4 ms·

I grew up in Canada where we use SI for everything official but Imperial for most daily things. For instance, I only know my height in cm because of the license

I grew up in Canada where we use SI for everything official but Imperial for most daily things. For instance, I only know my height in cm because of the license I was issued when I was 16. The funny thing with units of measure is that they are all mostly irrelevant to daily life because people inherently think in things they deal with. For example, 12 Mg is just as useless to both SI and Imperial. But, if you say "as heavy as 6 cars", everyone immediately understands. SI is nice because you can attempt to change 12 Mg into something like 12 kL of water (since every L of water weighs a kg) or the amount of water in a pool of size 1m by 1m by 12m. Still, 6 cars is much easier to reason about.

kergonath 3y ago
> For example, 12 Mg is just as useless to both SI and Imperial. But, if you say "as heavy as 6 cars", everyone immediately understands. I’m confused. Everyone understands what 12 tonnes are here. Besides, is your average car really 2 tonnes? That sounds like an awful lot, and it varies depending on location. > SI is nice because you can attempt to change 12 Mg into something like 12 kL of water (since every L of water weighs a kg) or the amount of water in a pool of size 1m by 1m by 12m. SI is nice because it does not depend on your cultural background. A gram is a gram regardless of your daily experience. So you can be sure that it will be understood the same way by anyone on Earth, contrary to overly heavy cars. > Still, 6 cars is much easier to reason about. I think this is highly culture dependent. As a matter of fact it is very rare to see this sort of analogies here (it’s more common to see football pitches for large areas, for example).
- gpvos 3y ago
  A tonne is 1000 kilo isn't it? I have to look it up every once in a while.
  - kergonath 3y ago
    Yes it is. Or 1 Mg in new money :) .
  - zzo38computer 3y ago
    Yes, it is. But, I don't like this word "tonne". I think that "megagram" is better.
    - anticensor 3y ago
      or kilograve.
  - 77pt77 3y ago
    Your country failed you.
- hervature 3y ago
  > it’s more common to see football pitches for large areas, for example That's the entire point of my comment. Everyone "knows" what 12 tonnes, 12Mg, 12,000 kg are but they are internally recalculating to something they actually know. The Imperial system basically emerged from how people actually perceive things which is why every conversion is wonky. For instance, a bushel is about how many apples someone can carry, a cord of wood was originally an amount of wood bundled with a cord which has since changed definition, some for pecks, fathoms, and knots. If this still isn't convincing, consider that mach is basically the go to unit when talking about aeroplane speeds because thinking in multiples of speed of sound is internally what many would instinctively do anyway.
gpvos 3y ago
A litre is exactly the size of a carton of milk over here, so that is a very common amount that you use every day. A cubic metre or if you really wish a kilolitre (kl, not the Americanism kL) is an easy to imagine amount since we work with metres every day as well. Cars differ widely in size, and I have barely any idea about their weight.

kergonath 3y ago

> For example, 12 Mg is just as useless to both SI and Imperial. But, if you say "as heavy as 6 cars", everyone immediately understands. I’m confused. Everyone understands what 12 tonnes are here. Besides, is your average car really 2 tonnes? That sounds like an awful lot, and it varies depending on location. > SI is nice because you can attempt to change 12 Mg into something like 12 kL of water (since every L of water weighs a kg) or the amount of water in a pool of size 1m by 1m by 12m. SI is nice because it does not depend on your cultural background. A gram is a gram regardless of your daily experience. So you can be sure that it will be understood the same way by anyone on Earth, contrary to overly heavy cars. > Still, 6 cars is much easier to reason about. I think this is highly culture dependent. As a matter of fact it is very rare to see this sort of analogies here (it’s more common to see football pitches for large areas, for example).

gpvos 3y ago
A tonne is 1000 kilo isn't it? I have to look it up every once in a while.
- kergonath 3y ago
  Yes it is. Or 1 Mg in new money :) .
- zzo38computer 3y ago
  Yes, it is. But, I don't like this word "tonne". I think that "megagram" is better.
  - anticensor 3y ago
    or kilograve.
- 77pt77 3y ago
  Your country failed you.
hervature 3y ago
> it’s more common to see football pitches for large areas, for example That's the entire point of my comment. Everyone "knows" what 12 tonnes, 12Mg, 12,000 kg are but they are internally recalculating to something they actually know. The Imperial system basically emerged from how people actually perceive things which is why every conversion is wonky. For instance, a bushel is about how many apples someone can carry, a cord of wood was originally an amount of wood bundled with a cord which has since changed definition, some for pecks, fathoms, and knots. If this still isn't convincing, consider that mach is basically the go to unit when talking about aeroplane speeds because thinking in multiples of speed of sound is internally what many would instinctively do anyway.

gpvos 3y ago

A litre is exactly the size of a carton of milk over here, so that is a very common amount that you use every day. A cubic metre or if you really wish a kilolitre (kl, not the Americanism kL) is an easy to imagine amount since we work with metres every day as well. Cars differ widely in size, and I have barely any idea about their weight.