Whine: I got quoted 12 times and not one person understood what I meant.

[theklng]

WOOOOOO HOOOOOO!! dat der iz som mighty fine talkin' skills you have yonder! Now you git yer edumacated brain down on here and see if you can't explain why grandpa Signa can't understand yer word through his drinkin'.

(you're free to go do what you like. I was just calling you out on not leaving a very persuasive argument as to why my post was "garbage". Granted, I think my whining makes it garage, but I wanted to hear why you thought the argument itself was garbage, because I thought I had a decent string of logic going into it, even if it was rather subjective.)

logic is never subjective. 2+2 will never yield anything else than 4 regardless of what you feel about the number 2. not to mention there's a whole science on doing proper argumentation, that is woven into soft sciences like rhetorics.

but i digress.

i didn't really bother giving you reasons for why your other arguments weren't good, because you should be able to see that yourself. using the fahrenheit scale because it feels better to have value of 70F rather than 21.1C is not in any way logical. on the other hand, realizing that people coming from different cultures have a different perception on values of currency, temperatures and language is a fairly reasonable assumption that can be proven empirically.

 

[Signa]

snip

your examples seem silly to me. your thinking that an extra mL more sugar will make a difference to a recipe when you are adding 230 mL? I doubt 4 teaspoons is that acurate either with the sugar being piled on each spoon differently. anyway cooking isnt about following a recipe, its more like art and its the imperfections that make your dish unique.

Celsius makes as much sense as fahrenheit. its a number that allows you to compare it to yesterday or the other days. The advantage of celsius is that 0 and 100 actually have a meaning. water freezing at 0 and boiling at 100. what does 0F mean or 200F mean?

Do you get more meaning from 90F or 35C?

Actually I do because I've been raised with it. 90F has every bit as much meaning to me on a day-to-day basis because I use it on a day-to-day basis. One thing I like about Fahrenheit is how each degree is a very subtle but still noticeable change. I could tell when the AC in my room went from 75 to 76 because that's when I started feeling a little more warm. The differences for Celsius are far more extreme. Oh hey, there's one good thing I'm enjoying about Celsius right now: It's far easier to type and spell!

And the cooking thing was just an example. Most of the time I cook I just eyeball it anyway. The point was that the units of measurement are too small, and you can add entire tens of extra units just by making sure your measuring cup is full. It's just silly to me, because if I added that many units over or under with the measurements I'm used to, the recipe would probably be ruined.

"Hmm, this calls for 2 cups of milk, oops, here's 7, I guess that's close enough!"

 

[butterkniferampage]

The thing is: Most Americans can use the metric system just fine. It's even encouraged in high-school level courses.

 

[xHipaboo420x]

~The thread I whined in got closed
~I THINK I'LL OPEN A NEW THREAD TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE UNDERSTAND WHATEVER MENIAL POINT I HAD TO MAKE IN THE CLOSED THREAD!!

I can *sort of* see where you're coming from, but, realistically, I have no idea where you're coming from.

 

[Signa]

...realizing that people coming from different cultures have a different perception on values of currency, temperatures and language is a fairly reasonable assumption that can be proven empirically.

That's really what this is all about. I keep hearing over and over the intolerance for the measurement system I was raised with, and I'm just trying to say that it's not all bad, and has a lot of uses. Lacking the upscaling by tens doesn't render it useless, and yet that's the only thing I see great about Metric over imperial. I don't give two shits about there being 12 inches in a foot, but the way I see it, base-ten is a rather inefficient numbering system to begin with and would prefer it to be base-twelve because of how numbers are expressed mathematically when you use it. We just love base-ten because we were all raised with it.

 

[Signa]

~The thread I whined in got closed
~I THINK I'LL OPEN A NEW THREAD TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE UNDERSTAND WHATEVER MENIAL POINT I HAD TO MAKE IN THE CLOSED THREAD!!

I can *sort of* see where you're coming from, but, realistically, I have no idea where you're coming from.

Opening a new thread is way easier than PMing twelve people telling that they missed my point. Besides, there is some discussion to be had regarding the relative sizes of the units of measurements. It's not all about me whining.

Besides, we can have the option discussion of replacing imperial words with metric ones!

Quarter kilogram with cheese!

 

[theklng]

...realizing that people coming from different cultures have a different perception on values of currency, temperatures and language is a fairly reasonable assumption that can be proven empirically.

That's really what this is all about. I keep hearing over and over the intolerance for the measurement system I was raised with, and I'm just trying to say that it's not all bad, and has a lot of uses. Lacking the upscaling by tens doesn't render it useless, and yet that's the only thing I see great about Metric over imperial. I don't give two shits about there being 12 inches in a foot, but the way I see it, base-ten is a rather inefficient numbering system to begin with and would prefer it to be base-twelve because of how numbers are expressed mathematically when you use it. We just love base-ten because we were all raised with it.

knock yourself out with hexdecimal numbering then (that's base 16). but even then all you're saying here is just a rehash about how you feel about it. this problem does not exist outside of your mind, and i will say something that i probably should have said from the beginning: get over it. and maybe pass on the moonshine next time.

