I agree nobody should have to know this, but on the other hand what harm does it do to learn it? In the US in elementary school I studied world capitals, major cities, history, etc. and came away with a pretty decent primer on things overseas, which I really value. Later in life I’ve come to know a fair bit about European football, about daily life in Taiwan, about the systems of government in Australia and New Zealand. The list goes on.
I’m not offended to learn about that stuff, I think it’s really interesting.
I agree that knowing the names of time zones shouldn’t be required, but I’ve only ever seen them displayed with their UTC offset beside them. When I get calendar invites for “AEST” I just look for that offset.
Just seems to me there are far worse things in the world to get worked up about /shrug.
I don't think it's about whether it does harm learning it: I think the problem is the relative barrier to entry that it creates for people who don't already know this information. Friction like this reduces social mobility and access to services for many.
As for your last point: that would apply to anything. There is _always_ something worse to get worked up about.
> but on the other hand what harm does it do to learn it?
None. In fact, I personally thought this was an interesting little fact to learn. I didn't get worked up about it, all I said is that you shouldn't have to know it.
However, because Americans aren't very culturally sensitive with respect to foreigners, there's lots of little things that we do have to learn to access the so-called global internet.
I’m not offended to learn about that stuff, I think it’s really interesting.
I agree that knowing the names of time zones shouldn’t be required, but I’ve only ever seen them displayed with their UTC offset beside them. When I get calendar invites for “AEST” I just look for that offset.
Just seems to me there are far worse things in the world to get worked up about /shrug.