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> humans without tools > My foot is a foot long > I can go into a field without tools Well, you can't say you don't have a tool while bringing a tool. My foo

> humans without tools > My foot is a foot long > I can go into a field without tools Well, you can't say you don't have a tool while bringing a tool. My foot is a lot (!) bigger than yours, so that argument doesn't hold. > Using Imperial measures makes this clear - do you really need to know how big your field is to the millimetre? To the centimetre? A foot will do. Yes, also a meter will do. > but ... but ... how exactly long is a meter? Well, again, my foot is bigger than yours. Others are smaller. They'll do, too, right? Point is, who cares if you are off by a couple of meters/foots/whatever if you are just looking for an estimate? But using foots, arms, pumpkins or cat tails for length seems way too ambiguous. A meter, while seemingly synthetic to people not familiar with the metric system, can be used just as good with all the advantages it brings. Yes, it requires to get an idea of its size. Well, but so does your foot or whatever randomly by nature generated object you use for measurement.

brigandish 6y ago
> Well, you can't say you don't have a tool while bringing a tool. I like that but let's try to keep to the principle of charity and accept that we're using words in the normal way, so I can say that I don't have a tool because it's not normal to refer to your foot as a tool. > My foot is a lot (!) bigger than yours, so that argument doesn't hold. In what way does you knowing that your foot is not a foot long undermine an argument about accuracy vs precision? > A meter, while seemingly synthetic to people not familiar with the metric system, can be used just as good with all the advantages it brings. When did I argue against using metres? I must say it's a bit frustrating to have several responses that are so binary in nature. If I suggest Javascript for frontend website work does that invalidate using something else if appropriate? Am I arguing against strongly typed, pre-compiled languages in general? If you didn't know JS but did know Rust might you be justified in choosing WASM? Imperial measures have their place, as do metric ones.
- numlock86 6y ago
  > In what way does you knowing that your foot is not a foot long undermine an argument about accuracy vs precision? I know people whose feet are barely half as long as mine. So what exactly am I or others supposed to use as a foot unit? Something in between or rather towards the smaller feet? Tell a native Dutch person to use like two thirds only while telling some native Asian to use more like 1.3 foot as a foot? And on top of that not even their their own but the average of each, because you don't want to get it wrong by a factor of two? Yeah, who cares if it's 100 foot or 200 foot. Accuracy, right? A meter is easy to remember or to guess with a lot less variation. And if you are fancy enough, you could use a scale for example to get it accurate. A lot of other things actually, too. The magic of definition and derivation. But I am sure a foot can also be derived from Spanish tomatos or something. > analogy to programming How many foot is the circumference of the average straw man? > Imperial measures have their place [...] For example?

brigandish 6y ago

> Well, you can't say you don't have a tool while bringing a tool. I like that but let's try to keep to the principle of charity and accept that we're using words in the normal way, so I can say that I don't have a tool because it's not normal to refer to your foot as a tool. > My foot is a lot (!) bigger than yours, so that argument doesn't hold. In what way does you knowing that your foot is not a foot long undermine an argument about accuracy vs precision? > A meter, while seemingly synthetic to people not familiar with the metric system, can be used just as good with all the advantages it brings. When did I argue against using metres? I must say it's a bit frustrating to have several responses that are so binary in nature. If I suggest Javascript for frontend website work does that invalidate using something else if appropriate? Am I arguing against strongly typed, pre-compiled languages in general? If you didn't know JS but did know Rust might you be justified in choosing WASM? Imperial measures have their place, as do metric ones.

numlock86 6y ago
> In what way does you knowing that your foot is not a foot long undermine an argument about accuracy vs precision? I know people whose feet are barely half as long as mine. So what exactly am I or others supposed to use as a foot unit? Something in between or rather towards the smaller feet? Tell a native Dutch person to use like two thirds only while telling some native Asian to use more like 1.3 foot as a foot? And on top of that not even their their own but the average of each, because you don't want to get it wrong by a factor of two? Yeah, who cares if it's 100 foot or 200 foot. Accuracy, right? A meter is easy to remember or to guess with a lot less variation. And if you are fancy enough, you could use a scale for example to get it accurate. A lot of other things actually, too. The magic of definition and derivation. But I am sure a foot can also be derived from Spanish tomatos or something. > analogy to programming How many foot is the circumference of the average straw man? > Imperial measures have their place [...] For example?