WHY Y2K 0R YY2K?

Victor Bloom MD

As we approach New Year's eve of 1999, it is already being dubbed "Y2K-l". What is this all about? What new madness has afflicted America? There are many serious people who know a little about computers and who insist there will be chaos when the calendar year hits January 1st, 2000. For those who are still not acquainted with cyber jargon, Y2K is a tight abbreviation, K being the symbol of a thousand, Y meaning 'year'. It's a little like f2f meaning, "face to face", in cyber talk.

Who would have thought that "1984" would ever come? It came and went. And it used to be that the year 2000 was thought to be way in the future. Now it is only a few days away, and we keep talking about millennia phenomena, about making a bridge to the third millennium, as if there is some deep chasm we must breach.

In truth, another day is another day and another year is another year. Some have dreaded their 30th birthdays, because they were of a generation whose slogan was not to trust anybody over 30. Jack Benny refused to go beyond 39. George Burns actually lived past 100, and I doubt if there was any significant change in his situation or feelings when he went from 99 to 100.

What is the significance of 'numerology', which is counting numbers and giving great symbolic meaning to them? There will be a day when December 31, 1999 will become January 1, 2000, and that year would be labeled Y2K minus l. Silly, but the countdown has been on for some time now and still running. Actually, the millennium will not truly be over until December 31, 2000 becomes January 1, 2001--- yes, the name of the movie.

Millions of computers with the two digit money-saving feature has required billions in preventive maintenance to prevent serious damage and confusion after the switchover. If the program is not changed to accommodate the real year 2000 calendar, leap year will be off, creating more calendar problems.

Some people worry that since computers are in our automobiles, airplanes, VCR's and microwave ovens that these will all crash, the primitive computer language being confused and overwhelmed. If you listen closely, you will hear implications of biblical proportions, with words such as 'apocalypse' and Armegeddon. Some people think that the bible has predicted chaos and then, finally--- Judgment Day! (When God's divine plan will be made clear). Could it be that God is watching our calendar? There are billions of other planets.

Our calendar is utterly dependent upon our arbitrarily dividing up one rotation of the earth in relation to the sun in twelve or 24 parts. We call them 'hours'. And astronomers have calculated that as we travel around the sun, this 24 hour period we call the day, occurs 365 times. Actually, it is closer to 365 and 1/4, which is why we have a 'leap-year' every four years. Somehow or other, the 'anniversary' of an event puts the earth back in the same place in relation to the sun, as it has made one complete revolution. What is the sense of commemorating anniversaries on the basis of the earth coming into the same place in relation to the sun as exactly one or more years ago?

What is the point of birthdays or anniversaries? Interestingly, these calendars and numbers and the season and other holidays puts each date into a context, which include customs, traditions, rituals and seasons. A year ago this time I was doing so-and-so, and such a thing happened. Such a custom is good for Hallmark and other greeting cards, an excuse to remember somebody, please somebody, do something to commemorate. For example there was a big 2-do in 1976, when we celebrated the founding of our nation 200 years before.

People who prophesy the 'end of the world' are having a field day with the Y2K 'crisis'. Businesses have been getting Y2K insurance and pledging to have their computers 'ready' for the year 2000. Hundreds of thousands of computer techies and programmers are working furiously on the problem, to ward off chaos and catastrophe.

Cooler heads are saying not to worry. Don'tõ take all your money out of the bank and stuff the bills in your mattress. No need to stock up on firewood, food and drinking water. No need to avoid flying. Settle down. It's just the passing of another day out of billions and billions. Things don't necessarily happen when they occur in one millennium as opposed to another. The French called the latter part of the 19th century, "fin de siecle", but now it's not just another century, but a millennium. So?

So Happy New Year to all and may the next year be wonderful and may the next millenium be even more wonderful.

Dr Bloom is Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Wayne State University School of Medicine. He is a member of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and on the editorial board of the Wayne County Medical Society. He welcomes comments at his email address--- vbloom@comcast.net.