this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2024
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"what time is it" is the natural way that people have asked about where in the typical day night cycle it is for eons. We don't really have another way of formulating the question that flows naturally.
It would be the same time everywhere, but you'd only know what that meant in places you were familiar with. Otherwise you'd have to look up the difference in a big table, which is exactly what a timezone is.
We have a system for a uniform clock that's synchronized everywhere on the planet. The people for whom it has benefits already use it.
You already only know what it means for individuals you asked about it. When someone gets up is rarely useful to know, what you usually want to know is when they are available for communication/spending time with you.
Then it's really weird that people typically ask "what time is it there?" before they ask "when are you free?" isn't it?
People orient themselves to each other as part of communication. Sure, it's weird that we often like to know when in the day it is for the other person, but we do.
Nothing is stopping anyone from talking about time in UTC, yet people essentially never do. That doesn't make them wrong, it just means our requirements for "time of day" are more nuanced than coordinating business meetings.
Usually that is only ever asked as a short-hand because a lot of people don't understand timezones well enough.