this post was submitted on 06 Mar 2024
430 points (95.7% liked)

Showerthoughts

30035 readers
493 users here now

A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. A showerthought should offer a unique perspective on an ordinary part of life.

Rules

  1. All posts must be showerthoughts
  2. The entire showerthought must be in the title
  3. Avoid politics
    • 3.1) NEW RULE as of 5 Nov 2024, trying it out
    • 3.2) Political posts often end up being circle jerks (not offering unique perspective) or enflaming (too much work for mods).
    • 3.3) Try c/politicaldiscussion, volunteer as a mod here, or start your own community.
  4. Posts must be original/unique
  5. Adhere to Lemmy's Code of Conduct

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 18 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Analog clocks lend themselves better to thinking in fractions of an hour or day, like this post is talking about, as an hour and a half day are both represented as a circle

Digital clocks lend themselves better to thinking in terms of number of minutes and hours directly. When working numerically, fractions of 60 are generally less intuitive, and fractions of 12 often so as well. Most people who don't work with angles often think of fractions in terms of percent, or powers of two.

"Quarter past" kind of tweaks the brain wrong when a quarter is intuitively 25.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago (3 children)

fractions of 12 are unintuitive

Really? I've always found them very pleasing.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago

They chose 12 precisely because it's easy to divide!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

I wish our numeric system was base 12 instead of base 10!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

You're on Lemmy, of course you like fractions of 12. It is a very convenient base, having so many factors, but most people don't think like that

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

That might be the most obscure stereotype I've ever read. 😆

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

It’s also precision. I think this is the biggest thing we’ve lost is some expression of precision.

  • 11:45 from a digital clock is very precise. You expect something at exactly that time, and get more impatient with vagaries of traffic or delays or clocks that aren’t synched, or just that people aren’t digital
  • “quarter of” implies less precision. If I have to wait five minutes, you’re still not late. Regular human activity in the real world is not exact so allowing for inaccuracy is both less stressful and more practical