The New Year: Drawing the line somewhere

Our psychological clean slate 2020 was not a good year. Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee the next one will be better. As Wajahat Ali [opined recently]( for the New York Times, “Chaos and crises don’t follow a calendar. Most of the underlying problems and challenges that made 2020 feel like a horror story will roll along with us into the new year.” Even as the introduction of new coronavirus vaccines offers hope for the future, the pandemic will continue to take a toll on the health and livelihoods of the world’s citizens [for a good while](. Nevertheless, as the end of the Gregorian calendar year approaches, it’s only natural to want to kick 2020 to the curb and start fresh in 2021. This rather unfounded optimism for the future is an important part of tradition when it comes to the turning of the calendar year. We make [resolutions]( that we stand [little chance of keeping]( jot down [goals]( that life’s circumstances will promptly render obsolete. In years in which there is not a global pandemic necessitating that we all stay home, we don our sparkliest fashions and pack ourselves into crowded parties to celebrate the occasion, ignoring the fact that all [previous experience]( suggests the champagne will be lukewarm and the evening disappointing. In short, we never learn! A look at the history of New Year’s Eve suggests that we will always be eager to bid the struggles and sadness of the past year good riddance, and ready to spend at least one night acting as if our fortunes are just about to take a turn for the better. The way we approach the new year isn’t rational at all. That’s kind of a beautiful thing. Let’s make a toast. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( [Quartz Weekly Obsession] The New Year December 30, 2020 Our psychological clean slate --------------------------------------------------------------- 2020 was not a good year. Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee the next one will be better. As Wajahat Ali [opined recently]( for the New York Times, “Chaos and crises don’t follow a calendar. Most of the underlying problems and challenges that made 2020 feel like a horror story will roll along with us into the new year.” Even as the introduction of new coronavirus vaccines offers hope for the future, the pandemic will continue to take a toll on the health and livelihoods of the world’s citizens [for a good while](. Nevertheless, as the end of the Gregorian calendar year approaches, it’s only natural to want to kick 2020 to the curb and start fresh in 2021. This rather unfounded optimism for the future is an important part of tradition when it comes to the turning of the calendar year. We make [resolutions]( that we stand [little chance of keeping]( jot down [goals]( that life’s circumstances will promptly render obsolete. In years in which there is not a global pandemic necessitating that we all stay home, we don our sparkliest fashions and pack ourselves into crowded parties to celebrate the occasion, ignoring the fact that all [previous experience]( suggests the champagne will be lukewarm and the evening disappointing. In short, we never learn! A look at the history of New Year’s Eve suggests that we will always be eager to bid the struggles and sadness of the past year good riddance, and ready to spend at least one night acting as if our fortunes are just about to take a turn for the better. The way we approach the new year isn’t rational at all. That’s kind of a beautiful thing. Let’s make a toast. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( By the digits [11:]( Days longer the Gregorian calendar is than the lunar-based Hijri calendar, which is the official calendar of Saudi Arabia. Hijri calendar followers look forward to casting off the gloomy vibes of 1441 AH in what Gregorian calendars know as August 2021. [4:]( Number of new year’s days in the traditional Jewish calendar [28%:]( Share of Americans who planned to make New Year’s resolutions in 2020 [7%:]( Share of Americans who said they stuck to their resolutions in 2019 [108:]( Number of times that Buddhist temples in Japan ring the bell on New Year’s Eve, representing the cleansing of 108 human desires that cause suffering [11,875 lbs (5,386 kg):]( Weight of the ball that drops (in a carefully controlled manner) in New York City’s Times Square [1 million:]( Number of people who assemble to watch it in person [1 billion:]( Number of people who watch it on TV [€200 million ($240 million):]( Amount typically spent on New Year’s fireworks in Germany (banned in 2020 to preserve hospital space for Covid-19 patients) [360 million:]( Glasses of sparkling wine consumed in the US on New Year’s Eve Quotable Burning the Old Year --------------------------------------------------------------- Letters swallow themselves in seconds. Notes friends tied to the doorknob, transparent scarlet paper, sizzle like moth wings, marry the air. So much of any year is flammable, lists of vegetables, partial poems. Orange swirling flame of days, so little is a stone. Where there was something and suddenly isn’t, an absence shouts, celebrates, leaves a space. I begin again with the smallest numbers. Quick dance, shuffle of losses and leaves, only the things I didn’t do crackle after the blazing dies. —[Naomi Shihab Nye]( What’s new about it, anyway? --------------------------------------------------------------- New Year’s Eve can feel stressful—it reminds us of the passage of time and the indisputable fact that we’re all getting older. If you’re familiar with this annual dread, take comfort in philosophy and physics. As Sean M. Carroll [writes]( for Smithsonian Magazine, thinkers from the ancient Greek philosopher Parmenides to Albert Einstein and contemporary British scientist Julian Barbour have argued that time is a construct, and that what we perceive as the past, present, and future all coexist. Carroll explains: “At issue is whether each subsequent moment is brought into existence from the previous moment by the passage of time. Think of a movie, back in the days when most movies were projected from actual reels of film. You could watch the movie, see what happened and talk sensibly about how long the whole thing lasted. But you could also sneak into the projection room, assemble the reels of the film, and look at them all at once. The anti-time perspective says that the best way to think about the universe is, similarly, as a collection of the frames.” Comforting, no? If