NEWS
The Intergalactic
Space Chronicle
Martians Celebrate the Year 100?
By Rudy Macentire
I had planned my winter holiday vacation to Mars for over a year. Everything was set in place, including our hotel reservations, air-car rental, restaurant reservations, and tickets to the most Extravagant Martian New Year party.
So imagine my surprise when a day before the New Year, the Martian government declares that have decided to reset the count to the year when humanity first started to colonize Mars.
Now mind you, it’s much easier to count to one hundred than 2171, but you can’t go switching around the years. It’s bad enough Earth has many different years being celebrated each year. We must agree on some mutual timeline ground to co-exist, even if it’s make-believe. Otherwise, should we now date all the Intergalactic Space Chronicle editions going to Mars differently?
When you think of it, it’s all quite confusing. The Earth is said to be 4.543 billion years old, according to scientists, geologists, and people that aren’t wackadoodle. If you are one of those said wackos, I'm sorry if I have offended you.
But are we counting time according to the age of Earth? The age of the galaxy? The age of humanity? The age of cultured humanity? What is cultured humanity? What about space humanity, is it a new era? Should we count a new?
Humanity is said to be 200,000 years old, whereas civilization is believed to be 6,000 years old. Industrialization only started in 1800, and space exploration is not much older than 100 years.
I admit I do not know what time we are in. I don't think anyone truly does. In a way, we are all time travelers, only that time as a numerical format is shifting around us according to our whims.
Maybe I should be glad to have celebrated the year 100 this year instead of 2171, it’s like a real fresh start. Probably the most of a fresh start than any year I have celebrated before.
Perhaps the truth is, that it doesn’t really matter what we call this moment in time. We could call it the year of awesome if we’d like. What matters is that we are counting what year we’ve decided together. For one, so we can function as a society, make appointments, and be able to deliver things on time. But also so you won’t miss your friend’s wedding or birthday. Which are the things that keep us together as a humanity. Perhaps in a sense, we are all drifting in unknown time and space, but we are doing so together and that is what the New Year to me is all about - an agreed numerical label for a fixed point in time of togetherness.