Another thought

phroxenphyre

As it is, we defined a "day" based on the cycle of the sun's movement in the sky, the "month" based on the phases of the moon and the "year" based on the seasons, which are attributed to the planet's axial tilt. All other units of time are derived from these three fundamental values.

If humanity lived on a planet that was tidally locked to the sun (no apparent day), no moon (no apparent month) and an axial tilt of 0 degrees (no apparent year), how would we keep track of time?

D3L7A

phroxenphyre said:

As it is, we defined a "day" based on the cycle of the sun's movement in the sky, the "month" based on the phases of the moon and the "year" based on the seasons, which are attributed to the planet's axial tilt. All other units of time are derived from these three fundamental values.

If humanity lived on a planet that was tidally locked to the sun (no apparent day), no moon (no apparent month) and an axial tilt of 0 degrees (no apparent year), how would we keep track of time?

Everytime your hair started touching your shoulders you'd know 6 months have passed.

Or you could take a dump in an open place and keep track of its decomposition.

chinapig

Use a clock ?

Blazing_Darkness

chinapig said:

Use a clock ?

But what would define the measurements of time displayed by a clock?

Cyanide Sandwich

Well, we could use candles with rows of gun powder placed at equal lengths along the candle. each candle has 12 rows, and each row that ignites and makes a bang would signify one hour has passed. As technology got more and more advanced, the time it takes in between bangs would be recorded, and clock would be set to run on that.

D3L7A

Cyanide Sandwich said:

Well, we could use candles with rows of gun powder placed at equal lengths along the candle. each candle has 12 rows, and each row that ignites and makes a bang would signify one hour has passed. As technology got more and more advanced, the time it takes in between bangs would be recorded, and clock would be set to run on that.

or even simpler, take a dump in an open space, make little pieces of it and record its decomposition. Every time one tiny blob of **** disappears, 1 hour would have passed.

Blazing_Darkness

Cyanide Sandwich said:

Well, we could use candles with rows of gun powder placed at equal lengths along the candle. each candle has 12 rows, and each row that ignites and makes a bang would signify one hour has passed. As technology got more and more advanced, the time it takes in between bangs would be recorded, and clock would be set to run on that.

The time measurement of hours was based off sundials divided into 12 parts. If there was no clear day and thus no cycle of day and night then the concept of sun dials would be impossible and people would not be able to come up with the time measurement hours let alone give a value to it.

You could use the amount of time for a candle to melt however you would need a way to standardize it and make it consistent. Yes, with the increase in technology people would create a way of tracking time. But what would it be measured in? And how big would these measurements be?


What the question is really asking is whether there is a clear frequent and constant cycle of some thing other than those mentioned in the question that you could measure time against. So if the objects we use to measure months, seasons, years, hours and days weren't usable, what object could we use and what would it measure?
I don't really think there is one other than the location of stars other than the sun in the sky. Basically using them to measure a day in the same way as we use the sun. However it maybe difficult to do this if you're on the side of the earth always facing the sun.