Comment on You've Just Been Hit By The Metric System Boys

gedaliyah@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

• TheYojimbo@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  You mean 16.7cm ?

  And why a 6th ? Why not a 5th, or a 7th ? Your argument is not the flex you think.

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  • gedaliyah@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    Maybe me and five friends want to split a fruit by the foot.

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    • TheYojimbo@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      Now THAT is a flex. You have 5 friends ? In this economy ?

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  • Deme@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    I think it’s worth adding that while no system can avoid difficult divisions, we use the same base-ten numerals everywhere so metric only has to deal with the limitations of base-ten. Using a unit system with a different base, but then having base-ten numbers to count those sounds like it defeats the purpose. If we counted in base-twelve, then that would be a different matter.

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  • Bluewing@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    So that took a calculator to do didn’t it. It was not an intuitive calculation you could easily and quickly do in your head was it.

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    • TheYojimbo@lemmy.world ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      First, no it didn’t. It’s not that hard.

      Second, it works because they chose 6, but do it with 5, then it’s “easier” in base 10, do it with 7 and you’re back to decimals either way.

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      • Bluewing@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        So who decided base10 is correct? Why be limited to just 3 factors of then when you could have 4 with base12? More factors more better. And don’t give me the “10 fingers” thing. If you count the knuckles on your fingers, (ignore the thumb), you will discover there are 12 of them. A natural Base12 just like counting whole fingers.

        More than one civilization has done base12. And I believe there are still one or two Pacific Island cultures still using base12 to this day.

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• OriginEnergySux@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  I don’t understand what you just said, and I don’t care to respond

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  • restingOface@quokk.au ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    Plate or platter?

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• floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  Ready to have your mind blown?

  You can write 1/6m.

  You can write π m.

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  • Bluewing@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    Now go cut me a board 1/6m without a measuring device. Do it by eye. With a fractional system 1/6 of a foot is far easier to do.

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    • MyRumIsVodka@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Now go cut me a board 1/6m without a measuring device. Do it by eye. With a fractional system 1/6 of a foot is far easier to do.

      You probably could do it if you grew up measuring things in centimetres and metres, instead of inches, elbows and feet.

      In fact I’m often eyeballing ~10cm = 1/10m based on the size of my middle finger, and ~20cm = 1/5m based on the distance between the tips of my thumb and pinkie when my hand is fully spread out.

      You’re confusing “it’s more intuitive because I grew up with it” with “it’s intrinsically more intuitive”.

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      • Bluewing@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        I’m perfectly happy and able to seamlessly shift between systems. You seem stuck at “Ugh, me sure me right and all else wrong!” attitude.

        And you, by your examples, are STILL using a device to measure things because the metric system isn’t that intuitive. You are using body parts that you have predetermined the approximate lengths of. I can tell a 4 year old child to cut a piece of paper in half and they intuitively understand about how much that is with no pre-measured body parts.

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    • floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Are you saying that you can estimate fractional lengths by eye better in imperial than in metric, or that using a fractional measuring device is more precise than using no device at all? Neither option seems like a good point tbh.

      But let’s entertain that since imperial is a fractional system it makes cutting fractions of foot-long boards easier. For 1/6 that’s 2", very cool, mission accomplished, much superior than 16.7cm. But what if you need to cut 1/5 or 1/7? Now you need to work with 1/32" subdivisions while metric stays the same and allows you to keep working at however many decimal positions of accuracy the job requires. A 1/7m board can be 14.3cm if you’re going to use it as timber, or 142.86mm if it’s for aerospace applications. Unless I’m not allowed to use any measuring device, because reasons?

      Fractions and bases don’t relate to each other in the way you think they do

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• wieson@feddit.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  What’s a sixth of an ounce? A sixth of a pint? Of a gallon? Of a pound per square inch? Of an inch?

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