3 ms·

> the metric system itself doesn't use the metric system Of course the metric system doesn't use the metric system. How would that even work? SI units are, as

> the metric system itself doesn't use the metric system Of course the metric system doesn't use the metric system. How would that even work? SI units are, as you point out, defined in terms of measured aspects of reality. US customary units, on the other hand, are defined in terms of the metric system. And yes, this means that both of them are grounded in measured aspects of reality. Again. How else could this possibly work? Measuring themselves, perhaps? If US customary units were defined directly in terms of measurements, then they wouldn't use the metric system. They would only be interconvertible through those measurements, and if they weren't the same measurements, as they easily could not be, this would be an empirical process subject to further experiment and refinement. But they're not. They're defined in terms of SI, making conversion a matter of arithmetic. It's a load-bearing statement. I do understand how someone who lacks grounding in the physical sciences might not realize that. Glad to help.

troad 2y ago
> It's a load-bearing statement. I do understand how someone who lacks grounding in the physical sciences might not realize that. Glad to help. Condescending and wrong, and all in defence of the facially farcical statement that the US uses the metric system. Not that US customary units are defined in terms of metric quantities, which is the moved goalpost you're now trying to defend, but that "the US uses the metric system". Whether or not the US 'uses the metric system' is not contingent on what units US customary units are legally defined in reference to, that's merely trivia.* US customary units do not form part of the metric system, and metric units do not enjoy widespread use in the United States (with minor exceptions). Ergo, the US does not use the metric system. * And relatively recent trivia at that, US units were naturally not first defined in metric units, only later restated as such.

troad 2y ago

> It's a load-bearing statement. I do understand how someone who lacks grounding in the physical sciences might not realize that. Glad to help. Condescending and wrong, and all in defence of the facially farcical statement that the US uses the metric system. Not that US customary units are defined in terms of metric quantities, which is the moved goalpost you're now trying to defend, but that "the US uses the metric system". Whether or not the US 'uses the metric system' is not contingent on what units US customary units are legally defined in reference to, that's merely trivia.* US customary units do not form part of the metric system, and metric units do not enjoy widespread use in the United States (with minor exceptions). Ergo, the US does not use the metric system. * And relatively recent trivia at that, US units were naturally not first defined in metric units, only later restated as such.