Please respond with three paragraphs to this post, following the prompts below.
Watch the video and first respond with your initial thoughts or reaction to the piece. How did it make you feel?
Next, discuss the specific parts of the video you agreed with and the parts of the video you questioned.
Finally, discuss how this video ties in to the initial research you and your 'calendar' team have done on the pluses and minuses of other calendars used in human history. Would your team prefer to create a calendar based on religion and scripture, or observations in nature? Why?
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My initial reaction to the piece was a bit upset. It seemed to me that the person making the video had a dislike of Christian’s, and was talking against them. Being a Christ follower myself, of course upset me that this person has some negative thoughts towards Christians. I do think though that the person maybe did have some valid things to say about our current calendar not exactly making since based on the way the Earth goes through certain things during the year, but I think that God specifically created the calendar the way it is through men at the time when it was created for a specific reason.
ReplyDeleteI think that, like I said above, the person did have some valid points; it doesn’t really make since why are calendars don’t align with the way the Earth moves through specific things throughout the year and it doesn’t really make since why the calendar is different every year with different amounts of days in each month. Knowing all of that, I still disagree with the whole idea of changing the calendar, I think that when God created the calendar the way it is today He did it to fulfill a specific purpose and even though maybe we don’t understand it, we don’t have to understand everything, some things we just have to have faith.
In our group each of us chose a different calendar to research; I personally researched the Maya calendar. I found it very confusing and I still don’t really understand how it works; it is a very complicated way of classifying time, and I don’t really think there are any good things about that way of measuring time. Like in the Maya calendar a 52 year cycle, for example, is called a Calendar Round, similar to the way the first of January only occurs on a Monday every seven years or so. Each day in the Mayan Calendar Round is referred to as a Long Count and is given a unique name based on a combination of various cycles. Their calendar just seems so complicated and hard to understand so I really don’t see any plus’s to it. Also, personally I would prefer to keep our calendar the way it is, scripture based, because if God didn’t intend for the seven days to be taken literal then our calendar wouldn’t be the way it Is, God is ultimately in control of all things, so He made the calendar the way it is and it has worked for all this time so why should we change it?
The video made our current calendar seem irrational. It points out that our months have different number of days, which can cause confusion. It also states that September - December are illogically named. Their prefixes do not match up with the month they are named for (Sept=7 but is the 9th month). Then the video proposed we use the Aquarian calendar which seems simpler.
ReplyDeleteI agree that our current calendar seems strange, but I do not think it has flaws. I believe it was created using factual evidence that allowed the calendar to coincide with the moon, stars, rotation, and revolution. It seems like it was put together meticulously. The video also proposes we use the much less complex Aquarian calendar. However, the underlying meaning suggests that Aquarian calendar was put together to be simple and logical, yet it was not based on any sort of reasoning.
Personally, I would prefer a calendar based on nature. This way we can truly keep track of our revolution around the sun. Though I believe religion is extremely important, I believe the calendar and other time telling devices should be as accurate as possible. Compared to the other calendars we researched, the Gregorian calendar seems just as strange. The Roman calendar divided months into Kalends (waxing crescent), Nones (first quarter), and Ides (full moon). But what about the third quarter and the waning crescent? The other calendars have just as many oddities.
After watching this video, I realized that I’ve never really considered the structure of our calendar or the fact that we could change it if we wanted to. Our calendar has been the same for centuries and is stable and concrete. For this reason, I found it surprising that somebody could have so many arguments against its established organization. While I do agree that the current structure is seemingly random, I think there would be too many complications if we actually were to change the calendar year; dates in history would no longer match up with the new calendar, and the dates of holidays would have to change. I think it would make the most sense to have a calendar that matched up with celestial events, but I don’t really see any major problems with the calendar we use now.
ReplyDeleteThe argument made in the video did seem to have some valid points, such as the arbitrary day set for New Year’s Day, but I also felt many of the arguments were not very strong. For example, one of the reasons that he suggested for having a more organized, consistent calendar is to save paper by reusing the same calendar every year. While I do think it is important to be aware of the resources we are using, I don’t think that this is a very significant reason for recreating the entire calendar. Also, the argument was made that the current calendar needs to be updated and improved since it has been so long since any alterations have been made. I disagree with this statement; just because the calendar hasn’t been changed recently doesn’t mean that it needs to be. It is working for society, and shouldn’t be changed just for the sake of change.
