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Imperial measurements are a gigantic waste of human work too. Metric won The US continues to use them though, it's part of their culture. We don't need to opti

Imperial measurements are a gigantic waste of human work too. Metric won The US continues to use them though, it's part of their culture. We don't need to optimise everything, and the world would be a very sad place if we did.

eloisius 4y ago
Everyone loves to rip on the US as one of the only countries that “won’t use metric” but I wonder how many places officially adopt metric but traditional measures are still in common use. In Taiwan it’s very common to buy things in 斤 jin, aka catty. It’s 600 g in Taiwan and slightly less or more in other Sinophone countries. Housing is also measured in 坪 píng, which is the square area of a standard tatami matt. I think Japan uses this too because in TW it’s a legacy of Japanese colonialism.
- thaumasiotes 4y ago
  For mainland China, a 斤 is 500g. Very common unit of weight. Housing would be measured in 平米, square meters. It's pretty much impossible to understand that one as anything other than an adoption of the foreign norm. (Similarly for 斤, set at half a kilogram to fall within the range of traditional use while still fitting seamlessly into the metric system. But wholesale adoption there would mean measuring weights in 公斤, kilograms, which isn't done much.)
- shard 4y ago
  Korea still uses pyeong (same as ping in Taiwan). England still uses stones.
localplume 4y ago
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franky47 4y ago
Disclaimer: I'm French, we use metric everywhere. I've picked up woodworking and imperial inch fractions are a much better mental model for simple math (doubling/halving/dividing lengths, centering things etc) than arbitrary mm values. There's also a thing about the inch being a (subjectively) good "bite size" unit. 1cm is too small, 10cm is way too big.
- justeleblanc 4y ago
  I'm also French and I live in the US. What a load of crap. You're telling me it's easier for you to double "6 and 3/4 inch" than "17.14 cm"? I balk every time I have to do the mental gymnastics. "Okay, 6+3/4 inches doubled, that's 12+6/4 inches. But 6/4 is 1+2/4 which is 1+1/2, so 13+1/2 inches, or 1ft 1+1/2in". "Okay, 17.14cm doubled, that's 34.28cm". Really, for you the first one is easier?
  - franky47 4y ago
    Pretty much, the same way fractions carry over inches as decimals carry over the next power of ten, and as a developer I find powers of two more intuitive. Example: I mostly work with 3/4" thick material, which is a breeze to divide into 3 for 1/4" mortice and tenons. The equivalent 19mm in that respect is a bit trickier, though fortunately EU 3/4 lumber tends to be only 18mm thick.
  - VoodooJuJu 4y ago
    If you've ever done woodworking, you'd appreciate the imperial system, especially when working with kerf size and whatnot. The imperial system was literally made for that kind of application. Rather, not made, but it emerged. The imperial system emerged piecemeal as a series of domain-specific measurements, where each unit conveyed deeper meaning beyond rote volume, distance, etc. For example, an acre means much more than 43,560 feet squared. It means "roughly the amount of land that a pair of oxen can plow in a day". A nice domain-specific measurement that communicates something useful to the experts of that domain, in this case, plowmen, farmers, and lords of the manor. With inches, an inch is about the length of your thumb. Imagine doing woodworking and measuring in thumbs - it's right there in front of you, easy to conceptualize and work with, an intuitive "bite-size" unit of measurement. Fractional centimeters aren't as intuitive to work with and conceptualize. 6+3/4 inches is a lot more workable than 17.14cm.
    - justeleblanc 4y ago
      I have dabbled in woodworking. I still stick to metric. You can spend all day rationalizing why the system you've been immersed in since childhood is more intuitive. In the end, it's more intuitive to you because it's what you're used to. Your example is a prime one. I'm not used to measure things with my thumbs, so if you told me that something is ten thumbs wide, I'd have to think some time before I could make a mental picture of it, and an inaccurate one to boot. I'm used to measure things with centimeters, so I immediately know what 10 cm looks like. > Fractional centimeters aren't as intuitive to work with and conceptualize. To you they're not. To people used to it, they are.

