The more accurate response is: 47 years, 9 months and 22 days. This was calculated from December 31, 1978 until today. To illustrate this better, if you were born in 1978 you would be either 47 or 48 years old. 48, if you were born on or before October 23, or 47 if you born after this date.
1978 was 47 years ago because we are now in 2026.
1978 was 573 months ago because we are now in October 2026. Here's how to calculate this: there are 12 months in a year so, 47 x 12 = 564. Nine months have passed since the start of 2026 which also need to be added, meaning 564 + 9 = 573.
1978 was 2494 weeks ago. The trick to finding this result lies in calculating how many days have passed since 1978 and divide that number by 7 (days in a week). In this particular case, 17462 / 7 = 2494.57, from which only the quotient is needed, 2494.
1978 was 17462 days ago because today is October 23, 2026. This total comes from multiplying the number of years passed since 1978 (47) with the length of a standard year (365 days) for a base of 17155 days. Adding the 295 days that have passed in 2026 gives us 17450. However, we also must account for 12 leap years since 1978, which means 17450 + 12 = 17462.
For a little bit of fun, you can also calculate how many hours it's been since 1978. Take the number of days and multiply it by 24 (hours in a day) 24 x 17462 = 419088. Then add the hours passed since midnight 419088 + 11 = 419099 and there you have it: 1978 was 419099 hours ago.