Sometimes the line between what mankind has wrought and what's
natural tends to get blurred. Today we're celebrating the beginning of a new year,
and most people, realizing that a year marks one complete revolution of the Earth
around the sun, take it for granted that this is an event set by nature. And in the
sense that the Earth has indeed completed a revolution, that's true. But on the
other hand, the fact that we celebrate on January first is purely human, an accident of
history. After all, Earth wasn't formed on this date, thus starting its first
revolution. And if our theories of the origination of Earth are correct, there was no
decisive instant when Earth began. Starting the new year on this day is human
arbitrariness from nature's point of view. We could just as easily decide to
celebrate on the first day of winter, which does coincide with a natural event—or on
the 4th of July and have a double celebration. What? And lose a holiday? Never mind!
Happy New Year!
Contributor: Arthur H. Harris, Laboratory for Environmental Biology, Centennial Museum, University of Texas at El Paso.
Desert Diary is a joint production of the Centennial Museum and KTEP National Public Radio at the University of Texas at El Paso.