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To be honest, although I know the obvious benefits of metric, I still prefer imperial simply because of its messiness. I realize the system is archaic, etc., b
by xefer 14y ago
To be honest, although I know the obvious benefits of metric, I still prefer imperial simply because of its messiness. I realize the system is archaic, etc., but I still like that connection, as attenuated as it may be, to our ancient past. Use metric for all scientific purposes, etc., but keep that connection to the natural world.
I suppose I like it in the same way I prefer natural languages to some artificial languages like Esperanto, etc. - or our base-60 time units as opposed to some other decimal-based system. :)
- harshreality 14y agoSentiment is not a good justification in the science/engineering world.
- frogpelt 14y agoIs there a large contingency of people in the science and engineering world not using metric? Like a previous commenter said, all my science labs in high school and college used metric. I imagine legitimate research and engineering labs in America are also using metric.
- xxpor 14y agoCivil and a lot of Mechanical still use standard. Especially for machining and such. We also used kips (kilopounds) in my Statics class.
- Gmo 14y agoWell, it seems that NASA, at least a few years ago, did not consistently use metric ...
- SideburnsOfDoom 14y agoNASA may have learned a hard lesson that time.
- coenhyde 14y agoThat's great that you feel that way but a unit systems is suposed to efficiently communicate information. Using an archaic unit system because it makes you feel hipster isn't a good idea.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- aidos 14y agoIn the year MMXIII is sentiment really a good reason to continue using an inefficient system :)
- yk 14y agoAt least a better reason than in the year MXMIX (or in the year MMXLII :)
- xiaoma 14y agoThose numbers are used for Superbowls, not years. Get it together!
- return0 14y agoNo! MMXII is the guy who owns the copyright to all movies from last year.
- archangel_one 14y agoAfter some time agonising over those in the last year, I can assure you they're still used for Superbowls and years, as well as name ordinals and many other things :)
- astrodust 14y agoHave you seen the people on Mythbusters flail about while trying to convert using units like inch-pounds and miles per hour and fluid ounces to cubic feet? There's a reason science insists on using the metric system. The metric system is relatively ancient, dating from the late 1700s.
- bcgraham 14y agoA system of measurements dating back 300 years is not ancient by any sane scale. It's still the newcomer to the set of systems of measurement.
- astrodust 14y agoConsidering the amount of scientific discovery since that point, yes, it is ancient. Surely 90% of our scientific knowledge has come past the point in which it was invented.
- return0 14y agoIt's a load of fun until you try to create an international website selling clothes, or food recipes, or even has dates on it. We 've already settled on using English for everything on the net, why not settle on common language about measures too.
- userulluipeste 14y ago>We 've already settled on using English for everything on the net You understand that you're just saying this in an english-speaking world and if there is anything against your argument it just won't come up here at your feet?
- return0 14y agoI 'm not from the English-speaking world and that holds for a huge number of people here and in the wider internet. English was the lingua franca before the internet and is the default language of the internet. Using it guarantees that the maximum number of people will understand you.
- ithkuil 14y agoOn the other hand, it's also nice to feel that historical connection with people in our past that decided to embrace rationality as a value.