 

[crudus]

I have always thought this. Kilograms not so much but length does get a little annoying when you are talking about human sized things. Although I would measure salt and sugar in volume rather than mass.

What I like about the metric system: absurdly easy conversions

What I dislike about the metric system: words are cumbersome and can't sound "cool." When was the last time you heard of someone who got beaten to within a centimetre of his life?

You could cut it down and say "meter" but that is a large measurement which makes it null and void. However, if you would like you could say "within a micron of his life".

 

[Signa]

...realizing that people coming from different cultures have a different perception on values of currency, temperatures and language is a fairly reasonable assumption that can be proven empirically.

That's really what this is all about. I keep hearing over and over the intolerance for the measurement system I was raised with, and I'm just trying to say that it's not all bad, and has a lot of uses. Lacking the upscaling by tens doesn't render it useless, and yet that's the only thing I see great about Metric over imperial. I don't give two shits about there being 12 inches in a foot, but the way I see it, base-ten is a rather inefficient numbering system to begin with and would prefer it to be base-twelve because of how numbers are expressed mathematically when you use it. We just love base-ten because we were all raised with it.

knock yourself out with hexdecimal numbering then (that's base 16). but even then all you're saying here is just a rehash about how you feel about it. this problem does not exist outside of your mind, and i will say something that i probably should have said from the beginning: get over it. and maybe pass on the moonshine next time.

Meh, hex doesn't have the advantages of allowing divisions by 3 or 6 without repeating digits. 12 can be divided by 2, 3, 4, 6. Ten can only be done with 2 and 5. 16 will give you 2, 4, 8. Sixteen is great for PCs and binary, but 12 is going to offer the most advantages.

 

[xHipaboo420x]

Opening a new thread is way easier than PMing twelve people telling that they missed my point. Besides, there is some discussion to be had regarding the relative sizes of the units of measurements. It's not all about me whining.

Besides, we can have the option discussion of replacing imperial words with metric ones!

Quarter kilogram with cheese!

In a similar fashion to quoting several different people in several different posts being utilitarian? Either way, it makes no difference to me.

Opinions are never fun enough to dedicate whole new threads to them, ESPECIALLY when they slavishly adhere to arguably outdated systems of measurement. In the UK we get taught both metric and imperial (for kicks, presumably) and metric is infinitely easier. There's a reason they redefined the system, and science thanks 'they' for it. Seriously. Try science-ing with imperial; it's near impossible. Next to gross imperial measurement miscalculations like Cherynobyl, a misestimated cup of sugar may look crass. Or perhaps it doesn't - maybe it could even be both. Maybe we are both wrong and both right at the same time.

Either way we are wrong IN DIVISIONS OF TEN OR ONE HUNDRED AM I RIGHT GUYS

 

[Merkavar]

snip

so the only reason you think fahrenheit is better is cause thats what you are used too?

i still think your cooking example is silly. in your metric example your adding 10/200th extra or somthing like that. something small. then in your imperial example your adding like 300% more. adding 10 more units when dealing with milliliters is not the same as adding 10 more units when using a cup. its just not the same and honestly its making me think your a bit wierd and i dont want to eat anything you cook.

 

[LittleChone]

Don't let it get to you! People make mistakes all the time: it's what makes us human.

 

[Retosa]

So, since I can't whine and ***** in the thread that this occurred in as it got closed, I'd thought I'd make a new one so I could say my piece. After all 12 people misread what I said, and I'm sure there are others who will try to misread what I say now, so as far as I'm concerned, I've got a new topic and not a rehash of a recently closed one.

Effectively, this is another metric vs imperial thread (hey, the rules say no repeat threads within a month, and I've not seen a thread dedicated to this that recently, so here goes). In my original post responding to some one accusing America of using a stupid measurement system, I said:

Stop bitching about our measuring system. You don't see us complaining about how dumb the size of the units of the metric system measures are.

See, what I mean by that is NOT that metric is stupid for using multiples of 10 for converting up to larger measurements. That's actually genius. I'm saying that the physical size of the measurements are too small or too large to be of proper use. For my everyday use, the measurements are unwieldy.

Of course that is all a matter of opinion, and what sizes of measurements you are raised with dictate how you visualize certain distances, weights and volumes, but all I know is I want a measurement system that gives me a good number for what I'm trying to measure, with the least amount of fractions, decimals or segments involved. When I want to borrow a cup of sugar, I don't want 230 milliliters, or whatever the conversion is. If I'm off by just a few crystals, I'm suddenly adding 231, a full unit over the intended amount. I'd look like a fool if I added an extra cup, teaspoon or tablespoon of an ingredient while baking cookies. The same goes for temperature. I like to hear that the temperature is a nice even 70F, not a random 21.1C. The boiling and freezing temperature of water is irrelevant when I want data on the climate for my day. Just because they made the scale 0-100 doesn't make it instantly better.

