Being a Responsible Educator

When part of your life's work is to educate it is some times hard to not correct people when they are mistaken.  It is especially hard when almost everyone is mistaken and some simple thinking would correct the problem.  Normally this is just a problem at family reunions/holiday events and in the classroom.  Sometimes it goes global and you must weigh the value of trying to correct the mistake verses grinding your teeth.

Today's case on point is the temporal confusion about the decade.  Everywhere you are hearing wrap ups of the decade and projections for the next decade.  Too bad the decade does not end for another year.

There was no year zero!  This means that the first decade was from the start of year 1 through the end of year 10.  The first millennium was from 1 Jan year 1 to 30 Dec 1000.  The second millennium did not end until 30 Dec 2000, not 1999 as most people incorrectly think.  Likewise, the first decade of the millennium does not end until the end of the day 30 Dec. 2010.

Happy End of Decade Year,

T.S. Hall