The People Who Live In Multiple Timelines, With Multiple Birthdays

Are you sure it’s really 2023? On one calendar (the one you probably know best), of course it is ... but there are many other ways of keeping time that persist in other countries and cultures. In this fascinating article from the BBC, you can read about a few of those alternate methods of keeping dates and times:

“Right now it is the start of 2023 everywhere in the world. But step into Myanmar and it’s also 1384, while Thailand will shoot you forward to 2566. Moroccans are praying in 1444 but farming in 2972, and Ethiopians are working their way through 2015, which for them has 13 months.”

Curious about how to calculate your alternate age? Here’s how to do it if you happen to be in South Korea:

“Korean age hinges on two dates: your birthdate and the Gregorian New Year. From your birthday to 31 December, you are one year older in Korea than you are in the UK or US. From 1 January to your next birthday, add two years.”

Maybe birthdays are on my mind subconsciously since mine is coming up soon. Regardless, I still find this exploration of the various ways that time is calculated to be intriguing. It’s a great reminder that there is still so much diversity even in the things we might have thought are constant for everyone.