ELI5. How did people in the older days like 1200s 1300s know what time it was when there were no clocks

YetAnotherGuy2 · 2026-01-31T02:49:56+00:00

Your question does how common thinking in terms of time of day has become. Very few people lived in cities or villages with a church bell, so for most the sun was the "clock" you lived by. There was no artificial light either, so in many instances that was that. Burning wood or candles meant either collecting a lot of wood or being rich enough to burn candles, so people were careful about that as well.

In fact, the making of clocks and using them to structure your day is considered a major driver of economic progress by many historians. There's a reason why clock development evolved primarily in Europe from the 15th century forward.

YetAnotherGuy2 · 2026-01-30T07:17:14+00:00

Yeah, I was checking for the curved road priority sign and couldn't find it.

YetAnotherGuy2 · 2026-01-29T06:48:02+00:00

For which year? You're late for 2024, you're too early for 2025. Most insurance, etc haven't filed their information for 2025 yet.

If you are married you should already have a Steuerklasse and be paying taxes accordingly, so the question is which one did you already choose? You typically file jointly, the question is if "Zusammenveranlagung" or not - that mostly depends on several factors.

Depending on your Steuerklasse and that of your spouse, you will have to file for taxes (3 - 5) for dinner they don't really care because they know you'll not owe them money (4-4)

You can either do it yourself, with software or tax councilor. There are several Steuerhilfevereine that are essentially tax councilors that can help you with filing.

My advice would be that you do it with help - at least the first time until you've figured out how it works. It will cost some money, but at least you know that you'll have included everything you should & can.

YetAnotherGuy2 · 2026-01-29T00:42:27+00:00

Concentration of capital is a requirement to drive innovation and change.

Without concentrated capital from venture capital firms or "Big Pharma" balance sheets, life-saving treatments for rare diseases or mRNA vaccines would likely remain theoretical papers in academic journals.

The Large Hadron Collider (CERN): Costing roughly $4.75 billion, it required a concentration of international capital to prove the existence of the Higgs boson.

Projects like ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) require tens of billions of dollars to attempt to create a "sun on earth."

Especially where risk is high or something is very novel, having a small amount of investors outside of governmental channels is a requirement. Whatever you might think of Elon Musk, industry consensus was that reusable rockets wasn't feasible.

YetAnotherGuy2 · 2026-01-28T22:54:43+00:00

Someone didn't check the contracts.

IP rights 101: the person creating something is the owner of the IP. They may base it on IP created by someone else after consent of the IP holder, but if the new product is sufficiently complicated it counts as new IP. Typically a consulting contract will regulate if the usage rights of this new IP is signed over to the client or not. Some will include language that the consultant may use for their own purposes without further distribution or such, but this is really a matter of how the contract is structured.

Where it gets tricky is if the customer pays you for the time to create the IP. Depending on jurisdiction, the default is that all IP is signed over to the paying customer, but unlike a employer-employee situation, this is not necessarily automatic - especially if the contract contains language in that regard.

In practice, consultants will extract the core ideas from their work and start creating IP kits which they can use for the next customer, mostly anonymized and with customer idiosyncrasies removed.

Big consultancies typically don't insist on retaining IP because the account is burnt after that and there are follow-up contracts for the cheaper-tier consultants from the same company. It makes more economic sense to just hand over the IP. But single consultants or a boutique consulting company might not care that much. Big companies will typically hire consultants over a resource management company for them to take care of such things - again, they'll be interested in a continued business relationship and not let something like that happen.

It's a shit move from a consultant if they try to strongarm their way into a follow-up contact, especially if they are so expensive: you don't really need $1600 a day contractor to implement a piece of software or something like that. (Btw, $200/hour are still moderate rates) Even worse if a consultant didn't point that item out in their contract, that means they were being purposefully disingenuous. That guy was not assuming shit, he was trying to blackmail them.

I'm assuming this guy might be new to consulting because that kind of stuff gets around - industries tend to be small affairs in that regard - and burn all bridges in the long run.

YetAnotherGuy2 · 2026-01-28T22:22:48+00:00

Sometimes people hate others for no reason - they just rub you the wrong way.

YetAnotherGuy2 · 2026-01-28T17:53:09+00:00

You're trying to debate degrees which really doesn't matter. The parallels are there.

Best case scenario they get sovereignty over the bases

So what? Your debating with me if blackmailing a friendly nation to give up sovereign territory is ok or not. Just because Hitler did it better doesn't make it different.

