Re: Seen on aus.invest

From: Paul J Kriha (paul.nospam.kriha_at_paradise.net.nz)
Date: 08/19/04 

Date: Thu, 19 Aug 2004 22:36:07 +1200

Peter T. Daniels <grammatim@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:4123D931.5264@worldnet.att.net...
> Bill Bonde ( ``Soli Deo Gloria'' ) wrote:
> > "Peter T. Daniels" wrote:
> > > Paul J Kriha wrote:
> > > > Peter T. Daniels <grammatim@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
> > > > news:41235340.59EB@worldnet.att.net...
> > > > > Bill Bonde ( ``Soli Deo Gloria'' ) wrote:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > "Peter T. Daniels" wrote:
> > > > > > > Jacques Guy wrote:
> > > > > > > > Peter T. Daniels wrote:
> > > > > > > > > An alternative is "themself."
> > > > > > > > Nice. I favour it myselves.
> > > > > > > That makes no sense at all.
> > > > > > That's OK since he's posting tomorrow today.
> > > > > It's a dateline thing.
> > > > > Peter T. Daniels
> > > >
> > > > He lives in the part of the world where all people die a day later.
> > >
> > > You may have the makings of a science fiction story there.
> > >
> > So like if you were rich enough, when you died, you could get your body
> > shipped to that part of the world and you'd be alive for another 24
> > hours to take care of business, deal with your estate, work things out
> > with your family, etc.?

No, no, no, no, no... No. Wrong.
If you die in LA and get yourself quickly shipped to Auckland
you in fact have died "one day earlier". :-)

But if you were born in the US and then you die in NZ or Oz
your death certificate will show that you lived one day longer
then it would had you died in the US.
An official document says so, therefore, you must have lived
one day longer :-)

> > Actually, you could have an entire universe of
> > stories in that one idea. People could seek out the history of human
> > knowledge about this anomaly, how people tried to live near it before
> > the advent of jet travel but there wasn't enough food so a lot of them
> > starved to death, but did get the extra day to think about how having
> > enough food might have given them more than just 24 more hours. Other
> > stories could be about how people sought out a mystical and then
> > scientific explanation for the extra day, and maybe how they sought out
> > new places where this might also occur, perhaps giving you two days, an
> > extra week to contemplate your end.
>
> No, more like going Around the World in 80 Minutes. Phileas Fogg was
> amazed that he arrived back home a day before he thought he had; thus if
> you keep circling the earth, obviously you'll live forever. If you can
> do it fast enough, you'll catch up with your birthdate, and _then_ what
> will happen?

It was a great puzzle to me when I was about thirteen.
How could Phileas Fogg not notice this discrepancy as soon as
he crossed the dateline. All the way through Americas he would be
on a different calendar day from all the travel companies.
How did he manage to purchase tickets and then board the
correct trains and boats?

All well, it was a good story, like being shot "in the Moon" out of
a cannon. And, then experiencing weightlessness only for a short
moment on the way. :-)

PJK

> Peter T. Daniels

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Seen on aus.invest
    ... >> stories in that one idea. ... > you keep circling the earth, obviously you'll live forever. ... you on top of the world’s tallest building, the whole building taken over by Project Mayhem. ... A real opera of death, that’s what you’re going to get." ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: Seen on aus.invest
    ... >> You may have the makings of a science fiction story there. ... > stories in that one idea. ... > enough food might have given them more than just 24 more hours. ... obviously you'll live forever. ...
    (sci.lang)
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