there is no such thing as the passage of time, then there is no need to worry about what the next year will bring. Or, in the age of Covid-19, when during the next year we will finally be able to see our friends and family in person again. Philosophy also provides the perfect excuse to tell your family that you’ll be going to bed early: Since time is an illusion, there’s no need to stay up ’til midnight, or “fake midnight,” as true philosophers call it. If you’d like to go even further, you might even regale your household with the theories of [cognitive scientist Donald D. Hoffman]( who says that our perceptions of the world have no bearing on reality—and therefore the popcorn they are currently throwing at you for being a party-pooper is merely a trick of the mind. Try it. You’ll be the life of the party, for sure. Giphy Pop quiz Which of the following traits characterizes the Roman god Janus, for whom the month of January is named? He was so strong that he pushed the sun above the horizon each morningHe was the timekeeper who kept records of each yearHe had two faces, so he could look both forward and backwardHe had a penchant for leopard-print clothing and, when shocked, said, “Oh. My. God.” Correct. Incorrect. If your inbox doesn’t support this quiz, find the solution at bottom of email. A brief history of bubbly [1662:]( English scientist Christopher Merret explains the process of making sparkling wine in a paper presented to the Royal Society, including the crucial “second fermentation” step. [1660s:]( Sparkling wine gains popularity among nobles in Georgian England, introduced by the trendsetting Marquis de St-Evremond. [1715:]( The Duke of Orléans, Philippe II, makes champagne the signature drink of French aristocracy during his regency. [1728:]( France’s King Louis XV gives the Champagne region dibs on sparkling wine with a decree that it has the exclusive right to ship wine in bottles (as opposed to barrels). [1789:]( In the aftermath of the French Revolution, celebrating with champagne emerges as “a part of the secular rituals that replaced formerly religious rituals,” according to history professor Kolleen M. Guy. [1811:]( Madame Clicquot of Champagne creates “the first truly modern champagne,” featuring smaller bubbles and a dry, rather than sweet, wine. [1876:]( Winemaker Louis Roederer designs Cristal champagne to suit the needs of Russian tsar Alexander II, who requests a wine with a clear bottle and a flat bottom—the better to detect any poisons hidden within. [1910:]( Café Martin in New York City originates the tradition of exclusively serving champagne after 9 pm on New Year’s Eve. Franklin Jacome/Agencia Press South/Getty Images New Year’s around the world --------------------------------------------------------------- Big nights out aren’t an option during a global pandemic—but here are some festive practices from around the world that you might be able to celebrate at home. 🇲🇽 Mexico: Wear [red underwear]( if you want to find love in the new year, yellow if you hope for wealth. Why not both? 🇩🇰 Denmark: Send friends well-wishes for the new year by [smashing plates]( and leaving the pieces on their doorsteps. 🇪🇨 Ecuador: In a tradition said to have begun during an 1895 epidemic of yellow fever, people [create and burn effigies]( to banish the unhappy elements of the previous year. 🇯🇵 Japan: Eating soba noodles, a tradition dating back to the [Edo period]( is considered good luck and is confirmed delicious. 🇿🇦 South Africa: Since the 1990s, Johannesburg revelers have been [tossing old furniture]( out their windows—though police have cracked down on the practice in recent years. 🇪🇸 Spain: It’s tradition to [eat 12 grapes]( for good luck at the stroke of midnight, one grape for each month of the new year 🇩🇪 Germany: The tradition of [Bleigiessen]( involves casting lead in cold water and then interpreting the shapes the metal forms as signs of the future. You’ll just need some molten… actually maybe don’t try this one at home. Fun fact! If you’d rather go back in time for a New Year’s ritual, take a page from Edwardian England. “On New Year’s Day, families would gather around the fireplace and practice bibliomancy,” [Lauren Alex O’Hagan writes for The Conversation](. “This involved opening the new book on a random page and reading the passage to predict what would happen in the coming year.” Membership What happened in 2020? --------------------------------------------------------------- Quartz published [50-plus field guides]( this year, helping readers unpack the implications of the [pandemic’s effect]( as well as make meaning of the challenges of [remote work]( and the [evolving needs of employees](. We also answered burning questions like, how much would it cost for you to hire VIP farm animals from Goat-2-Meeting to appear at your next online corporate event? Click the button below to test your knowledge about what happened in 2020, including the cost of a caprine Zoom appearance, with questions pulled from this year’s five most popular field guides. Not yet a member? Use promo code BYE2020 for [50% off your first year](. [Quiz me!]( Giphy Poll How do you typically celebrate a year’s end? [Click here to vote]( With gusto and bubbly!With an early bedtime!With gusto and bubbly AND an early bedtime!I don’t bother myself with arbitrary dates! 💬 let's talk! In last week’s email about [holiday obsessions]( we meant to include a poll about your favorite seasonal treats but we were already too deep in a Christmas cookie coma. Now that we’ve awakened from our long winter’s nap, we welcome any [confection suggestions](mailto:obsession%2Bfeedback@qz.com?cc=&subject=Thoughts%20about%20holiday%20obsessions%20&body=) for next year. 🤔 [What did you think of today’s email?](mailto:obsession%2Bfeedback@qz.com?cc=&subject=Thoughts%20about%20the%20New%20Year%20&body=) 💡 [What should we obsess over next?](mailto:obsession%2Bideas@qz.com?cc=&subject=Obsess%20over%20this%20next.&body=) 🎲 [Show me a random Obsession]( Today’s email was written by [Sarah Todd]( edited by [Susan Howson]( and produced by [Jordan Weinstock](. [facebook]( The correct answer to the quiz is He had two faces, so he could look both forward and backward. Enjoying the Quartz Weekly Obsession? [Send this link]( to a friend! Want to advertise in the Quartz Weekly Obsession? Send us an email at ads@qz.com. Not enjoying it? No worries. [Click here]( to unsubscribe. Quartz | 675 Avenue of the Americas, 4th Fl | New York, NY 10011 | United States