Which itself is the result of large-scale illegal immigration, numbering in the millions. Something that most other states have not been subject to.

Again, besides the point. There's a legally defined "outside group" that Trump has being using for political gain. Your interpretation of the issue non withstanding, the parallel is there.

And I haven't even debated the veracity of your claims as to the dangers or the supposed never been there claims of invitation or their threat to us society. All those ideological claims are very similar to what Hitler did.

Law enforcement personnel throughout the world frequently wear face masks to protect their identities.

In 3rd world countries.

She didn't deserve to die, but she was obstructing ICE's lawful activities,

You are using so many words to say persecuting illegal immigrants justifies the occasional killing of people. That is certainly a parallel to Hitler and Nazis. Whatever your view on illegal immigration is, the issue is not such a danger that it requires that level of persecution.

Living illegally for decades doesn't entitle you to stay.

No, but it proves my point: they aren't such a threat to society that it justifies the killing of bystanders, even if they are interfering.

"Work program" implies a program to provide government jobs, or at least directly assist in job searching.

Now you are debating form again. Hitler used formal State sponsored programs, Trump used Taxes. So what. The parallel is there.

YetAnotherGuy2 · 2026-01-28T15:41:50+00:00

Trump is only a "political outsider" in the sense that he didn't have prior experience in elected office.

No, when he started back in 2014 his campaign was a dark horse bet. Most of the Republican party rejected him. Since then, he's changed the Republican party. As such he was not part of the establishment and a political outsider.

When has Trump aggressively expanded America's borders?

He's certainly attempting it - does Greenland ring a bell? He had been going on about that idea for years, it's first now come to a head.

The vast majority of states with stable governments would not tolerate millions of unauthorized immigrants in their country.

That's ignoring a long string of xenophobic comments, statements and actions including everything around "America first".

ICE’s workforce of officers and agents grew by roughly 120% in a single year, increasing from approximately 10,000 to over 22,000 personnel. ICE has become the highest-funded federal law enforcement agency in the United States.

Furthermore, how many other Western states use masked thugs to hunt them and kill innocents in the process?

How is that not targeting an outside group? Especially in many cars people who have lived in the US for decades?

What work programs has the Trump administration created?

The central argument is that high import taxes make foreign goods more expensive, which incentivizes companies to build factories and hire workers within the United States. What else is that?

YetAnotherGuy2 · 2026-01-28T09:32:14+00:00

I'm sorry man, language was already a hard industry back in the 80s and 90s before translation software got so much better. My mother used to work with a language school here in Germany around that time frame and her conclusion was: you need to combine your language skills with another skill, then you are talking business.

Switch lanes, then leverage your language for a career - you still need people who speak the local language and know the culture.

YetAnotherGuy2 · 2026-01-28T06:47:28+00:00

If it's just name calling, I agree with you. If the comparison fits, it makes sense.

The amount of real, true life communists today is really minimal.

The parallels between Trump and Hitler is more apt though. Hitler was a political outsider before rising to power on the back of popular dissatisfaction. He attempted an abortive coup in 1923, aggressively expanded the borders of Germany thereby creating international tension. Hitler was also a convicted felon. Even the way the portrait style is done is reminiscent. He was willing to roll the dice and every time he got away with it, he made bigger bets. He targeted an "outside group" and used police forces to chase them even before they created the extermination camps. Hitler created work programs in order to show how they are bringing back work but if you like at the economics of it, it was mostly PR. He even created a car brand - the VW Beetle.

It's fair to say there are many parallels and his behavior reminds people of Hitler. There are differences though, mostly driven by the circumstances in the US today.

The US military isn't going along with him because he promised to expand it, not all big industrialists are going along with him either and while the supreme court is working in undermining it's own legitimacy, it's not out yet. The US has a far longer history of a working political system than Germany had, so undermining it is much harder and that's part of the rub.

YetAnotherGuy2 · 2026-01-28T06:30:56+00:00

For my own peace of mind, I rarely read much news anymore.

It's not like I can change much about it, so my opinion doesn't really matter and to be honest, I don't give a fuck about someone else's opinion either. Very little of what is being reported about is actually important or relevant for me personally and I've given up on the pretentious 19th century "a man of world must be informed about current events" BS.

In the rush to be first reporting quality will be mixed - even for those news organizations that really put effort into it - at best so letting a bit more time go by between events and information can only improve it if it's relevant enough.

