What Decade Is It?

xoxoxoBruce · 01-03-2010, 04:20 PM

I keep hearing, and reading, this is the beginning of a new decade.
How can that be? There was no year zero, so the first decade would be years one through ten, right?
So logically, every decade would start with one (11,21,etc) and end with zero (00,10,20,etc), right?

be-bop · 01-03-2010, 04:40 PM

It's both the last year and the first year depending on your view.
We had this argument in the new year of 2000 people said the millenium started in 2001.
who cares,

Radar · 01-03-2010, 04:46 PM

Programmers start counting from zero. Everyone else starts at 1.

So for most people 2010 is the last year of the first decade of the 21st century.

Cloud · 01-03-2010, 04:49 PM

and pregnancy takes 10 months

DanaC · 01-03-2010, 05:27 PM

In History we refer to the seventeen hundreds and the eighteen hundreds (1700s 1800s). I considered it a new millenium when we hit 2000. So, i consider that we are now in a new decade. Bloody hope so; else we'll have all those tv retrospectives to do all over again in 12 months time!

xoxoxoBruce · 01-03-2010, 05:41 PM

But doesn't the 17th century start with 1601?

DanaC · 01-03-2010, 05:46 PM

Sort of. It varies dependng on the historian. It's something of a moot point. Generally speaking we get by by being vague: blah blah blah the turn of the century blah blah .

Radar · 01-03-2010, 06:02 PM

Ask the next 100 people you meet to count to 10. See if they start with zero and end with 9, or if they start with 1 and end with 10.

DanaC · 01-03-2010, 06:04 PM

Doesn't quite work that way though radar. Because if you;re just counting then '0' refers to nothing...an absence of whatever it is your counting. But the year '0' is a something. The year up to 1 is still a year.

Radar · 01-03-2010, 06:23 PM

Centuries are the counting of years. If counting begins at 1 so do centuries.

Assuming Zero is the point at which you begin counting, the number 1 is the passage of the first year, 10 is the passage of the first decade, and 100 is the passage of the first century.

Zero doesn't count. It's zero. It's the starting point. You measure from zero to 1, from 1 to 2, from 2 to 3, etc.

DanaC · 01-03-2010, 06:27 PM

yebbut the year ahead is 2009. We are clearly using the year 2009 to denote the year we're in, not the year just gone.

xoxoxoBruce · 01-03-2010, 06:31 PM

No, the year is the 2010th, it's just not tallied until the end, when it becomes part of the total.

DanaC · 01-03-2010, 06:43 PM

Fuck off you're confusing me :P

lumberjim · 01-03-2010, 06:47 PM

2nd decade of the 2000 millennium.
1. 2000
2. 2001
3. 2002
4. 2003
5. 2004
6. 2005
7. 2006
8. 2007
9. 2008
10. 2009

1. 2010

xoxoxoBruce · 01-03-2010, 06:48 PM

A child lives year one, but is not one year old, until the end when it's totaled.
During their year two, they are 1 year old, until the end when it's totaled.
See, it's not confusing at all.

View Poll Results: Is 2010 the first, or last, year of a decade
It's the first year of a whole new decade.	12	54.55%
Your brilliant logic tells me it's the last year of the decade.	9	40.91%
Don't you dare argue with your mother, I carried you for 9 months, uphill both ways...	1	4.55%
Voters: 22. You may not vote on this poll

01-03-2010, 04:20 PM	#1
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	What Decade Is It? I keep hearing, and reading, this is the beginning of a new decade. How can that be? There was no year zero, so the first decade would be years one through ten, right? So logically, every decade would start with one (11,21,etc) and end with zero (00,10,20,etc), right? __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump. Last edited by xoxoxoBruce; 01-03-2010 at 04:27 PM.

01-03-2010, 04:46 PM	#3
Radar Constitutional Scholar Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Ocala, FL Posts: 4,006	Programmers start counting from zero. Everyone else starts at 1. So for most people 2010 is the last year of the first decade of the 21st century. __________________ "I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death." - George Carlin

01-03-2010, 04:49 PM	#4
Cloud ... Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 8,360	and pregnancy takes 10 months __________________ "Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards!"

01-03-2010, 05:41 PM	#6
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	But doesn't the 17th century start with 1601? __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

01-03-2010, 04:40 PM	#2
be-bop Operations Operative Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: scotland/uk Posts: 664	It's both the last year and the first year depending on your view. We had this argument in the new year of 2000 people said the millenium started in 2001. who cares,

01-03-2010, 06:02 PM	#8
Radar Constitutional Scholar Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Ocala, FL Posts: 4,006	Ask the next 100 people you meet to count to 10. See if they start with zero and end with 9, or if they start with 1 and end with 10. __________________ "I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death." - George Carlin

01-03-2010, 06:23 PM	#10
Radar Constitutional Scholar Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Ocala, FL Posts: 4,006	Centuries are the counting of years. If counting begins at 1 so do centuries. Assuming Zero is the point at which you begin counting, the number 1 is the passage of the first year, 10 is the passage of the first decade, and 100 is the passage of the first century. Zero doesn't count. It's zero. It's the starting point. You measure from zero to 1, from 1 to 2, from 2 to 3, etc. __________________ "I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death." - George Carlin

01-03-2010, 06:31 PM	#12
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	No, the year is the 2010th, it's just not tallied until the end, when it becomes part of the total. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

01-03-2010, 06:47 PM	#14
lumberjim I can hear my ears Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 25,571	2nd decade of the 2000 millennium. 1. 2000 2. 2001 3. 2002 4. 2003 5. 2004 6. 2005 7. 2006 8. 2007 9. 2008 10. 2009 1. 2010 __________________ This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality Embrace this moment, remember We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion ~MJKeenan

01-03-2010, 06:48 PM	#15
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	A child lives year one, but is not one year old, until the end when it's totaled. During their year two, they are 1 year old, until the end when it's totaled. See, it's not confusing at all. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

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