# President Modi of India appears to believe that the 21st century began on 1st Jan 2000 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 24, 2017, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-modi-of-india-appears-to-believe-that-the-21st-century-began-on-1st-jan-2000/805197 "2017-12-24T05:21:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2017, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-modi-of-india-appears-to-believe-that-the-21st-century-began-on-1st-jan-2000/805197/61 "2017-12-25T22:21:58Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > You don’t count 0 when you’re counting anything. It boggles my mind that some people can’t grasp a concept that I learned in elementary school. Computer programmers may well disagree with you there… ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2017, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-modi-of-india-appears-to-believe-that-the-21st-century-began-on-1st-jan-2000/805197/62 "2017-12-25T22:26:20Z")
> [@SeniorCitizen007](#): > > [https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/2018-crucial-for-those-born-in-21st-century-modi/articleshow/60068832.cms](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/2018-crucial-for-those-born-in-21st-century-modi/articleshow/60068832.cms) > > At 11.30 pm 31st Dec 1999 I rang the London police information line and asked: > > Is it the Millennium tomorrow? > > The reply I got was: No > > I then asked when was the Millennium > > The reply I got was: January 1st 2001 … but 99% of the people believe its tomorrow. It’s best to go along with it. > > What century did you think you were in during the year 2000? The year 2000 was the culminating year of the 20th century. Most people believe wrongly. It wouldn’t be the first time. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2017, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-modi-of-india-appears-to-believe-that-the-21st-century-began-on-1st-jan-2000/805197/63 "2017-12-25T22:26:37Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Computer programmers may well disagree with you there… Apples and oranges. Who said anything about computers? ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2017, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-modi-of-india-appears-to-believe-that-the-21st-century-began-on-1st-jan-2000/805197/64 "2017-12-25T22:32:36Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Apples and oranges. Who said anything about computers? You claimed that “You don’t count 0 when you’re counting anything”. Your elementary education clearly had a rather arbitrary definition of “anything”. And, in a way, that’s a bit like the rather arbitrary definium of “millenium”. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2017, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-modi-of-india-appears-to-believe-that-the-21st-century-began-on-1st-jan-2000/805197/65 "2017-12-25T22:39:55Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > You claimed that “You don’t count 0 when you’re counting anything”. > > Your elementary education clearly had a rather arbitrary definition of “anything”. And, in a way, that’s a bit like the rather arbitrary definium of “millenium”. We didn’t have computers when I was in school. Put a pile of pennies on a table and count them out loud. Or start counting your fingers. Do you say, “Zero, one, two, three”? No, you don’t. End of argument as far as I’m concerned. If you want to continue to be pedantic, by all means, knock yourself out. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2017, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-modi-of-india-appears-to-believe-that-the-21st-century-began-on-1st-jan-2000/805197/66 "2017-12-25T22:45:36Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Computer programmers may well disagree with you there… Actually, human computer programmers _ **would** _ disagree, and so would computers, when programmed to count as humans do. The fact that a memory register shows 00000000000000000000000000000000 when initialized and 00000000000000000000000000000001 on the first increment is not a reflection of how humans count apples, years, or centuries, or how we maintain our calendars. > [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > We will not be wrong if you accept the current common usage. Seeing as we cannot be absolutely certain what year represents the real birth of Jesus we may as well simply accept a nominal year 0 and allow all calculations from that point to follow the logic of of 0-999 first millennium, 1000-1999 second millennium and so on and so on. > Any calculations that require knowing the specific number of years between event can simply take one figure from the other. Then from here on in all discussions of this type will be simplified and in line with the understanding and practical application of 99% of the human race. > You will of course lose one of your cherished points of pedantry but I’m sure you’ll get over it. This is just flat-out wrong. First of all, the modern calendar has no more practical (your favorite word) association with the birth of Jesus than it does with the birth of Santa Claus or Rudolph. There isn’t even solid evidence that such a person existed or that it wasn’t a composite of several people (personally I’m onside with Reza Aslan’s hypothesis that Jesus did exist, but was more of a political than a religious figure at the time, but that’s neither here nor there). In any case, the present calendar developed from historical notions of Jesus and anecodotal but probably very inaccurate notions of when he was born – but has now been decoupled from any religious connotations at all with a specific definition of the Common Era, and the designations CE and BCE. Not only has the Common Era been specifically defined as a fixed point in time, but this has now been enshrined in an