Units and Measurement in the Empire of Humanity - Time
Basic
Imperial measure owes nothing to any Earth system of measurement. The Imperial system was designed in an already scientific and technological era for much the same reasons Earth's metric units were designed - to simplify a complex system of historical measures.
The numeration system is base sixty - 3 times 4 times 5. This makes numbers more easily manipulated than previous systems. It works upon the same positional basis as our Hindu-Arabic system, and the same concepts apply, with multiples of 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 (and 10, 12, 15, 20 and 30) having intermediate importance in thought between the unit and the system base of sixty. For all units, the digital places are described thus:
Prime: 60 times the base unit
Square: 3600 times the base unit
Cube: 216,000 times the base unit
Fourth: 12,960,000 times the base unit, and so on.
For fractional numbers, iprime is 1/60th of the base unit, isquare is 1/3600th, ithird is 1/216,000th, ifourth is 1/12,960,000th, and so on. If there's an 'i' in front of the multiplier, it relates to a fractional number.
For situations requiring more precision than a single digit, the spoken convention is to specify the magnitude of the leading digit, and following digits are presumed to be immediately decreasing in magnitude. "Two minutes thirty" can be two and a half minutes of time, or two and a half light-minutes of distance. "Seven ithirds fortysix fourteen" would be seven 216,000ths, forty-six 12,960,000ths, fourteen 777,600,000ths of the relevant units. If the relevant digit is a zero, the zero is spoken, so "seven ithirds zero fourteen" would be seven 216,000ths, zero 12,960,000ths, fourteen 777,600,000ths of the relevant units
Most of the time, measures are context sensitive in translations to English. For instance, a range is assumed to be given in distance units, a mass or weight in terms of mass units, and so on. In Technical, the fact of what you are measuring requires the units of measurement to match, and this has, over time, leaked over to conversations in Traditional as well. In Mindlord, everything is context sensitive anyway, and nobody uses Concept for technical or technological purposes, as the 'language' is entirely unsuitable for that purpose.
Time
Imperial time units are recognizable to Earth. They have seconds, minutes, hours, etcetera. The one irregularity is that a week is sixty hours separated into four fifteen hour days. A year is sixty weeks, intermediate 'months' of four, five, and six weeks are also used but not formally encoded or legally enforced unless formally encoded as such in a contract or memorandum of understanding. The 'standard' Imperial workweek is fifteen hours, but few people adhere to such regularly and almost nobody with any sense of legal rigor. Work arrangements are typically individual between employer or contractor and their employee or sub-contractor.
The basis of the system is the second, all other units being defined in relation to that.
1 Imperial second = 1.7 Earth seconds
60 seconds = 1 minute = 1 m 42s Earth time
60 minutes = 1 hour = 1hour 42m Earth time
15 hours =1 day = 25.5 hours of Earth time
60 hours = 4 days = 1 week = 102 hours, or 4.25 days of Earth time
4, 5, or 6 weeks = 1 month
60 weeks = 1 year = 6120 hours, 255 days, or .698 years of Earth time
60 years = 1 prime = 41.89 years of Earth time
3600 years = 1 square = 2513 years of Earth time
216,000 years = 1 cube = 150,800 years of Earth time
1 earth year = 1.432 imperial years
1 earth century = 143.2 Imperial years (spoken as "Two prime twentythree point twelve" i.e. two sixties, twentythree units, twelve sixtieths)
Buy My Science Fiction Novels!
Dan Melson Amazon Author Page
Dan Melson Author Page Books2Read
Links to free samples here
The Man From Empire
Man From Empire Books2Read link
A Guardian From Earth
Guardian From Earth Books2Read link
Empire and Earth
Empire and Earth Books2Read link
Working The Trenches
Working the Trenches Books2Read link
Rediscovery 4 novel set
Rediscovery 4 novel set Books2Read link
Preparing The Ground
Preparing the Ground Books2Read link
Building the People
Building the People Books2Read link
Setting The Board
Setting The Board Books2Read link
Moving The Pieces
Moving The Pieces Books2Read link
The Invention of Motherhood
Invention of Motherhood Books2Read link
The Price of Power
Price of Power Books2Read link
The End Of Childhood
The End of Childhood Books2Read link
Measure Of Adulthood
Measure Of Adulthood Books2Read link
The Fountains of Aescalon
The Fountains of Aescalon Books2Read link
The Monad Trap
The Monad Trap Books2Read link
The Gates To Faerie
The Gates To Faerie Books2Read link
Gifts Of The Mother
Gifts Of The Mother Books2Read link
The Book on Mortgages Everyone Should Have!
What Consumers Need To Know About Mortgages
What Consumers Need to Know About Mortgages Books2Read
The Book on Buying Real Estate Everyone Should Have
What Consumers Need To Know About Buying Real Estate
What Consumers Need to Know About Buying Real Estate Books2Read
Logical failures (straw man, ad hominem, red herring, etcetera) will be pointed out - and I hope you'll point out any such errors I make as well. If there's something you don't understand, ask.
Nonetheless, the idea of comments should be constructive. Aim them at the issue, not the individual. Consider it a challenge to make your criticism constructive. Try to be respectful. Those who make a habit of trollish behavior will be banned.
Leave a comment