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Article #3344

Re: Time representations

#3344
From: Max TenEyck Woodbury
Date: Mon, 19 Feb 1996 23:16
48 lines
2677 bytes
Bill Spitzak wrote:
> 
>...
> 
> Who says that other culture uses things called "months" or "seconds"
> or "hours", etc.
>    I am not an expert on this, but from what little I know the divisions
of a day into "hours" and "minutes" seems to be fairly uniform across
cultures.  The scientific comunity seems to have a uniform definition of
second as well.  "Months" are more problimatic but many cultures have a
time unit of roughly the length of the lunar cycle.  The Gregorian calandar
seems to be the worst approximation in that regard.  If you had asked about
"weeks" however, I'd be pretty much lost.
> 
> Perhaps the structure should have been called
> "eurocentric_white_opressor_time_t" to more correctly reflect it's
> purpose?
> 

    Only if you REALY insist, but I'd still object :-).  "moderately_general_
time_conversion_t" was what I was trying for.

> Seriously, these attempts at PC-correctness I think are insluting to
> the societies involved.  Are they too stupid or primitive to cram
> another value in the field, or to make up their own structure, without
> our benevolent guidance?
> 

    This is SUPPOSED to be an INTERNATIONAL standard and the current phrasing
REQUIRES certain interpretations of these fields.  An acknowledgement that 
locales other then "C" can redefine the precise meaining of some of the fields 
would allow broader application without having to get exemptions for what is 
obviously the "correct thing to do".

    The problem is not, as you imply, that people are stupid or primitive, but
that standards, by their nature, are narrow minded and literal.  As currently
phrased, reinterpreting these fields is not allowed no matter what local is
in control of time.  Now THAT is insulting.  


        Max

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From: Max TenEyck Woodbury <mtew@cds.duke.edu>
Newsgroups: comp.std.c++
Subject: Re: Time representations
Date: 19 Feb 1996 23:16:36 GMT
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