5 ms·

Changing the calendar in general seems stupid. The gregorian calendar is already well established simple to understand. What benefit does changing it actually b

Changing the calendar in general seems stupid. The gregorian calendar is already well established simple to understand. What benefit does changing it actually bring? More importantly the US should switch to the metric system.

sophacles 3y ago
There's a really high poe factor here.... Like your arguments against changing the calendar to something more rational are the same arguments a lot of US folks use to justify not switching to the metric system. Well played.
sneak 3y ago
The US already switched to the metric system in 1988. https://www.nist.gov/pml/owm/metrication-law https://www.nist.gov/pml/owm/metrication-law 15 USC § 205b https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/205b https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/205b
- kelnos 3y ago
  Your use of "switched" is leaving out a lot of nuance. Metric is by law preferred for trade and commerce, but what to actually use is left up to each individual and business, and individuals and business don't need to actually care about this law.
cowsandmilk 3y ago
> importantly the US should switch to the metric system Why switch to a system that is widely agreed to be worse for normal human communication than the one we have. Fahrenheit is far superior of a system, where 0 to 100 roughly reflects the range of temperatures one might expect in the lower 48. When you are outside that range, you know you’re in for very uncomfortable weather. Celsius doesn’t give much benefit beyond the vague water will freeze around 0. And then we get to distance. The US has a system where a foot is divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6. Metric is only divisible by 5 or 2. It is horrid if you need to divide things in thirds.
- decae 3y ago
  Is this a joke?
  - mensetmanusman 3y ago
    No, imperial base 12 is superior for carpentry and construction due to having more integer divisions. That’s why hour time is base 12.
    - nwiswell 3y ago
      Why does the foot being divisible by 12 help anything? If you're dealing with something 7.3 ft long, what's the advantage over 2.23 meters? Hell, if you've got something 2.4 meters long and 7.87 ft long, it's the metric length that happens to be conveniently divisible by 12. The situation with machine tools in the US is unbelievable, by the way. So many stupid mistakes have been caused by the confusion between mils (1/1000 of an inch) and millimeters. And many many tools and bits are designated in fractional inches rather than whole or decimal units (as in countries using metric) which is a massive pain in the ass because both CAD software and quick mental comparisons are generally not conducive to bizarre fractions like 9/64". The situation is legitimately a little bit different with minutes and hours, since we are able to specify units of time somewhat arbitrarily to match the units, i.e., if hours were 64 minutes instead of 60, many meetings would instead be 64 (or 32) minutes long. This has to do with the reality that we generally do not know accurately in advance exactly how much time is required, so in general there's a lot more approximation involved with common measures of time than common measures of distance, and it's handy to be able to split the hour cleanly in multiple ways.
      - explaininjs 3y ago
        Carpentry and construction are both also areas where you don't really have an "exact" need to be at certain measure. You can usually get away pretty well with just picking a nice round number and going from there. Machining is different, and metric is accordingly often used there.
mensetmanusman 3y ago
Not until the metric system mandates metric time.
- fragmede 3y ago
  Not until the metric system realizes that 60 is the better base.

sophacles 3y ago

There's a really high poe factor here.... Like your arguments against changing the calendar to something more rational are the same arguments a lot of US folks use to justify not switching to the metric system. Well played.

sneak 3y ago

The US already switched to the metric system in 1988. https://www.nist.gov/pml/owm/metrication-law https://www.nist.gov/pml/owm/metrication-law 15 USC § 205b https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/205b https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/205b

kelnos 3y ago
Your use of "switched" is leaving out a lot of nuance. Metric is by law preferred for trade and commerce, but what to actually use is left up to each individual and business, and individuals and business don't need to actually care about this law.

cowsandmilk 3y ago

> importantly the US should switch to the metric system Why switch to a system that is widely agreed to be worse for normal human communication than the one we have. Fahrenheit is far superior of a system, where 0 to 100 roughly reflects the range of temperatures one might expect in the lower 48. When you are outside that range, you know you’re in for very uncomfortable weather. Celsius doesn’t give much benefit beyond the vague water will freeze around 0. And then we get to distance. The US has a system where a foot is divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6. Metric is only divisible by 5 or 2. It is horrid if you need to divide things in thirds.

decae 3y ago
Is this a joke?
- mensetmanusman 3y ago
  No, imperial base 12 is superior for carpentry and construction due to having more integer divisions. That’s why hour time is base 12.
  - nwiswell 3y ago
    Why does the foot being divisible by 12 help anything? If you're dealing with something 7.3 ft long, what's the advantage over 2.23 meters? Hell, if you've got something 2.4 meters long and 7.87 ft long, it's the metric length that happens to be conveniently divisible by 12. The situation with machine tools in the US is unbelievable, by the way. So many stupid mistakes have been caused by the confusion between mils (1/1000 of an inch) and millimeters. And many many tools and bits are designated in fractional inches rather than whole or decimal units (as in countries using metric) which is a massive pain in the ass because both CAD software and quick mental comparisons are generally not conducive to bizarre fractions like 9/64". The situation is legitimately a little bit different with minutes and hours, since we are able to specify units of time somewhat arbitrarily to match the units, i.e., if hours were 64 minutes instead of 60, many meetings would instead be 64 (or 32) minutes long. This has to do with the reality that we generally do not know accurately in advance exactly how much time is required, so in general there's a lot more approximation involved with common measures of time than common measures of distance, and it's handy to be able to split the hour cleanly in multiple ways.
    - explaininjs 3y ago
      Carpentry and construction are both also areas where you don't really have an "exact" need to be at certain measure. You can usually get away pretty well with just picking a nice round number and going from there. Machining is different, and metric is accordingly often used there.

mensetmanusman 3y ago

Not until the metric system mandates metric time.

fragmede 3y ago
Not until the metric system realizes that 60 is the better base.