Imperial Or Metric?

[Pillager]

Tsk, not at all. Plenty of people have things not designed for them. We have the European Union for example.

 

[GenMarshall]

Sandard (Imperial) measurments are better, IMO.

 

[Perfection]

Sandard (Imperial) measurments are better, IMO.

Why do you say that?

 

[Steph]

Metric, except for temperature, celcius is too inprecise.

Like? 25.1°C? Or 25.14°C?

 

[Perfection]

In a way though, the U.S. has metrified. All imperial measurements are now defined in terms of metric measurements. Officially the U.S. is both metric and imperial.

I think that over time, more and more industrial componants are gonna turn metric with the increasing globalisation, that left alone imperial wil be relegated to certain consumer goods and home construction.

 

[newfangle]

I measure small distances in feet. Large distances in km.
Small weights in pounds. Large weights in kg and metric tonnes.
Small volumes in teaspoons, tablespoons, and cups. Larger volumes in litres.

Curse my mixed upbringing.

 

[Perfection]

It's rather funny, though. Most of my sense of measurement comes from science classes. Though I live in the U.S. I have far greater understanding in most metric units.

There really are two exceptions, long scale length, I like in miles, and temperature I like in Ferieghnhiet (though more and more I am getting a feel for Celsius and Kelvin scales)

 

[farting bob]

In britian we mostly use metric, despite what some people think. We only use imperial for miles (its easier than changing every load sign in the country...), beer and our own weight. We use both imperial and metric for height (younger people use metric more so i rekon that'll eventually become the dominant one).
Metric is far superior to imperial in practically every step. If it wasnt for the hassle of completely changing over (old people = angry. old people = majority of voters. go figure.) we would be as metric as continental europe by now.

Oh, and fahrenheit is really weird and pointless.

 

[CIVPhilzilla]

Metric is the system to use if you want to use in science or math, very easy to work with. Imperial is nice for everyday things, as thats all I am really exposed to.

 

[EdwardTking]

Britain is mainly metric.

There are only a few exceptions:

Beer and Milk: the sacred "pint" persists
Cooking: such a shambles, not even really imperial
Driving: miles persists in miles signs and in miles per hour

Our reluctance is not so much that metric is perceived as continental,
but that it is seen as part of Napoleon's imperial system.

now as to us Brits driving on the right.... WW3!

 

[Marla_Singer]

Metric is the system to use if you want to use in science or math, very easy to work with. Imperial is nice for everyday things, as thats all I am really exposed to.

I'm no scientist and I'm perfectly fine with the metric system for everyday stuff...

 

[Lambert Simnel]

A lot of irrational bias here in favour of, ultimately, a number system based simply on how many extremities you have on the end of your arms.

From an arithmetic viewpoint, 12 makes far more sense than 10 as a basis for a number system - its factors of 2,3,4 and 6 allow you to halve, third and quarter things with ease (essential for any truly sharing society...) and kicks into touch both base 10 and Cierdan's ludicrously stupid base 30.

I agree that it makes life a bit easier having your measurement system aligned with your numerical system, but base 10 is just a cop out.

 

[Marla_Singer]

A lot of irrational bias here in favour of, ultimately, a number system based simply on how many extremities you have on the end of your arms.

From an arithmetic viewpoint, 12 makes far more sense than 10 as a basis for a number system - its factors of 2,3,4 and 6 allow you to halve, third and quarter things with ease (essential for any truly sharing society...) and kicks into touch both base 10 and Cierdan's ludicrously stupid base 30.

I agree that it makes life a bit easier having your measurement system aligned with your numerical system, but base 10 is just a cop out.

How is the medieval system a base 12 system. Okay 12 inches make 1 foot, but 12 feet don't make 1 yard, and 12 yard don't make 1 mile. To get a base 12 system, you would mean to count 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B. That's not counted this way in the medieval system. It's simply about measures which have absolutely no connections between another. How many Americans know the exact number of feet in one mile ?

