|
Time and Truth © 2000 Joe Murray I want to wish
everyone a belated happy New Year as I write to you on my old obsolete,
non-Y2k compliant 486 computer that unfortunately just happens to be working
as good as it ever has. I have to admit, part of me was hoping that mythical
Y2K bug would completely destroy the old hunk of junk so I would have a good
excuse to buy a new one. I waited 10 days to comment in order to give the
computer the chance to self-destruct, but it hasn’t done it. When it does
fall apart, it will be because it is old and worn out. If it really could
think that time was rolled backed, then it may even last longer because it
wouldn’t know it was old. Of course, that is an absurd notion, but it
makes about as much sense as some of the Y2K hysteria. Yes, it is time
for the admittedly childish pleasure of saying, “See, I told you so.” I
point you back to the pages of Sodbuster from last February. I quote
myself: The
reality that rational people need to spread is Y2K is a minor problem.
Computers crash every day, including in utilities and airports. We even have
power failures because of computer glitches on a regular basis. Disaster
doesn’t occur because they all have manual overrides. In banks,
certificate of deposits, mortgages etc. already are being issued with
maturity rates far well into the next century and the computers that handle
the records have no problem with this, so there is no reason to believe that
there will be any serious technical disaster. If enough people will have
common sense and spread the word in time, there should be no catastrophic
results due to the Y2K problem. In hindsight,
my only regret is that I may have still overestimated the problem. Oh, I
believe that a good share of the billions spent on upgrading computer
systems was wisely spent, but I also think a great deal of money was wasted.
B.F. Skinner once said, “The real problem is not whether machines think
but whether men do.” The thinking people took reasonable steps to inform
themselves. Then, they fixed a manageable problem where it actually existed
and did nothing where a problem didn’t exist. Those who
didn’t take the time to develop a reasonable understanding of the problem
went loony hording food, buying wood stoves and electrical generators, or
going to hide in the wilderness. As the ancient philosopher Euripides once
said, “Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish.” I admit I
considered filling a couple jugs of water New Year’s Eve, just in case. I
was about to make the common human mistake spoken of by Winston Churchill:
“Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most times he will pick
himself up and carry on. “ Fortunately, I quickly returned to my senses,
trusted my brain and did nothing. As Charles Schultz once said, “Don’t
worry about the world coming to an end today. It’s already tomorrow in
Australia.” Sadly, Schultz is retiring the Peanuts comic strip. Being in a
childish mood, this event was more notable than the Y2K scam and the
premature millennium celebrations. Ok, I know many
of you had a big blowout to celebrate the end of the 2nd
millennium and start of the third millennium. The bad news is that, by all
historical and scientific accounts, the new millennium doesn’t start until
Jan. 1, 2001. The good news is that you have an excuse to have another big
bash when the event actually occurs. If those of you
who watched around-the-clock coverage on TV of the supposed coming of the
new millennium still doubt me, I site the statements of both the national
and international official time keepers. The official time keeper for the
nation is the U.S. Navel Observatory who gives this simple explanation:
“Years of the Gregorian Calendar, which is currently in use today, are
counted from AD 1. Thus, the 1st century comprised the years AD 1
through AD 100. The second century began with AD 101 and continued through
AD 200. By extrapolation, we find that the 20th century comprises
the year AD 1901-2000. The 3rd millennium will begin with AD 2001
and continue through AD 3000.” For
international confirmation that we are still living in the 2nd
millennium, we go to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich England of
Greenwich/Prime Meridian fame. If you don’t know the significance of that,
then you are probably a public school graduate.
So, go to their web site and read through the material. Back on
point, here is their answer to the question of when the 21st
century begins: A
millennium is an interval 1000 years and a century is an interval of 100
years. In the Gregorian Calendar, which we use, there is no year zero and
the sequence of years near the star runs as follows;...3BC, 2BC, 1BC, 1AD, 2
AD,...Because there is no year zero, the first year of the calendar ends at
the end of the year named 1AD. By a similar argument 100 years will only
have elapsed at the end of the year 100AD. Since 2000AD is the 2,000th
year of the Christian calendar, it will be the last year of the Second
Millennium. So the 3rd Millennium and the 2st Century will begin
at the same moment, namely zero hours UTS (commonly known as GMT) on January
1st 2001. Clearly, we are
living in the final year of the 2nd millennium and the final year
of the 20th century. I believe this to be the truth and don’t
think it can be refuted, but would gladly change my mind if someone can
prove otherwise. I share the quest for truth of the old Roman Emperor,
Marcus Aurelius Antonius: “If any man can convince me and bring home to me
that I do not think or act aright, gladly will I change; for I search after
truth, by which man never yet was harmed. But he is harmed who abideth still
in his deception and ignorance.” In one sense,
this is all just trivial pursuit, but it is just a small sample of a
cavalier attitude toward truth that is pervasive in our country. Worse
still, the “boy who cried wolf” mentality that was demonstrated in the
Y2K hysteria fans the flames of ignorance and/or makes people so apathetic
that many couldn’t recognize when a real crisis was brewing. The mass
media and current president are the worst offenders. We do live in
the information age when you can find a million answers to any question. The
problem is that few of them are the correct answer. You have to dig through
a garbage dump to find a jewel of truth. The good news is that there are
more jewels to find than at any other time in history. The individual
challenge is to develop the wisdom to know the difference. To February's article referenced above |
