3 ms·

I think you’ve missed the point of the post you’re responding to, and even remade it... the imperial system is exactly legacy, and its idiosyncrasies aren’t war

I think you’ve missed the point of the post you’re responding to, and even remade it... the imperial system is exactly legacy, and its idiosyncrasies aren’t warts per se—for someone who’s able to use it (ie not an outsider looking in without familiarity//triggered to the point of “primary school” incivility), it has some convenient properties, and we’re quite pleased to keep using it day-to-day, thanks. (Sidebar: the turning point between very warm and hot is literally built into the system at 100F. If you think 30C is hot, you’ve clearly not spent much time here in the summer... and it doesn’t feel really cold until you’re down around 0F anyway.) > various feet, inches, fluid ounces and other shenanigans are mind-bogglingly confusing for anyone who is used to metric This isn’t relevant—no one is asking you lot to change from metric, and it isn’t confusing to our lot. We manage quite easily not to get our minds getting boggled... we’re even able to switch between multiple units, no problem, it’s not as confusing or challenging as you make it sound.

short_sells_poo 6y ago
Apologies I was perhaps too much tongue in cheek, there was no offence meant. On the other hand, you too are arguing against points I haven't made. I'm not saying the imperial system is bad on it's own. I have no opinion on this. Anyone who is used to it will find it intuitive. However, saying that it's somehow objectively more geared for humans is also incorrect, because as I wrote it is exactly as convenient to use for people used to metric as metric is for people used to imperial. > the turning point between very warm and hot is literally built into the system at 100F. If you think 30C is hot, you’ve clearly not spent much time here in the summer... and it doesn’t feel really cold until you’re down around 0F anyway Again, this is subjective. 30C is hot for many people in the Nordics, and business as usual for someone in the tropics. The same will apply whether we use the imperial system or not. But I personally have no intuition how 0F or 100F feels like. It's all subjective (how it feels like). I was merely arguing that trying to lean on subjective/intuitive feel for the units to make a general case of them being useful for daily life is still just subjective. Imperial is intuitive for people who are used to it and highly unintuitive for anyone who isn't. Conversely, metric is intuitive for people who are used to it - even for daily life and imperial is not.
- michaericalribo 6y ago
  :) and my apologies, too—I didn't mean to be too snarky and irascible. maybe we can agree that both Celsius and Fahrenheit are subjectively easier to relate to everyday life than Kelvin...

short_sells_poo 6y ago

Apologies I was perhaps too much tongue in cheek, there was no offence meant. On the other hand, you too are arguing against points I haven't made. I'm not saying the imperial system is bad on it's own. I have no opinion on this. Anyone who is used to it will find it intuitive. However, saying that it's somehow objectively more geared for humans is also incorrect, because as I wrote it is exactly as convenient to use for people used to metric as metric is for people used to imperial. > the turning point between very warm and hot is literally built into the system at 100F. If you think 30C is hot, you’ve clearly not spent much time here in the summer... and it doesn’t feel really cold until you’re down around 0F anyway Again, this is subjective. 30C is hot for many people in the Nordics, and business as usual for someone in the tropics. The same will apply whether we use the imperial system or not. But I personally have no intuition how 0F or 100F feels like. It's all subjective (how it feels like). I was merely arguing that trying to lean on subjective/intuitive feel for the units to make a general case of them being useful for daily life is still just subjective. Imperial is intuitive for people who are used to it and highly unintuitive for anyone who isn't. Conversely, metric is intuitive for people who are used to it - even for daily life and imperial is not.

michaericalribo 6y ago
:) and my apologies, too—I didn't mean to be too snarky and irascible. maybe we can agree that both Celsius and Fahrenheit are subjectively easier to relate to everyday life than Kelvin...