 

[Lambert Simnel]

How is the medieval system a base 12 system.

Never said it was.

How many Americans know the exact number of feet in one mile ?

Dunno. Shall I go ask them ?

 

[DBear]

I went to school in the late '70s when there was an effort to indoctrinate students into Metric. Of course, that didn't hold. I know my way around metric units, but still use the old system for day-to-day life.

And I hate Celsius. I would spend all winter dealing with negative temperatures. At least with Fahrenheit, when it hits 0, you know it's REALLY cold!

 

[Marla_Singer]

I went to school in the late '70s when there was an effort to indoctrinate students into Metric. Of course, that didn't hold. I know my way around metric units, but still use the old system for day-to-day life.

And I hate Celsius. I would spend all winter dealing with negative temperatures. At least with Fahrenheit, when it hits 0, you know it's REALLY cold!

When Celcius hits -20°, you also know it's REALLY cold.

If you're comfortable with the medieval system, it's simply because you've been raised in it. I'm fine with this, it's totally understandable.

 

[wit>trope]

@the person who called base 30 "ludicrous" and evidently didn't understand my mathematical proof for why it is the best:

http://www.grantz.net/~matthew/curio/bternary.html#Why_Prefer_One_Base_Over_Another?

In fact, if a base has a prime factorization p1a1 * p2a2 * ... * pnan, you will always be able to tell if a number is divisible by p1(a <= a1), ..., or pn(a <= an) by looking at the last numeral, and you'll be able to tell if the number is divisible by (p1 - 1) ... (pn - 1) by looking at the sum of the numerals. This makes bases like 30 = 2*3*5, 42 = 2*3*7, and 70 = 2*5*7 very attractive.

Of course, if you used 30 (or 210 = 2*3*5*7) as a base, you'd have to make up a bunch of extra numerals (and memorize them) [actually you wouldn't as I noted in my writing above], and your addition and multiplication tables would get a LOT bigger. But this could pay off, and not just in the amount of time you spend writing and the amount of space your scribbles take up. A number in base 30 is almost half the size of a number in base 10. For example, the number 123456 takes 6 digits in base 10, but it only takes 3 in base 30.

Base 42 and base 70 could work too, but the lower prime factors are more important and for certain subtle math reasons you dont' want to "skip" any. So it boils down to 30 versus 210 ... but 210 is way too high and so 30 is the best.

People who advocate base 12 do not know the math well IMHO OR they think 30 is too many (but it's not as I explained up above). 30 has many advantages over 12; the only perceived advantage 12 has over 30 is that 12 has a composite factor of 4 and so given a number:

8094809....N

You just divide N by 4 to tell if the entire number is divisible by 4 (i.e. if N mod 4 is 0 then entire number is divisible by 4)

But in base 30, almost the same thing can be done:

78079879....NM

Here you just divide NM by 4 ... so it is a tiny amount of extra work.

But no tiny amount of work can do the same thing for divisibilty by 5 for base 12 numbers.

So this proves that what is important is not the number of factors, but the number of unique prime factors. So any base that is divisible by a prime squared (or cubed etc) is a really really really stupid stupid stupid base because it is a waste to have a redundant factor.

 

[Steph]

How is the medieval system a base 12 system. Okay 12 inches make 1 foot, but 12 feet don't make 1 yard, and 12 yard don't make 1 mile.

Well, 12 twips make a line,12 lines make a inch, 12 inches make a foot, and 12 feet make an alexandrin

 

[Zarn]

Why do you say that?

Imperial is fun to convert, and imperial is a much better word.

Metric is just so boring, and I would be a sheep to join the metric crowd. I am no sheep.

Long live the imperial system!

Die, metric system! Die!!!

 

[Marla_Singer]

Imperial is fun to convert, and imperial is a much better word.

Metric is just so boring, and I would be a sheep to join the metric crowd. I am no sheep.

You would be a sheep in using the metric system in a country where this country is used. As long as you're in the US, being a ship means using the medieval system.