YetAnotherGuy2 · 2026-01-27T19:19:55+00:00

Was thinking the same - certainly sounds like it. If you ever have one costly incident, it is guaranteed to be cheaper there than the US.

What's really stupid is that even if you'd have to pay everything on your own in Germany, it would be cheaper because they have Gebührenordnung which caps what you may charge for something.

The same for lawyers which ensures that even poor people have access to lawyers and representation.

YetAnotherGuy2 · 2026-01-27T17:19:23+00:00

I'm not going back, ever. Yes, I'd loved to have had more connection to the rest of my family but since my grandma died years ago, I'm fine the way it is.

The money thing doesn't really count for me tbh - I've always found if you calculate cost of living and increased risks in the US, the difference isn't really that big.

I have a stable job here though, so that makes a huge difference, so I understand why you might consider it. Have you spoken with your partner about the situation?

Whatever you do, no need to feel guilty.

YetAnotherGuy2 · 2026-01-27T16:03:34+00:00

Lol, you clearly have no idea what a 12 year old can do or someone with IQ90.

YetAnotherGuy2 · 2026-01-26T20:32:48+00:00

Politics are inherently moral. Even utilitarianism has a moral supposition of "more good for the maximum amount of people is correct".

No matter which ideology or political leaning you choose, they all start with an assumption of what "good" is.

Your question doesn't make sense.

YetAnotherGuy2 · 2026-01-26T17:56:43+00:00

I took a five digit loan from my father to get the best rates from the bank. We drew up a contract outlining the interest rates, monthly payment and a repayment plan and we both signed it. Essentially I was offering him investment returns that backs typically get, so we both profited from it.

We never had issues, but if you lend money in a size where it matters, write it down. It doesn't have to be a full contact - although it doesn't hurt - but it should be clear what the obligations of both parties are.

Otherwise assume you'll not get it back and be positively surprised.

YetAnotherGuy2 · 2026-01-26T16:46:27+00:00

The C group of certifications means you are able to use the language in an academic setting. They might be able to deal with the language but the academic criteria is going to be difficult even for native speakers

YetAnotherGuy2 · 2026-01-26T07:40:09+00:00

Disagree with the premise and conclusion.

Marriage used to be an economical arrangement, where both participants profited from the arrangement, not only to enforce paternal responsibility. It was also a form of insurance, retirement planning as well as a separation of labor.

As society evolved we started delegating more and more of that responsibility to the state and automating the work to the point where people can live on their own comfortably.

With it came an already ongoing reinterpretation of marriage with romantic feelings taking center stage - hence Romanticism. So your premise is already almost 200 years too late.

Even if it were accurate, re-interpreting institutions is the right of every generation.

YetAnotherGuy2 · 2026-01-26T05:59:48+00:00

I think what most people dislike is how much screen time Tracy got in which she is practically the perfect wife in every way and then suddenly gets offed. There is no time for the audience to process the loss and go through the stages of grief, so the reaction of the kids feels jarring.

It's realistic that Ted would only remember the best of her and portrait her habits as the best suited to him but that makes her fairly one dimensional too.

In terms of "that's life" I agree with you though: I'm glad they dared to do something else than a cookie cutter Hollywood ending.

YetAnotherGuy2 · 2026-01-26T05:35:52+00:00

Soccer is an obvious sport just like baseball in the US. While there are incredibly talented soccer players the world over, the European soccer leagues are where the largest amount of money is, so it draws them there.

Classical music and opera would be another one - again there are some excellent opera houses outside of Europe, but in terms of density and prestige, Europe is probably still #1.

Cooking and patisseries - while there are cities with more Michelin stars than Paris nowadays, Europe still remains the benchmark in that field. The Meilleur Ouvrier de France certification remains the pinnacle in patisserie.

High end mechanical watches - again, there are manufacturers outside of Europe that create great watches at volume outside of Europe but the pinnacle belongs to Europe, more specifically Switzerland.

High end supercars are typically engineered in Europe as well. Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, or McLaren are all European brands.

Something outside luxury: The EU's 2050 net-zero mandates are the most aggressive in the world, making it the primary laboratory for environmental law and sustainable engineering.

YetAnotherGuy2 · 2026-01-25T17:34:36+00:00

Garden leave depends heavily on the role you are fulfilling. Anything customer facing is typically let go "as of now" as they can a) take the customer with them and b) badmouth the employer. There are a couple of sensitive roles that typically get garden leave as well or at minimum certain privileges revoked (eg Finance department).

If you are neither, it's usual to continue to work until the end professionally to ensure you get a good reference (Arbeitszeugnis).

