Days don't end

[IonDragon]

I am up late, and lonely because there's not much going on online right now. So I'm sitting here, updating my facebook status a little too much and it occurs to me that there's no such thing as a day ending. Maybe I'm just up WAY too late, but the Earth is circular and has no natural divider along any longitude line there is nothing to mark the 'end' of a day from a broader view.

So, when the sun comes up in the morning it is not a new day. It is the same day coming back again. Thought patterns like this may be what leads to sleep disorders, but hey, I'm no expert.

[Delta]

So, when the sun comes up in the morning it is not a new day. It is the same day coming back again.

That's where your line of thought is wrong in my opinion. While you are right, of course, that any kind of defining line where a day ends and another one begins will be arbitrary, the definition of how long a day takes (as long as it takes for the Earth to revolve(?) around itself once) is pretty objective, so you can for sure say that when the sun goes up, it's a new day compared to the last time it went up, because the Earth has turned once since then.

But then, I guess this won't help you much in your current situation, just trying to present a "way out" of your dilemma

[rakkoon]

The difference between night an morning always bugs me. I know guys who have to wake up at 03.00 to get ready for work. No way that that's morning to me but how else can you describe it for them?

[Superglucose]

I am up late, and lonely because there's not much going on online right now. So I'm sitting here, updating my facebook status a little too much and it occurs to me that there's no such thing as a day ending. Maybe I'm just up WAY too late, but the Earth is circular and has no natural divider along any longitude line there is nothing to mark the 'end' of a day from a broader view.
Can I have your starcraft CD key so I can install Starcraft on your computer?


So, when the sun comes up in the morning it is not a new day. It is the same day coming back again. Thought patterns like this may be what leads to sleep disorders, but hey, I'm no expert.
See it how you want, i jsut wanna play starcraft.

[Cealocanth]

Intresting point. As you say, the day just makes circles around the Earth, and never ever ends. But if you stand in one place the sun will rise and set as normally. In this way, days begin and end for you, but they never begin nor end for the planet as a whole.

I believe this is why they created the international date line, do define when a day begins and when it ends.

[Quincunx]

Erm. Cough. Sleep disorders. Yes. Erm.

Today isn't even the same length as yesterday. An earthquake juddered the surface of the Earth and lengthened the spin. The earth accelerated its spin through space (through mechanisms I don't understand, input welcome) and shortened the day. The period of darkness lasted a few minutes longer than the period before. The period of darkness was shorter than I am conditioned to expect, since I have moved considerably closer to the pole than the spot where I grew up (and traveled less in a day than I did then, around a smaller diameter of rotating earth). We may have inched (micron'd? angstrom'd?) closer in our orbit to the sun and shortened our year and I am unaware of whether it is true or speculation. All that variance and I have barely even touched the question of human perception of a day. . .Come to think of it, you would need a satellite faster than geosynchronous to exist in an unending day, although a long-haul westward flight of sufficient duration can mimic the chasing of the sun and give the airplane itself skewed participation in the daylight-defined day. Voyager I has passed beyond the definition of the Earth day, its gravitational allegiance no longer solely to our sun.

Shall we bring expanded perception into it, and use the Internet for that lovely bizarre experience where one stumbles into the chat and mumbles "good morning", only to hear "good afternoon!" and "goodnight" from the others? You could try to use their differing perceptions of the day to pin down its edges at that instant.

[chiasaur11]

I just go with Wen the Eternally surprised here.

Makes things simpler.

[Ravens_cry]

The day ends when the sun sets, then it is night. For a diurnal creature like ourselves, the night is full of mystery. Unknown shadows stalk unseen paths. It is the time of elves and fae, demons and gods, dancing at the edge of vision.
And then the sun rises, and it is day, when humanity is king. But other forces rule the dark places of the world. Every child who has feared the monster in the closet, the creature drooling under the bed, knows this instinctively.
We seek to banish the night from our lives with lamps and lights of all assortment.
But it is still there, waiting for the light to fade and the fear to grow.

Good night.

[factotum]

Today isn't even the same length as yesterday. An earthquake juddered the surface of the Earth and lengthened the spin. The earth accelerated its spin through space (through mechanisms I don't understand, input welcome) and shortened the day.

You've got that backwards--the Earth's spin is gradually slowing down, mainly due to the drag caused by tides lagging slightly behind the gravitational bulges of the Moon and Sun which cause them.

[Quincunx]

. . .Dead correct, you are. Thank you.

[Moff Chumley]

Things

I love you.


I just go with Wen the Eternally surprised here.

Makes things simpler.

Indeed.

[SpiderMew]

Stop doing drugs. Everything is ok. Days do end and start again. Everything is going to be alright. :smallbiggrin:

[Moff Chumley]

Stop doing drugs. Everything is ok. Days do end and start again. Everything is going to be alright. :smallbiggrin:

Hah. See, it's funny because it's true.

[IonDragon]

Hah. See, it's funny because it's true.

Made funnier by the fact that I don't do drugs.

[SDF]

Do you realize this topic is a Flaming Lips song? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zYOKFjpm9s)

[Jokasti]

It is not the day that never ends.
It is the night.
You're welcome.

[Fifty-Eyed Fred]

Today is the 1st of July. Tomorrow is the 2nd of July. Thus between today and tomorrow the 1st shall end, and the 2nd shall begin.

[absolmorph]

It is not the day that never ends.
It is the night.
You're welcome.
And then the sun rises.

[SpiderMew]

Made funnier by the fact that I don't do drugs.

Then perhaps you need some, of some sort.
>_>
<_<

[742]

the endings and beginnings are arbitrary points, decided on for far less arbitary reasons. true beginnings and endings are very very rare, very difficult to define, and very possibly more fictional than the cat licking my hair. excuse me.

[Moff Chumley]

Made funnier by the fact that I don't do drugs.

*CHUMLEY DOES NOT ADVOCATE DOING DRUGS. UNLESS YOU WANT CHUMLEY TO MESS WITH YOU.*

You're running you're running you're running you're running you're running you're running you go left you go right you go left you go right you go left you go right you go left you go right you go left you go right TREE!

And that's why I don't get invited to parties. :cool:

[Devils_Advocate]

IonDragon, what definition of "day" are you using?

Your post reminds me of a claim that the U.S. Senate always remains the same body, as only a third of its members are elected at a time. Very Ship of Theseus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus). I may be misremembering the details, but I think that it was something along those lines.

[IonDragon]

I was originally thinking that from the perspective of another body orbiting the sun at the same rate as the earth, so you could see the sunny side of the earth the entire time. That way you would never see the dark side of the earth, it would always be the same day. That's what I meant when I said 'from the right perspective'.