on projected Hunnic book sales by university presses, or by mainstream publishers, and even indies who have advanced possible solutions to the BC-AD / BCE problem by suggesting conversion to AC-DC, whereas they become sued by rock bands and knowledgeable electicians, to the point that they revert to one-word sentences.

Oops! :woot:
Alan J. Campbell

member of Legio III Cyrenaica and the Uncouth Barbarians

Author of:
The Demon's Door Bolt (2011)
Forging the Blade (2012)

"It's good to be king. Even when you're dead!"
             Old Yuezhi/Pazyrk proverb
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