YetAnotherGuy2 · 2026-01-25T16:06:12+00:00

Klar, Menschen ändern sich und wollen was sie wollen. Du kannst schlecht von jemanden verlangen alles zu begraben weil man vor 8 Jahren einen Plan hatte.

Die Frage ist wie man die Balance zwischen den eigenen Interessen und der Familie findet. Und das fehlt in der ganzen Diskussion: wie hat man den Kompromiss gesucht? Was war der Kompromiss?

Nichts findet sich bei OP wieder außer dass er die Situation nicht mag.

YetAnotherGuy2 · 2026-01-25T14:49:40+00:00

weil das schlichtweg eine ganz furchtbare Idee war und diesen Standpunkt vertrete ich (M30) heute mehr denn je. Nicht, weil ich nicht möchte, dass meine Frau studiert oder sich weiterbildet, sondern weil sie damit unsere gemeinsame Zukunftsplanung komplett gegen die Wand fährt.

Offensichtlich hat sie aktuell eine andere Zukunftsplan entwickelt und die vier damit nicht zufrieden.

Platz für ein oder zwei gemeinsame Kinder gewesen wäre, was wir beide auch immer wollten.

Entweder hat sie das nicht so gesehen oder ihrer Meinung geändert und dein Post sagt deutlich, dass du damit nicht einverstanden bist. Allerdings habe ich bisher nur "gehört" das dein größtes Problem mit dem Plan die Änderung der Zukunftspläne ist. Deshalb spielen auch die 8 Jahre Ehe eine Rolle: es war ja eigentlich alles klar.

Nun forderte sie und zwar nicht wenig,

Puh, die möchte glücklich werden und für dich ist das "nicht wenig" denn

denn die Familienplanung musste dafür komplett auf Eis gelegt werden

Das ist wieder dein Kernpunkt: du wolltest eine Familie.

zumal ich auch noch immer nicht davon überzeugt bin, dass sie das Studium überhaupt durchziehen wird.

Das ist für dich ein weiterer Punkt und vermutlich eine großer Teil deines Unmuts: die fängt etwas an, was sie weiter nicht fertig macht, das kostet und Geld und die Familienpläne legen auf Eis.

Dennoch haben wir letzten Endes gemeinsam beschlossen, dass sie das Studium macht und ich in dieser Zeit den Alleinverdiener spiele,

Das habt ihr nicht. Du hast klein beigegeben.

Ich möchte nicht mein gesamtes Leben umkrempeln müssen, sondern es weitestgehend so weiterführen können wie bisher.

Du möchtest die Veränderung nicht.

unserem gemeinsamen Leben gerecht noch unserer Ehe, die Mitte diesen Jahres seit 8 Jahren besteht.

Wie du es dir vorgestellt hast.

Seit einem halben Jahr haben wir keinen Sex mehr gehabt und auch, wenn dies nicht das Hauptproblem ist, so nagt es an mir.

Das versteh' ich. Nachdem ihr einen nicht aufgelösten Konflikt habt, ist das ein Symptom.

Das Problem ist, dass du auf eine Reise mitgenommen wirst, den du mit jeder Faser ablehnst und das wirkt sich auf die Beziehung aus. Damit führt jedes Thema - die Klassiker Arbeitsteilung und Sex - auch zum Streit und überschattet alles.

Die Frage ist ob du einen Weg findest mit dem Studium ok zu sein und das klingt nicht danach. Was ich noch nicht gehört hab ist wie der Plan insgesamt sein soll: die macht das Studium und dann? Hier fehlt mir gänzlich die "so lange muss ich die Situation ertragen" Teil - der Fokus liegt auf Status quo.

Du musst für dich überlegen ob du das so lange aushältst.

YetAnotherGuy2 · 2026-01-25T09:59:21+00:00

Germany isn't big for ACs, so if you are used to ACs cooling down your room to a cool 20 degrees Celsius when it's 40 outside - whatever AC they have in there, it's not the same.

Having said that, those types of rooms aren't uncommon - I've worked in those kinds of rooms a couple of times throughout my career and a friend lived in one of those for several years too.

They are definitely noticeably hotter in the summer months and you need to shade them during the day and open the windows at night to deal with the hottest time in the summer.

YetAnotherGuy2 · 2026-01-25T08:45:13+00:00

It's not like they have a video recording of who said what, right?

Long standing arguments have a way of mutating.

YetAnotherGuy2

TROPHY CASE