I keep encountering statements such as :
>The next millennium or 21st century won't begin until Jan 1, 2001.
It's even appeared in publications of the World Future Society, of which
I'm letting my membership laps after (being fooled for so many years into)
thinking them capable of seeing the difference between past and future :-(.
That statement is a bit like saying that life does not BEGIN until a first
birthday.
Note the present century, the 20th, began on 1 Jan 1900, and the 19th
ENDED on 31 Dec 1899.
The second millennium began on 1 Jan 1000 (putting aside the change in
calendar) and should end simultaneously with its last century, its last
decade and last year, i.e. on 31 Dec 1999.
And just like our first year of life ended on the day before our first
birthday it nevertheless began on the day of our birth and forced us to
spend a whole year being 0-year-old. It seems normal (to me at least) that
the 20th century should END on 31 Dec 1999.
Since this list is concerned with "futurework", might we begin with
agreeing on when does that future begin and end. Otherwise we might
consider delaying fixing the famous (scam) Y2K problem until we really come
up to it. Then we might call it the Y2.001K problem and forget it for
another year :-).
Could it be that that overlap is the cause of such turmoils in these turns
of centuries and milleniums. Am I divagating or what?
"It is a miracle that curiousity survives formal education." Albert Einstein
-- Gouin, Futurist-at-leisure NOW. --