I think it would be most important to have a calendar based on nature. Our current calendar is loosely based on the cycles of nature such as the lunar cycle and the rotation of the Earth, but a new calendar would be much more consistent and would permanently correspond with natural events. Through this method, there would be no discrepancies in the timing of events such as the vernal equinox, because it would always occur on the same day. The calendar that I researched was the Islamic calendar which relies on the cycle of the moon to determine the beginning of each month. This calendar is based on nature, however it does have some weaknesses. For example, each month begins when the lunar crescent is first seen by the naked eye after a new moon. For this reason, the beginning of the month can be different for everyone depending on their location, the weather conditions, or the atmospheric conditions. Just like the Gregorian calendar, this system may not be perfect, but it works for the people who use it.
Initially watching the video, I was thinking that whoever made this has a lot of time on their hands. Throughout the video they did bring up several good points as to why the Gregorian calendar is inefficient, but like they said this calendar has been in use for over two thousand years. To change the calendar now would be a crazy thing to do.
ReplyDeleteI agreed with how they said it is irritating when holidays fall mid week, but a lot of times work and school accommodate that by providing days off before or after most holidays. It can be confusing at times when months start and end on different days of the week each month and year, but that’s why most phones, computers, and other devices have calendars at the users disposal to prevent any confusion. I don’t understand why that issue would be a reason to switch calendars because most people can find out the day of the week a month starts on very easily. I didn’t agree with the issue about having six-day weeks because we are one nation under God, and the bible states a week should consist of seven days. Also God created the seven-day week to allow one day for people to observe the Sabbath and rest, and by switching to six- day weeks that would go against what God intended.
I researched the Egyptian calendar and they have twelve months consisting of thirty days each, with five days designated at the start of the year to fulfill the three hundred and sixty five days in a year. The Egyptian calendar is similar to the Gregorian calendar in that they both consist of twelve months; they are both just structured a little differently. Creating a calendar based on religion would be the best way because I believe that God created the universe and He created time. I think making a calendar based on God’s timing would be the most accurate and effective calendar.
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ReplyDeleteMy initial reaction to this video was that this lady was a wacko. I mean, why would someone argue about something so old and so integrated into society? It's not going to change no matter what her personal thoughts are; especially since she discusses some things with such sarcasm.
ReplyDeleteI agreed when she talked about strange formatting of our calendar such as the months and their true numerical definitions. But, she just sounded insane talking about how the names July and August and how they are named after Julius and Augustus Cesar--people we don't care about anymore. The point is that they were important historical figures, and that was a commemoration of them--such as many buildings and bodies of texts that we name over significant individuals. I think she exaggerates the whole Gregorian calendar because she wants it to personally benefit from a format change.
This calendar shows you how a calendar can be formatted in contrast to some of the ones our group researched. Personally, I would like a calendar based on nature because it would provide us with the most accurate information of our date and it would be more consistent than others based on religious beliefs.
I didn’t really think that she was right about everything, but the calendar she proposes would make a lot more sense than out current calendar. I didn’t realize that the one we had now was so complex and nonsensical. This new one would be so east to navigate, and having holidays by the weekends would be really nice!
ReplyDeleteI agree that the Aquarian calendar seems to make much more sense. I’m not sure why we’ve stuck with our current calendar for so long if there’s such a simpler version. However I don’t necessarily think that she was right about all the different groups that would be against changing the calendar. I feel like some of these groups that would come around with a little convincing.
I think after looking at the research my group and I have done that it’s very difficult to make a simple calendar. The Aquarian is the simplest one I’ve seen so far. Most calendars are religious based though, like the Gregorian calendar. I researched the Aztec calendar and it is even more complex than the Gregorian. I would prefer a calendar based off nature rather than religion. It just seems so much simpler and makes way more sense because not everyone is the same religion anyway.
Honestly, I thought that this was, well, just plain odd. I felt like I was being dragged onto a ride with no clear destination. With all due respect, I would rather not have to view this in the future.
DeleteI agreed with the fact that the Gregorian calendar basically made no sense in terms of when days, weeks, months and years started. It was like people would just randomly choose when a year would start at their own convenience. What I really questioned were the so-called effects that kind of calendar would have on society. Honestly, I was a bit lost with the drawings and strange side notes.
Many of the calendar systems that our group researched where a king would choose the start of the year like the Babylonian calendar. Other systems, like the Egyptian calendar had a system that helped determine when certain events, like in the Egyptians’ case when the Nile would flood. Personally, our group would prefer a calendar based on observations in nature, because like I mentioned before, the Egyptian calendar was used to predict the flooding of the Nile and that calendar system was very close to the one we are using now, meaning that it must have been rather accurate.
I think this video is crazy and all the 'theories' inside it. I understand them saying there is no basis for our calender now, but changing it would just be stupid! I also found them offensive towards Christians and their beliefs, as when they talked about 7 days in the week or the holidays.
ReplyDeleteI didn't really agree with most of the video, I felt like the person who made it was naive and very biased against traditional things. The only part I related with was when they talked about holidays falling mid-week, but the only holidays that would follow under that without getting work off are non-important holidays like Halloween.
