BBT 17

Friday, December 6th, 2013

What does floor 0 mean? Should elevators use 0?

Some countries use floor 0 for the main floor, the main floor meaning the bottom floor above ground, before the floors going underground. Other countries substitute the floor 0 to lobby and other equivalents, or floor 1.

Before, in my young age, I had asked about the meaning of a floor 0. The floor 0 had struck me when I compared the use of the term "floor 0" with the use of "lobby" or "floor 1". 0 was used in many apartments and buildings in France, though more modern apartments and buildings used lobby; Korea used 1 most of the times, though some modern buildings began using lobby instead. Now however, I really do wonder about the meaning of a floor 0. Oh, I feel that by the end of this year, with half the term for ToK, I am going to end up having weird, or unconventional and "original", debates with people. The way that I see it, following my experiences with a couple of different systems, I think the use of lobby is better than the use of 0. The thing is, yes, of course 0 is before 1, following the concept of the number line. However, 0 is not the same as the other numbers.