eloisius 4y ago

Everyone loves to rip on the US as one of the only countries that “won’t use metric” but I wonder how many places officially adopt metric but traditional measures are still in common use. In Taiwan it’s very common to buy things in 斤 jin, aka catty. It’s 600 g in Taiwan and slightly less or more in other Sinophone countries. Housing is also measured in 坪 píng, which is the square area of a standard tatami matt. I think Japan uses this too because in TW it’s a legacy of Japanese colonialism.

thaumasiotes 4y ago
For mainland China, a 斤 is 500g. Very common unit of weight. Housing would be measured in 平米, square meters. It's pretty much impossible to understand that one as anything other than an adoption of the foreign norm. (Similarly for 斤, set at half a kilogram to fall within the range of traditional use while still fitting seamlessly into the metric system. But wholesale adoption there would mean measuring weights in 公斤, kilograms, which isn't done much.)
shard 4y ago
Korea still uses pyeong (same as ping in Taiwan). England still uses stones.

localplume 4y ago

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franky47 4y ago

Disclaimer: I'm French, we use metric everywhere. I've picked up woodworking and imperial inch fractions are a much better mental model for simple math (doubling/halving/dividing lengths, centering things etc) than arbitrary mm values. There's also a thing about the inch being a (subjectively) good "bite size" unit. 1cm is too small, 10cm is way too big.

justeleblanc 4y ago
I'm also French and I live in the US. What a load of crap. You're telling me it's easier for you to double "6 and 3/4 inch" than "17.14 cm"? I balk every time I have to do the mental gymnastics. "Okay, 6+3/4 inches doubled, that's 12+6/4 inches. But 6/4 is 1+2/4 which is 1+1/2, so 13+1/2 inches, or 1ft 1+1/2in". "Okay, 17.14cm doubled, that's 34.28cm". Really, for you the first one is easier?
- franky47 4y ago
  Pretty much, the same way fractions carry over inches as decimals carry over the next power of ten, and as a developer I find powers of two more intuitive. Example: I mostly work with 3/4" thick material, which is a breeze to divide into 3 for 1/4" mortice and tenons. The equivalent 19mm in that respect is a bit trickier, though fortunately EU 3/4 lumber tends to be only 18mm thick.
- VoodooJuJu 4y ago
  If you've ever done woodworking, you'd appreciate the imperial system, especially when working with kerf size and whatnot. The imperial system was literally made for that kind of application. Rather, not made, but it emerged. The imperial system emerged piecemeal as a series of domain-specific measurements, where each unit conveyed deeper meaning beyond rote volume, distance, etc. For example, an acre means much more than 43,560 feet squared. It means "roughly the amount of land that a pair of oxen can plow in a day". A nice domain-specific measurement that communicates something useful to the experts of that domain, in this case, plowmen, farmers, and lords of the manor. With inches, an inch is about the length of your thumb. Imagine doing woodworking and measuring in thumbs - it's right there in front of you, easy to conceptualize and work with, an intuitive "bite-size" unit of measurement. Fractional centimeters aren't as intuitive to work with and conceptualize. 6+3/4 inches is a lot more workable than 17.14cm.
  - justeleblanc 4y ago
    I have dabbled in woodworking. I still stick to metric. You can spend all day rationalizing why the system you've been immersed in since childhood is more intuitive. In the end, it's more intuitive to you because it's what you're used to. Your example is a prime one. I'm not used to measure things with my thumbs, so if you told me that something is ten thumbs wide, I'd have to think some time before I could make a mental picture of it, and an inaccurate one to boot. I'm used to measure things with centimeters, so I immediately know what 10 cm looks like. > Fractional centimeters aren't as intuitive to work with and conceptualize. To you they're not. To people used to it, they are.