Re: Metric system (was: Re: SPF)
On Wed, Jul 04, 2007 at 07:01:44AM -0400, Chris Wagner wrote:
> Thanks for derailing this list totally off topic. Somehow I knew
> there would be some people who just couldn't leave the English/Metric
> thing alone.
actually, it was you who first brought up the metric issue, and as you
admitted you did it deliberately to provoke a response.
> I've got a news flash for ya. *Every* base unit of the metric system
> is arbitrarily defined. The English system as well has arbitrarily
> defined base units. The difference is that metric derived units
> are interrelated by factors of 10 whereas English derived units are
> interrelated by factors of 2 and 3.
and 12 and 14 and 16 and .... (any other number you care to pick)
> As I stated earlier, the human mind does not work on groups of 10.
> It's 2 and 3
do you always make up "facts" to support your opinions? or is it just in
this instance?
> and that's why the English system is the way it is.
bullshit. english/imperial/US weights and measures AREN'T *systems* at
all, they're an accumulation of dross and random crap that evolved over
hundreds and hundreds of years (and some were adopted/inherited from
usages a thousand or more years old).
and then you get into even more annoying crap, like when talking about
"gallons" are you talking Imperial gallons or US gallons? with metric, a
litre is a litre no matter where you are in the world.
metric, on the other hand, was *designed* to be a system. that's why
it makes sense. it's easy to learn, easy to remember, and (most of
all), easy to use. and it was designed to clean up the chaotic mess of
previous weights and measures.
> All the units *serve the natural operation of the human mind*.
no, they don't. they were mostly established by decree at various times
over many centuries to encode existing practice to stop unscrupulous
people from claiming that their "pound" (or "yard" or whatever) is the
same as everyone else's.
> It's elitist to force everyone to adopt a system that serves a tiny
> fraction.
metric serves everyone because you only have to remember how to count in
tens, you don't have to remember how many ounces in a pound, how many
pounds in a stone, how many rods in a furlong, and hundreds of other
arbitrary conversion rules. in metric, it's all base 10....and base 10
is the arithmetic that everyone has learnt ever since europeans learnt
it from the arabs....and we adopted it wholesale BECAUSE it made so much
more sense than roman numerals and tallies.
> And the fact is no math problem is easier in metric than in English
> other than ones where ur just dividing or multiplying by 10. But
> that's because of the nature of the decimal system. A computer
> doesn't operate under base 10, it uses base 2. The "move the decimal"
> point trick applies there as well. It applies in every number system.
> The English units aren't chaotic. e.g. 1 pint = 2 cups. **wow -
> difficult math**. Guess some folks aren't as good at math as they
> think. O_O
the arithmetic isn't difficult. it's the remembering of hundreds of
stupid and arbitrary conversions.
craig
--
craig sanders <cas@taz.net.au>
Magic is always the best solution -- especially reliable magic.
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