Personally I like the calender that we currently have the best. It might just be because it is what we've grown up with and by now we are used to it. But besides that point, I think one based on nature would be the most helpful. It would stay the same through everything and it would be easier to tell quickly what day it was and to keep up with.
I kind of felt like this lady made good and fairly logical points, but all of her facts were a bit undermined by her presentation of them. I was trying to listen to her argument with an open mind and while she made some reasonable points, I became a little bit annoyed as it turned more into a rant with cheesy word effects. It was sort of like it was trying to be funny... but is wasn't? I feel like it made her lose some credibility. That sounds really mean but it made me less inclined to want to agree with her. Besides we are so settled into this calendar I feel that it would take years for a new one to have a positive effect.
ReplyDeleteI agreed with her in the sense that it would be more environmentally beneficial because that is a very real concern in our world. However, I don't see why our present day calendar couldn't become completely technological as she suggested. A device like the calendar on our phones that is portable and automatically updates with our calendar is a very real thing. Also the very first fact she states is not correct. She says: "The Gregorian calendar is 2000+ years old which is not true. Created in 1585, it is an evolution of Julius Caesar's Julian Calendar from 45 BC. As a Christian I was slightly offended by some of her comments, but I really do see how it would be beneficial for the entire world to have a non religious based schedule but rather a celestial calendar. I think having a calendar starting on a significant celestial event makes sense, however there are so many celestial events that it could be based on how would you chose? Why is the one the Mayan's chose the most significant? Finally, she used a bit of a slippery slope analogy: She connected a shorter work week (which wouldn't necessarily happen because the same amount work would still need to get done so it would just really be more weeks of work)and then said it would help employment rate and government budget... which is a bit of a stretch.
I can't speak for the rest of the group, but I feel like a calendar based on natural event would in fact be easier to create and would be more beneficial to the world in a holistic sense. However, I still think that it would be way too difficult to change our current calendar as we know it and it would create an insane amount of tension!
I really don’t like the idea of changing the calendar. I would be really confusing because we would have to rearrange all of our activities and the school say and decide how long we are going to school. It would just be a lot of unnecessary work because we have a calendar that works well for everything. I mean yeah it’s not perfect because not everything is consistent, but everything in life goes pretty smoothly who would want to mess that up?
ReplyDeleteI question how easy they think this calendar will be. Honestly I couldn’t even tell you when the winter or summer solstice is, so that might be kind of a problem. I like how the calendar is now. I don’t agree with changing it. Churches have a reason to not like this new calendar idea because it cuts out their day of worship and that’s not cool. Because so many people are going to oppose the idea of this calendar I don’t think it should even be brought up.
The closest calendar my group has found to this one is the Mayan calendar because of the start date. I would prefer to do a calendar based on scripture because that’s kind of what our calendar goes on now and I know more about that then events in nature.
Ithink this video has a weird and unique perspective on the calender itself. I personally thought it was just a little annoying. This is mostly made up from the girls opinions, she doesn't have any direct sources where this information came from, so i wouldn't find this video as a very reliable source. This is just a girl who highly disagrees with this calender, and I dont care enough about her own opinion to watch this again.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with the part where she said it would be weird if Halloween is on a Wednesday.. its not that weird... and that the names of the months are crazy, they are normal to me, cause i have grown up with this..
We would rather have a calender that is based on the weather.. it seems the most reliable nd makes the most sense. We wouldnt want to use a calender that is based on history exactly, because times change. and the days are different.
This video made me very angry at first, no offense, but the girl is a little over the top. I think this girl needs to calm down. While some of the things she said were true, she said them in a very rude and offesnsive way.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it would be easier if we made a calendar that would make Halloween on the weekend and change other holidays to better days because that does genuinely irritate me some times. I don't think we should change our calendar though. It would mess up so many things, and would cause people to have to change alot of things that aren't necessary.
I think in general a calendar that was based on the moon would be more beneficial. It would be a much easier thing to base a calendar off of. If this were real life I would not ever change the calendar because it would require the change of so many things. Overall, I think my group would rather do a calendar based off of the moon or the sun.
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ReplyDeleteNot really sure what most people are complaining about with the video, it's a satire according to the video title, and it's a rant so things that not everyone will agree with that might offend people are going to be said. I see what she was trying to say though about our calendar, as it's a lot more complicated than people think at first than just the date and day of the week.
ReplyDeleteWhile I may agree with the rant about the structure of the calender, the formation of certain events within a calender, etc, I found it kind of funny how (it appears) she likes to over think things, such as comparing months to people that have been long forgotten in the past.