international standard, ISO 8601 (bolding mine): [ISO 8601] uses the Gregorian calendar, which serves as an international standard for civil use … ISO 8601 prescribes, as a minimum, a four-digit year [YYYY] to avoid the year 2000 problem. It therefore represents years from 0000 to 9999, **year 0000 being equal to 1 BC and all others AD**. > **[ISO 8601](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601)** > > 2024-06-11T04:38:24+00:00 UTC+00:00 \[refresh\] > ISO 8601 is an international standard covering the worldwide exchange and communication of date and time-related data. It is maintained by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and was first published in 1988, with updates in 1991, 2000, 2004, and 2019, and an amendment in 2022. The standard provides a well-defined, unambiguous method of representing calendar dates and times in worldwide communications, especially to avoid misinter... So you may choose to adopt a personal view that on “the logic of of 0-999 first millennium, 1000-1999 second millennium and so on”, but this is clearly and manifestly wrong according to all internationally accepted definitions. But I’m sure you’ll get over it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2017, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-modi-of-india-appears-to-believe-that-the-21st-century-began-on-1st-jan-2000/805197/67 "2017-12-25T22:59:14Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > If you want to continue to be pedantic, by all means, knock yourself out. This whole thread is an exercise in pedantry. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-modi-of-india-appears-to-believe-that-the-21st-century-began-on-1st-jan-2000/805197/68 "2017-12-25T23:08:08Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > This whole thread is an exercise in pedantry. Exercise makes me tired. I’m going to take a nap. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2017, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-modi-of-india-appears-to-believe-that-the-21st-century-began-on-1st-jan-2000/805197/69 "2017-12-25T23:38:32Z")
> [@From Hell](#): > > Below the skin of history are London’s veins. These symbols, the mitre, the pentacle star, even to someone as ignorant and degenerate as you can sense that they course with energy… and meaning. > I am that meaning. > I am that energy. > \*\*One day, men will look back and say that I gave birth to the 20th Century." \*\* > > -Jack The Ripper Oh why not… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2017, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-modi-of-india-appears-to-believe-that-the-21st-century-began-on-1st-jan-2000/805197/70 "2017-12-25T23:46:52Z")
What is the scientific definition of a millennium? Bring cites. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-modi-of-india-appears-to-believe-that-the-21st-century-began-on-1st-jan-2000/805197/71 "2017-12-26T02:05:52Z")
> [@SeniorCitizen007](#): > > What would be the reaction, I wonder, if Trump were to tweet that the 21st century began on 1st Jan 2001 … and invite other world leaders to agree with him? Why not just try this experiment yourself? Tweet your version of the fact, and invite other world leaders to agree with you. I’m sure they’ll all quickly let you know what they think, one way or the other. Uh… What, exactly, brings this topic up just now, at the end of this Year of our Lord MMXVII ? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-modi-of-india-appears-to-believe-that-the-21st-century-began-on-1st-jan-2000/805197/72 "2017-12-26T02:11:32Z")
> [@SeniorCitizen007](#): > > The first BBC broadcast 1st Jan 2000 > > Note at 0.53 … the first babies of tbe century have been born. > > Greenwich Observatory had a page that stated tbat they would not respond to any claims that the 21st century starts on 1st Jan 2000. Almost every reputable science-based site on the Net agreed with Greenwich … tne 21st century start date was 1st Jan 2001.BILLIONS OF PEOPLE world-wide had however been brainwashed to believe, to be absolutely convinced, that 1st Jan 2000 was the start of a new century. > [@Alessan](#): > > What science was involved, exactly? Mathematics (well, arithmetic). ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-modi-of-india-appears-to-believe-that-the-21st-century-began-on-1st-jan-2000/805197/73 "2017-12-26T02:29:23Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > [Of course there was a Year 1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Era). There may not have been banks around giving out calendars with a great big “1” on it, but so what? AD 1 or 1 CE is a specific year in history, and 2001 was 2000 years after it and thus the beginning of the 21st century of the Common Era. > [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser](#): > > Bleh. That’s mathematically hideous. I’ll pass. Posit a future in which the nations of the world unanimously agree to a calendar reform that decrees that commencing at 00:00:01 GMT on the date of the upcoming winter solstice, the planet would begin the first year of the first century of the new reckoning system. That first year is going to be Year One, not year Zero. It is not unreasonable to insist that the current numbering system follows the same rules as the putative numbering system of this hypothetical future. It IS unreasonable to suggest that it does not. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-modi-of-india-appears-to-believe-that-the-21st-century-began-on-1st-jan-2000/805197/74 "2017-12-26T02:38:44Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > 1st January 2000 was the practical start to the 21st century. The weight of public opinion has already decided it is so. It may be relevant to mention that the “weight of public opinion” has been factually wrong before, even in living memory. I’ll merely bring up the common pronunciation of the word “comfortable” (which places the sound of the letter “T” before the sound of the letter “R”) as my example to demonstrate the truth of my assertion. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-modi-of-india-appears-to-believe-that-the-21st-century-began-on-1st-jan-2000/805197/75 "2017-12-26T02:49:00Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > When we talk about meaningful decades and mention things that happened in “the sixties” we include stuff that happened in 1960 and don’t include stuff that happened in 1970. Of course not. The decade we call “the sixties” is NOT perfectly coincident with the sixth decade of the 20thh century. It is merely that decade which, when the years are named aloud, require the speaker to say the syllables “six” and “tee,” consecutively, and in that order. By contrast, the sixth decade of the 20th century is that decade which began on January 1, 1961, and ended on December 31, 1970. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-modi-of-india-appears-to-believe-that-the-21st-century-began-on-1st-jan-2000/805197/76 "2017-12-26T03:06:10Z")
I just want to respond to those grinches and naysayers who feel that this discussion is too pedantic. You kids don’t know pedantic. I give you here a Software Performance Report (SPR) – basically a bug report – issued to the venerable Digital Equipment Corporation in 1983 regarding the LIB$DAY system service on the VAX/VMS operating system. The customer claimed that he had determined that LIB$DAY under VAX/VMS V3.2 incorrectly treated the year 2000, coming up 17 years hence, as a leap year when it shouldn’t be. To put this all in context, VAX/VMS was perhaps the most elegant and stable OS that had been produced by anyone up to that time, and DEC was justifiably proud of its reliability and customer satisfaction. So when this customer submitted his SPR claiming this awful problem that would surface in 17 years, and when this customer furthermore turned out to be _ **wrong** _ (2000 was, in fact, a leap year), DEC responded with what became one of the classic vendor responses of all time: 😃 [http://www.public.iastate.edu/~pfoley/Decleapyear.htm](http://www.public.iastate.edu/~pfoley/Decleapyear.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-modi-of-india-appears-to-believe-that-the-21st-century-began-on-1st-jan-2000/805197/77 "2017-12-26T03:12:29Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I give you here a Software Performance Report (SPR) – basically a bug report – issued to the venerable Digital Equipment Corporation in 1983 regarding the LIB$DAY system service on the VAX/VMS operating system. I worked with Stanley, very interesting fellow. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-modi-of-india-appears-to-believe-that-the-21st-century-began-on-1st-jan-2000/805197/78 "2017-12-26T03:25:33Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Of course not. The decade we call “the sixties” is NOT perfectly coincident with the sixth decade of the 20thh century. It is merely that decade which, when the years are named aloud, require the speaker to say the syllables “six” and “tee,” consecutively, and in that order. > > By contrast, the sixth decade of the 20th century is that decade which began on January 1, 1961, and ended on December 31, 1970. I hate to dispute your math, but the decade from January 1, 1961 to December 31, 1970, was the _seventh_ decade of the 20th century. The first decade was from January 1, 1901 to December 31, 1910. Decade one, from 1901 to 1910 Decade two, from 1911 to 1920 Decade three, from 1921 to 1930 Decade four, from 1931 to 1940 Decade five, from 1941 to 1950 Decade six, from 1951 to 1960 Decade seven, from 1961 to 1970 Decade eight, from 1971 to 1980 Decade nine, from 1981 to 1990 Decade ten, from 1991 to 2000 ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-modi-of-india-appears-to-believe-that-the-21st-century-began-on-1st-jan-2000/805197/79 "2017-12-26T03:37:49Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I hate to dispute your math, but the decade from January 1, 1961 to December 31, 1970, was the _seventh_ decade of the 20th century. The first decade was from January 1, 1901 to December 31, 1910. > > Decade one, from 1901 to 1910 > > Decade two, from 1911 to 1920 > > Decade three, from 1921 to 1930 > > Decade four, from 1931 to 1940 > > Decade five, from 1941 to 1950 > > Decade six, from 1951 to 1960 > > Decade seven, from 1961 to 1970 > > Decade eight, from 1971 to 1980 > > Decade nine, from 1981 to 1990 > > Decade ten, from 1991 to 2000 You are correct sir! as Ed MacMahon used to say. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![SeniorCitizen007](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8baadc/32.png) [@SeniorCitizen007](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeniorCitizen007)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-modi-of-india-appears-to-believe-that-the-21st-century-began-on-1st-jan-2000/805197/80 "2017-12-26T04:05:53Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Uh… What, exactly, brings this topic up just now, at the end of this Year of our Lord MMXVII ? On the 1st Jan next tt will be claimed that people born on 1st Jan 2000 will be the first people born in the 21st century to become eligible to vote. I know for a fact that tbere are people local to where I live who were born in 2000 who do NOT believe that the year of their birth was the first year of the 21st century … but there are others born in 2000 who are being told by their parents that year 2000 was the first year of the 21st century. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-modi-of-india-appears-to-believe-that-the-21st-century-began-on-1st-jan-2000/805197.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-modi-of-india-appears-to-believe-that-the-21st-century-began-on-1st-jan-2000/805197.md?page=5)