Creating a Universal Clock Free from Cultural Bias

Inspired by the idea of creating a clock devoid of cultural assumptions, I embarked on a project to design a timekeeping device that could be understood universally, even by extraterrestrial visitors. The challenge was to strip away elements like numerals, directionality, and cultural symbols, relying instead on physical facts such as Earth's rotation and orbit. Starting with a simple representation of the Earth and Sun, I devised a clock that indicates time through the Earth's rotation, marking solar noon when the Earth is directly under the Sun.

To make the clock practical, I introduced divisions of the day into hours, minutes, and seconds, acknowledging that while these are human constructs, they are necessary for precision. The clock's design mimics Earth's rotation, moving in an anti-clockwise direction when viewed from the northern hemisphere, but I chose a clockwise movement for user familiarity.

The clock also functions as a world clock, showing time zone differences by adding markers for different locations like Zagreb, San Francisco, and Tokyo. This visual representation makes it easy to see time differences across the globe.

For a calendar, I used Earth's orbit around the Sun, marking perihelion as a starting point, which conveniently aligns with the New Year. By adding ticks for each month, I created a stylized representation of the year, though I had to compromise by including a day ring for usability.

While the clock is an attempt to transcend cultural biases, it ultimately reflects human constructs like hours and months. However, it serves as a thought-provoking exploration of how we perceive and measure time, challenging us to think beyond our cultural frameworks.