Blogtrek

AM, PM, and Military Time

Today I proposed by email a meeting of an organization I belong to at 2100. That is 9 pm. Someone in the organization objected to my using military time. No. The military got this one right. They need a system for stating times that will not cause confusion, because that can totally destroy a military operation. In fact, military time is what we should all be using. There is too much confusion between AM and PM. More than once I have gotten up late in the morning because I set my alarm clock for 6 PM instead of 6 AM. It is ambiguous. The basic unit of time is the day, the time from noon to noon, not half a day. Further, AM/PM time insists on using 12 AM instead of 0 AM and 12 PM instead of 0 PM, causing more confusion. Algorithms to compare AM/PM times are complicated because of having to deal with 12 o'clocks. And never say 12 AM or 12 PM. That causes confusion. Say "noon" or "midnight" instead. So start using 24-hour time and get to bed by 2300.