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Originally Posted by Cheesy
DaKilla-German, moronic, Euro, Metric System.
Cheesy-American, intelligent, Dollar, Standard System.
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As far as I know it isn't the "Standard System" as you call it, but the old Empirical system that the colonists brought with them from England. I'm just saying this because when people hear standard they will most likely think metric.
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Originally Posted by Cheesy
I feel the metric system is the idiot's version of measurement. The base unit is the meter (100 Centimeters). It has decameters, but no one uses it. So basically it has no middle unit to base measurements off of. Unlike the standards system, where we have inches to use as a middle unit. We also have a shorter, more reasonable base unit, the foot (12 inches).
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What point are you trying to make? The meter is the standard unit of measure. Take any base-10 modifier of that and you get smaller or large units (10 times smaller or larger of course). I don't understand what a "middle unit" is... About your more reasonable base unit, why do you think it's more reasonable?
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Originally Posted by Cheesy
DaKilla believes that using high numbers for a unit of measure is more SIMPLE and PRACTICAL to use rather than using smaller numbers.
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Actually, he believes the base-10 system easier to use than the various conversion ratios for the Empirical system. The "height" of the numbers is relative to the units you use, e.g. 1000 cm could also be seen as 10 m or 0.01 km.
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Originally Posted by Cheesy
Now, the question is. Which system do you believe is the better system of measurement based on the facts stated. Not based on whether you have used a certain system for years or not.
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Metric, hands down. Now, I have a little exercise for you. Answer the following questions:
How many meters are 2500 cm?
How many yards are 2500 inches?
Answers are of course 2.5 meters and
208.33 feet, respectively. The same can be used for any of the various units of measurement. Can you tell me how many cubic inches 10 gallons are? 10 Liters is the same as 1000 cubic centimeters.
Want to have more fun? How many hours are in three months, two weeks, and 6 days? As a programmer I know how much of a pain dates and times are to deal with. Do you enjoy having to use weird conversion ratios like that? Do you know that Empirical Britain also used a currency system where there were I believe 8 pence to the pound sterling? Imagine trying to give me change for something using that system.
That's right, the U.S. uses the Metric system for science, they use a base-10 system for money. They need to switch all measurements to metric, but old farts refuse to let the Empirical system go.
Now, the rebuttals I have heard from Empirical lovers out there are not all that great. Some say it's easier to use fractions with the Empirical system, like 3/4 cup, 2/5 pint, etc... In the Metric system approximations can be made for most of those values if you need to calculate fast; 2/5 is 4/10, so 2/5 of a meter is 40 cm. 3/4 of a meter is 75 cm. It's not that hard people!
The other thing I've heard is people say 'why would I need to convert?' This I think is not only a valid point, but the reason that the Empirical system has survived so long. If people needed to convert constantly, they'd have ditched it by now. 60mph? Your speed dial has a fat 60 on it. Who cares what the unit is. Why should I care how many feet per hour that is? 130km/h would be much easier, for example. It's 130000 meters per hour, but the general puclic has no use for this knowledge. This is the one thing I can't say anything against, and for most people this is the reason they don't really care about this Metric thing.
If it were up to me I would say we need a base-10 measurement for time as well, but I'll leave that to another discussion. 1000, 60, 60, 24, 365 is moronic, in my opinion, but I realize that 365 depends on celestial movement...
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