The Date

I wonder what would happen if the date was never invented. Would there be no birthdays? Would we be absolved in forgetting anniversaries? Would punctuality be an imaginary concept? What would we call the tenth day before yesterday? The tenth day before yesterday, I suppose. How many fingers and toes would we need?

I bet it's something many never ever think about. Like many things in life, we take the seemingly simplest things for granted. If we think about it more deeply, the date as a concept is powerful. Imagine. By putting a few hierarchical numerals and designations together, and not necessarily in hierarchical order, we can pinpoint any point in time. This is awesome. This ability to label time opens up many possibilities that would never otherwise exist. Without it, history would be meaningless for instance.

The invention of the date is invetiable. The need for it is simply too great. Is the date an incidental concept that came out of the invention of the calendar? Or, is the calendar the by-product of the need for dating? One thing is for certain, one cannot exist without the other. And, would we exist in any meaningful way without either?

This was written on January 13, 2008 (Toronto time)

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