note
Porculus
<blockquote>Things get confusing (for many people) when numbers start to get bigger: The 20th century were the years 19xx (mostly). Did the 2 millenium end on New Year's Eve 1999 or 2000?</blockquote><p>The latter, logically speaking. The mass media managed to convince the ignorant masses otherwise, but there you go.</p>
<p>It is ironic in this context to note that people would have got this right <i>intuitively</i> if years, and centuries, had been zero-based rather than the supposedly "natural" one-based system we have. If we'd used a zero-based system, with century 0 starting in the year 0, then the year 2000 would have represented the start of century 20, rather than the end of the 20th century. Problem solved.</p>
<p>Instead we have a silly situation where technically centuries are 1-based, but people constantly try to press for a 0-based system that seems more natural to them. People want the 21st century to begin with the year 00, not the year 01!</p>
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