Nature is something that is a favorite of mine, so I would honestly like if we had a calender that was based on nature and it's environments that have been affected by it. A calender that is based on the current weather would also be pretty great.
I thought it was a strange but had a very diffrent outlook on a calendar. She is very over the top and offesnsive in the way she says it and how she says it. I agree it would be alot easier if holidays were on weekends but changing the calendar is ridclous in my eyes. It has been the same way for so long why would you change it? It would also be extremly dificult to change it beacuse it would need to be world wide to be successful. It would be simpler to have a calendar based on the moon but like i said changeing the calendar now would be close to impossible. Honestly the calendar we have now works for me, it goes with the weather (most of the time) and seasons.
ReplyDeleteI think that the video has alot of valid points and I find it interesting. However, just the thought of making a whole new calendar sounds like crazy talking. Our calendar has always been the same and not to mention the fact that there would be too many people against change and it would become hard to change it worldwide.
ReplyDeleteI liked how the video used a letter, a few dots and another letter making us think of stronger words, it made it really trying to convince the audience.
If I had to choose between the two however, i wouldnt know which because if we changed it we would have to get either less weekdays or less weekends and both are important for education yet i like to have more time off so i wouldnt be able to pick between them.
From watching this video, I feel it's a strange idea to feel we would benefit from a different calendar, since we've used the one we have now for so long, and I personally never thought about using another one, because it seems so foriegn. But I think it's interesting.
ReplyDeleteWhat I agree with is; that there would be shorter days, because I could see how that would be helpful to have less stress because we have a very moving culture. I think she is a little over the top about religion, I don't know any christians who would refer to a new calendar as the "devil". It would also be much simpler and nice to have holidays be close to the weekend. Theres nothing worse than going to school on Halloween.
I am christian, but I see no problem with using a calendar based on nature instead if it is proven simpler and more efficent.So I suppose we could look more into nature based calendars.
I didn't know how to say it was me on here...it's Rachel Graham
My opinion of the video is that it was kind of funny at first being she sounded as if she was offended that our calender wasnt the same as other countries. Also she had very interesting points. I also found it odd that it starts on Jan.1, a man made starting point.
ReplyDeleteOne of her main points was that when they made holidays they wouldnt know when the future holidays they would fall on. (like days of the week) They tried to make a perfect calender yet they cant predict what holidays will land on which weekdays.
Also it is weird that in latin sept=7,oct=8,nov=9,dec=10. but currently the months are sep=9,oct=10,nov=11,dec=12. Its odd because it was clear to them that it could of matched other calenders... It is also weird how they named July and August after Julius and Augustus Caesor.
Honestly I thought the “rant” was childish and didn’t have much evidence to support the narrator’s points. The narrator emphasised obscure points such as the number of days in the new week being 6, the number of the devil, or how Halloween is placed on an inconvenient time in our lives.
ReplyDeleteThe narrator completely missed the the main idea behind Aquarian calendar. Rather than liking this calendar because it is centered around nature than religion, the narrator proposes this calendar because it is convenient to the way our society is structured. This is also counter intuitive because if the Aquarian calendar replaced the Gregorian, everything up to the Constitution will have to change. One point that I did agree with is that the dates of our year would be more organized. However replacing the current calendar is not like changing a filing cabinet, but literally revamping social structure. Having the calendar begin at the same time nature starts could be beneficial for agriculture and making sense of the seasons.
Our research shows that ancient calendars were centered about nature, like the Aquarian, but because most of their religions were based on the nature around them their calendars were also like the Gregorian. Similar to the Gregorian calendar, which had 7 days in a week because God created the Earth in 7 days, the Aztec calendar based its week on their multiple gods. But at the same time the Aquarian calendar does its months based on the agriculture while the Aztec also molds its months on their agriculture. As a group, we would like to have it based on religion however the problem is in the makers of the calendar because they would interpret the scripture in their own manner rather than God’s true influence. We decided that the best course is to base our calendar on nature so that it is easy to keep track of our activities and stuff by the weather and seasons.
The video made me really open my eyes to how much our calendar doesn’t make sense but at the same time I felt like the person who was speaking was very closed minded and bias in a way because she didn’t really respect the people who believe there should be 7 days in a week.
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of the video because it was very factual and it was a persuading video at the least. Really the only thing I questioned about the video is I see why people are opposed to changing the week to 6 days a week. I will start off by saying I’m not religious at all but if the bible says there should be 7 days in a week I don’t think it’s worth changing because of all the grief you will go through from the people who are religious. I think you could also hurt jobs because you’re getting rid of companies that work with calendars.
The video ties into my idea of what a calendar should be very well because I am a very logical thinker and the idea the person had in the video was a very logically thinking idea. I would rather have a calendar based on statistics because that just makes life easier and like she said it would save a lot of paper.