A Better Calendar Is Being Held Back

The following is a typical example of how the scientific method of problem solving would be able to provide us with a better, more consistent, and accurate calendar with which to synchronize the globe.

As our knowledge of the solar system and it's perennial occurrances increases with each generation of astronomers, physicists, and mathematicians, we have gained enough information to improve the accuracy, reliability and predeictability of our calendar system.  The current western calendar system, the Gregorian Calendar created in 325 A.D., was adopted based wholly on it's ability to track religious observances. Several proposals for new calendar systems have been submitted that eliminate many of the inefficiencies of the current calendar. Inefficiencies such as:

• It is not perpetual. Each year starts on a different day of the week and calendars expire every year.
• It is difficult to determine the weekday of any given day of the year or month.
• Months are not equal in length nor regularly distributed across the year, requiring mnemonics (e.g. “Thirty days hath September…”) or knuckle counting (ridges are 31, valleys are 30 except first valley [February] is 28 or 29 in a leap year) to remember which month is 28, 29, 30 or 31 days long.
• The year’s four quarters (of three full months each) are not equal (being of 90/91, 91, 92 and 92 days respectively). Business quarters that are equal would make accounting easier.
• Its epoch (origin) is not religiously neutral. The same applies to month and weekday names in many languages.
• Each month has no connection with the lunar phases.

The benefit of utilizing a calendar is to be able to schedule, track and document events with accuracy, consistency and reliability.  If there are ways to improve these three attributes they should be tested, analyzed, and the superior method should be utilized until a better system is available. This is the the scientific method.  Case and point, the World Calendar created in 1930 was proposed to the united nations and rejected by the U.S. on the sole basis of religious tradition requiring a 7 day week.  Another shining example of established institutions (namely religion) holding back civilization from emerging out of the dark ages based on newly discovered information.