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[–] 89 points 2 weeks ago

Getting these two after eachother is fate

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  • [–] 46 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

    Violet

    Huh. I must have missed this book in A Series of Unfortunate Events.

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    [–] 30 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

    True except for calorie. Metric typically uses Joules, which is good because it's just the product of force (N) and distance units (m), instead of requiring a conversion factor.

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  • [–] 23 points 2 weeks ago (6 children)

    Found out recently that a fluid ounce of water doesn't weigh an ounce, and that makes me mad

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    [–] 20 points 2 weeks ago
    [–] 20 points 2 weeks ago

    Wild Thing by Josh Bazell, in case anyone was wondering what book that is.

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  • [–] 19 points 2 weeks ago* (5 children)

    My favourite part of the metric system is that with it’s water weight being 1-1 with volume; measuring liquids is super easy with a scale.

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  • [–] 19 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

    Why call Imperial Units the American system? It's the British Empire's fault. And the UK still uses it. Like so much they say weird ass shit like "I weigh 12 stones."

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    [–] 16 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

    When I learned the consistency (synergy?) between metric measures, I thought that was so amazing.

    In the olden days sciencey types and engineers kept fact books listing such relations. They had a specific name that escapes me.

    Before handheld calculators, they also kept books of pre-calculated mathematical operations, so they were used to having numbers books around.

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    [–] 13 points 2 weeks ago* (64 children)

    Metric is great for scientists in a lab with equipment to measure things.

    Imperial was created during a time when peasants in the middle of nowhere needed to measure something "close enough" to trade with others, even without tools or measuring equipment, which was only owned by scribes and other members of the nobility.

    This is why all imperial length measurements relate to parts of the body and why all volume and weight measurements relate to containers that were commonly used to store the thing you're measuring (a bushel of grain, for example).

    Also, a foot can be divided equally into 2, 3, 4, or 6 equally-sized pieces without resorting to estimation or irrational numbers; a meter cannot.

    The US agreed to switch to the metric system centuries ago, but the ship carrying the official units sank on the way over.

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  • [–] 76 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (31 children)

    Metric is great for scientists in a lab with equipment to measure things.

    Metric is just as great for everyday life as imperial units.

    Also, a foot can be divided equally into 2, 3, 4, or 6 equally-sized pieces without resorting to estimation or irrational numbers; a meter cannot.

    While I agree in principle, I also enjoy the chaos that imperial system causes when you try adding up 1 1/8 inches + 5 27/32 inches + 7 3/16 inches instead of just using decimal numbers.

    Edited for clarity

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  • [–] 48 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    Metric is just as great for everyday life as imperial units.

    This is what the metricians say to feel better about themselves, but they never mean it.

    "Oh yes, I'll have a 236.588 milliliters of tea, thank you for offering"

    "The kids are out playing in the back 0.914 meters"

    "Doctor, I think I broke my left 30.48 centimeters"

    Do you see how silly you would sound if you didn't use imperial?

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  • [–] 28 points 2 weeks ago

    Metric allows you to convert between length volume and mass in your head. Someone smarter than me could probably take a reasonable estimate of how long a kettle will take to boil just by knowing it's wattage and estimating its volume.

    You're right that "pounds" may have e been a practical measurement back when people didn't have calibrated and everyone's hand weighed a pound. However, that advantage ceased once everyone standardised those measurements.

    A metre is equally divisible by 50, 25, 20, 10, 5, and 2. There arr numerous advantages to a base 10 system.

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  • [–] 21 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (9 children)

    "Decimalized currency is great for all those labcoats, but for us regular ol' normal folk, it's much easier to use real, easily divisible livres, which can be divided into 20 sous and subsequently into 12 deniers."

    "In fact, imperial is so great because duodecimal invites so much divisibility! What's that? You're saying it goes 12 –> 3 –> 1760 for length, 16 –> 2000 for units of mass, that units of volume are a bastardized base-2 system where there isn't even a consistent multiple between units, and that pounds and short tons aren't cleanly divisible by 3? And that not a single unit of volume is divisible by 3 unless you bring it down to the level of teaspoons?"

    "'Why not just switch to a fully duodecimal system if divisibility is so important to you', you ask? Well fuck you, a foot is about as long specifically as my forearm, and there's no way my poor, emaciated monkey brain would ever have found something similar to latch onto with SI units. Those people living in most of the rest of the world probably just carry meter sticks around up their asses. 'How many square inches is a 30 x 30-foot room?', you ask? Well fuck you again."

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  • [–] 7 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

    Jesse, what the fuck are you talking about?

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  • [–] 10 points 2 weeks ago* (3 children)

    I thought I was clowning on a tired Gish gallop of flimsy, ad hoc justifications for imperial/US customary.

    Any concerns over anything I said in particular?

    Edit: He can't keep getting away with it!

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  • [–] 19 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

    What do you mean you can not divide a meter without estimations or irrational numbers? Do you mean fractions or decimal? 1m/3=3.33… dm ( repeating, which means it is a rational fraction)

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  • [–] 16 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

    Every country used a system based off body parts or similarly easy-to-measure parts. When the metric system was invented, most of them switched because it was the logic thing to do. Some just decided that the dumb system was better who knows why.

    Spain adopted the metric system in 1852 and by the time, they weren't the most advanced country.

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  • [–] 12 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

    Also, US Customary units share many of the same terms as Imperial, but the actual quantities differ.

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    [–] 13 points 2 weeks ago (8 children)

    One mole of hydrogen-1 isn't 1 gram because of the binding energy of protons and neutrons. One mole of hydrogen-1 is about 1.008g

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    [–] 12 points 2 weeks ago

    a gallon of water boils in 10 minutes on a whirlpool electric range in turbo mode

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  • [–] 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    I can't remember what book this was from, it was a medical thriller about an ex-con in witness protection IIRC. I think it also includes him sending an intern to check on "the LD50 of falling out of a window"

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