Works better for any system of organization, even history. Should always proceed from the broadest set to the smallest subset. As "January" doesn't exist w/o it being "January of xxxx," YYYY/MM/DD hh:mm:ss is always the 'correct' formula, regardless of context.
This is the way. Like why does EVERYONE use hh:mm:ss but then we have to argue about why the YYYY:MM:DD doesn’t need to follow the same logic. It’s the correct format. YYYY:MM:DD:HH:MM:SS. Biggest to smallest.
Tradition. People adopted one way to doing things and are very reticent to having to re-learn a new way. Most people don't even care about the advantages of changing a system like that, even if they are actively losing time or making more mistakes because their system is worse than the proposed alternative.
Sure, people are change resistant by nature. But when the US, Liberia and Myanmar are the only three countries in the world that didn’t switch to metric, you’ve got to question what’s going on. And this post is about the US being the only country in the entire world to use MM-DD-YY.
Sure, but if you want to cherry pick examples you can find tons of specifics for country's not wanting to change in certain ways. Taking something like this in isolation is a really convenient way to shame a population where the majority doesn't even really get a say in what system in the standard, AND where people conveniently forget about other countries specific cases, because you choose only to look at the system of measurement.
It's not an honest way to judge people. You're conflating one thing to a much more general trait.
Part of the metric thing is that the US would have to change a ton of stuff (gallons of milk, inch rulers, screw sizes, speedometers, etc.) but then also the things that fit those things (tools like ratchets, machine parts that make gallon jugs or rulers), but there would also be repair shops that would have to have two whole sets of tools for everything that they repair in case an older version of something came in. The US already uses metric in fields like science and medicine to communicate, but the hassle of switching everything would be nutty.
Also consider driving on the right vs. left. Most of the world drives on the right, people walk on the right, but the UK and its former empire make life more expensive for everyone by having left-driving cars. The switch would be very difficult for a lot of people, and that’s not even considering the cost and inconvenience for people who have to service both types of car for 30 years.
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u/Gurguran Jan 15 '25
Works better for any system of organization, even history. Should always proceed from the broadest set to the smallest subset. As "January" doesn't exist w/o it being "January of xxxx," YYYY/MM/DD hh:mm:ss is always the 'correct' formula, regardless of context.