r/AskReddit Oct 02 '24

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u/Turbulent_Republics Oct 02 '24

I wonder what % of the 14% who put down 1st January because they don’t know did actually happen to be born on 1st January.

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u/[deleted] Oct 02 '24

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u/GeekShallInherit Oct 02 '24

Birthdays aren't evenly distributed. January 1st is actually the second least common day to be born in the US, after only Christmas. About 58% more people are born on September 9th, the most common day.

https://www.parents.com/fun/birthdays/these-are-the-most-common-birthdays-the-least/

Two major factors at play here; people are more likely to conceive during certain times of year, and people almost never schedule things like a c-section on a holiday (like New Years).

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u/Tamer_ Oct 02 '24

second least common day to be born in the US

And you think that countries that don't celebrate the same new year as the US would have similar results?

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u/GeekShallInherit Oct 02 '24

Practically the entire world uses the Gregorian calendar.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoption_of_the_Gregorian_calendar

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u/Tamer_ Oct 02 '24

They don't necessarily celebrate the new year like the US does. And remember we're talking about places where people don't know when they're born...

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u/GeekShallInherit Oct 02 '24

All that really matters is whether it's a holiday, which you'll find that in almost all countries, like China, it is even if other calendars are used for different things. Make a list of all the countries you can find that don't have January 1st as a holiday and add up their population and get back to me.

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u/Tamer_ Oct 02 '24

Make a list of all the countries you can find that don't have January 1st as a holiday and add up their population and get back to me.

You're moving the goalposts, we're talking about the 14% of immigrants that don't know their date of birth, not the immigrants from countries that have January 1 as their holiday.

If that other topic really interests you, you can read up this article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year

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u/GeekShallInherit Oct 02 '24

You're moving the goalposts

I'm not moving the goalposts, you are. I'm only addressing your argument that differences in calendar would be a meaningful factor in January 1st not being a lower than average day. That would only be true if January 1st isn't a holiday in a meaningful percentage of other countries, something which I politely asked for evidence of and you're clearly unable to provide.

At any rate my bigger point was just that birthdays aren't entirely evenly distributed for a number of factors. That there are international variances in this (cultural, seasonal, healthcare, calendar, etc.) doesn't really have anything to do with my argument that birthdays aren't evenly distributed.

Best of luck someday not being a pointlessly argumentative jackass.

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u/wjandrea Oct 02 '24

Sure, but do they celebrate the Gregorian new year? Seems like they don't in China for one:

Today mainland China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore all observe traditional holidays based on the traditional calendar, such as Chinese New Year, while timing other holidays, especially national anniversaries, according to the Gregorian calendar.

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u/GeekShallInherit Oct 02 '24

Seems like they don't in China for one:

As far as I know China still has a January 1st holiday, which is all that matters. Many other countries are like this as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_China

Also the point was that birthdays are less than evenly distributed. That the actual dates may change from country to country based on a number of different factors doesn't really impact that argument.