4 ms·

That doesn't really hurt the argument at all - you're just arguing about factors now, and if you're really going to go there, 12 wins due to having more factors

That doesn't really hurt the argument at all - you're just arguing about factors now, and if you're really going to go there, 12 wins due to having more factors. The mathematical correction you'll have to do to measure 1/5th will be displaced by all the correction you don't have to do for other cases.

naikrovek 8y ago
You're bent on the whole number thing. Why? Whole numbers don't make things easier to measure or cut or reason about. I can measure in thirds or fifths of a meter or a foot or an inch or any unit you want with a compass and a straight edge. You're arguing that the mark on the tape measure is possible for imperial and impossible for metric, when thirds are involved. Not true.
- Just_Smith 8y ago
  Because infinite numbers are not a natural expression of discrete measurements, and when it comes to being price 1/3 = 4 is always going to be easier to put your finger on than 1/3 = 3.333. I work in software and data analysis in the construction industry. A continuous measurement is good for some things, but it's definitely not good for discrete measurements. Furthermore, a lot of the people who work in the field for construction greatly prefer Imperial for a reason. They have no bias towards systems beyond what works fast and easy.
  - atoav 8y ago
    I work a lot with wood in the metric system and the third thing is bot a problem at all. I never had even remotly any trouble finding 333.33 mm or a 666.66 on a tape measure. For anything that needs extreme accurcay I’d go with my iron ruler with 0.1 mm ruling and beyond that I would go for a caliper. If you consistently have to use a weird measurement over and over again, you usually end up making a temporary ruler (paper, wood, metal) anyways
  - Just_Smith 8y ago
    "price" is an autocorrection of "precise"
  - Zombieball 8y ago
    > and when it comes to being price 1/3 = 4 is always going to be easier to put your finger on than 1/3 = 3.333. Am I missing something? Wouldn’t it just be putting your finger on the 10 cm mark? This is approx 4”. I realize this is not exact conversion, but it’s trivial to come up with examples where metric is easier: say you have a piece of wood 7 7/8” long that you want to cut in half. Is it easier to put your finger on 3 15/16” or 10 cm?
  - umanwizard 8y ago
    What is stopping people from making meter sticks with 3000 lines, i.e. every third of a millimeter is marked? (The point is, there is nothing any more "infinite" about the rational number 1/3 than 1/4, 1/5, 1/2 or what have you. It just can't be written in the arbitrary base 10 system, just like 1/5 can't be written in base 12)
    - Moru 8y ago
      There is nothing stopping you from writing 1/3 meter.
pcnix 8y ago
The factor argument is not really something that stands up, because you need to consider factors for an arbitrary length of something in the world, not a well defined unit of your own making. How about 1/3rd of a tree? It's likely to be in some ungodly fractional amount of an inch, that's extremely hard to convert into feet, but in metric the decimal system just makes it super easy.

naikrovek 8y ago

You're bent on the whole number thing. Why? Whole numbers don't make things easier to measure or cut or reason about. I can measure in thirds or fifths of a meter or a foot or an inch or any unit you want with a compass and a straight edge. You're arguing that the mark on the tape measure is possible for imperial and impossible for metric, when thirds are involved. Not true.

Just_Smith 8y ago
Because infinite numbers are not a natural expression of discrete measurements, and when it comes to being price 1/3 = 4 is always going to be easier to put your finger on than 1/3 = 3.333. I work in software and data analysis in the construction industry. A continuous measurement is good for some things, but it's definitely not good for discrete measurements. Furthermore, a lot of the people who work in the field for construction greatly prefer Imperial for a reason. They have no bias towards systems beyond what works fast and easy.
- atoav 8y ago
  I work a lot with wood in the metric system and the third thing is bot a problem at all. I never had even remotly any trouble finding 333.33 mm or a 666.66 on a tape measure. For anything that needs extreme accurcay I’d go with my iron ruler with 0.1 mm ruling and beyond that I would go for a caliper. If you consistently have to use a weird measurement over and over again, you usually end up making a temporary ruler (paper, wood, metal) anyways
- Just_Smith 8y ago
  "price" is an autocorrection of "precise"
- Zombieball 8y ago
  > and when it comes to being price 1/3 = 4 is always going to be easier to put your finger on than 1/3 = 3.333. Am I missing something? Wouldn’t it just be putting your finger on the 10 cm mark? This is approx 4”. I realize this is not exact conversion, but it’s trivial to come up with examples where metric is easier: say you have a piece of wood 7 7/8” long that you want to cut in half. Is it easier to put your finger on 3 15/16” or 10 cm?
- umanwizard 8y ago
  What is stopping people from making meter sticks with 3000 lines, i.e. every third of a millimeter is marked? (The point is, there is nothing any more "infinite" about the rational number 1/3 than 1/4, 1/5, 1/2 or what have you. It just can't be written in the arbitrary base 10 system, just like 1/5 can't be written in base 12)
  - Moru 8y ago
    There is nothing stopping you from writing 1/3 meter.

pcnix 8y ago

The factor argument is not really something that stands up, because you need to consider factors for an arbitrary length of something in the world, not a well defined unit of your own making. How about 1/3rd of a tree? It's likely to be in some ungodly fractional amount of an inch, that's extremely hard to convert into feet, but in metric the decimal system just makes it super easy.