The Gregorian Calendar is fucking stupid...
..but like so many stupid things we've had it too long to do anything about it.

The annoying thing about all this decade starting m'larky is that it's based on the Gregorian Calendar, which is based on the birth of Jesus. This is a really bloody silly and arbitrary way to keep track of dates, in my opinion.

Firstly, there is no 0 AD in the Gregorian calendar; it jumps straight from 1 BC to 1 AD, which would technically make the 2011 people correct. They're still probably not, however.

According to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus was born under the rule of Herrod the Great. He died in 4 BC, which throws a massive big fucking wrench in this whole Calendar thing. According to Wikipedia, most scholars assume Jesus was born somewhere between 6 and 4 BC. So our Calendar is several years in front of where it should be.

So seriously, don't worry, be happy, pick whichever one you like most; it really doesn't matter. I personally am all for 2010 being the start of the next decade because at least the "Noughties" will be over and we can be subjected to another equally awful name like the "Elevenses".

Actually, I quite like the Elevenses. I'm sticking with that.

P.S: I am not a Historian and I don't believe in God, Jesus or Winged Mutant Freaks with Harps. I only know this stuff because I had a Catholic upbringing and had to make a date thingy for some website once which made me read up on how the Gregorian calendar works.
(BoneIdol, Fri 1 Jan 2010, 20:22, 1 reply)

You've got to start from somewhere...
The foundation of Rome (it's 2763 AUC)? Jewish (5765)?

The Gregorian Calender is as good as any from a Western European perspective.
(Audax Victor, Fri 1 Jan 2010, 21:16, closed)