Are All Clocks 30 Seconds Behind?
2025-01-06
The author proposes a seemingly crazy idea: all clocks are 30 seconds behind. This isn't about time zones, leap seconds, or relativity; it's about everyday clocks. Through calculation, the author shows that because most clocks only display minutes, ignoring seconds, the average error is 30 seconds. They argue that if clocks rounded instead of truncating, the average error would be 0. The author further explores how people perceive and express time at different scales (years, months, days, hours, minutes, seconds), noting that at the minute scale, intuition leans towards rounding, which conflicts with clocks' truncation. Therefore, they believe all clocks are 30 seconds slow.
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