In b4 "QQ some more"

Edit: Optional discussion: Change a common imperial vernacular with a metric one to make it sound stupid. Example: Centimeterworm

21 degrees celcius is nice. Most people don't say 21.1, they say 21. If it gets high enough, (21.6 or 21.7) we just say 22. Honestly, I can't understand Farenheit. Your freezing point is the same as a point where I'm sweltering.

If you go from 0 to whatever, you have a nice set basis for everything. Freezing = 0. Anything above that is on its way to getting nice and warm, and then too damn hot, up to 15 is cool, 20-23 is really comfortable. It's a bit warm climbing to 25, over that you're getting hot.

Sugar is measured in grams/kilograms for weight, and mL (MiliLiters) for measuring purposes. I find the metric system so much simpler. No, you can't as easily divide something into 10ths if you don't have a ruler. But you can take WAY more accurate measurements for cutting.

Also, I've never experienced the same temperature being both comfortable and uncomfortable in celcius. That just makes no sense to me.

As for why no one uses dm and Dmm, and hm... Well, mostly cause of the way it's done. The ones we use increase by a power of 10 each time. 10mm = 1cm, 100cm = 1m, 1000m = 1km. If you start having too many measurements, it gets just as confusing, if not moreso, so while we have the others if we WANT to use them, it's just easier this way. For liquid we've got mL for small accurate quantity measurements (or cooking measurements of dry goods), and for large quantities we've got the Liter. Weight, we start with grams, which are small and accurate, and jump up to Kilograms. No, I don't understand THAT one personally, I think g and kg are a slight bit weird, but they work well enough.

Also, I hate the imperial system because it's just too damn arbitrary. 12 inches in a foot. 3 feet in a yard, etc. I'll go with 10 mm in 1 cm, 100 cm in 1 meter, 1000 m in a km anyday. Yeah, it can be a ***** to get used to if you're used to something else, but I prefer it, personally.

Also, everyone has their own opinions, and people like to trash opinions contrary to their own. People are jerks.

For the record, I'm not trashing the Imperial system, just saying why I like the Metric better.

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

I think the whole issue is just based on what you were brought up with, and hence what you're used to. I was brought up with the metric system so automatically I would be more inclined to use it. Even so, everyone I know uses the imperial system for height and weight. I'd say that if you are using it for casual matters like height, weight, etcetera than it doesn't really matter. But the second you actually need to do something with the numbers I would not even consider using the imperial system. Converting units is infinitely more easy with the metric system.

To sum it up, in everday life it doesn't matter but in math and science the metric system has more merits.

 

[drisky]

If I get misquoted I end making longer and longer posts trying to make sure they understand what I meant until they say they understand or stop responding. Hell iv'e made friends by making clarifications.

As for measurement systems, meteoric is better but people fail to realize what a massive undertaking conversion would be, all of our road signs, the dimensions of paper, a lot of food packaging, sizes of screens, and so on, are all dependent on the imperial system. Its not a matter of just learning the other system, its that so much of our industry depends on it and conversion would be a massive finical burden.

 

[theevilsanta]

xkcd seems to solve everything.

 

[AWDMANOUT]

First off, I hate clicking the respond box and seeing a damn captcha box popping up underneath.

But that's beside the point. What I wanted to say is, while your argument sounds completely valid and holds its respective ground, I must let you know...

This is the stupidest thing I have ever heard someone argue about. Ever.

 

[rrcott2_esm]

Personally I think ALL of the systems should have a noose tied around their neck while being thrown off of a fifty foot cliff with spikes at the bottom. Later, after everyone is done crying, we take the best remaining body parts of different systems and sew them together like some sort of freaky reinvented Frankenstein from hell....except time, I do like my minute. :-D

 

[JC175]

When I want to borrow a cup of sugar, I don't want 230 milliliters, or whatever the conversion is. If I'm off by just a few crystals, I'm suddenly adding 231, a full unit over the intended amount. I'd look like a fool if I added an extra cup, teaspoon or tablespoon of an ingredient while baking cookies. The same goes for temperature. I like to hear that the temperature is a nice even 70F, not a random 21.1C. The boiling and freezing temperature of water is irrelevant when I want data on the climate for my day. Just because they made the scale 0-100 doesn't make it instantly better.

It's a cultural thing, nobody says it's 21.1 degrees outside because unlike yourself, we're not actively making an imperial comparison. You're failing to imagine a literal existence using the metric system, it has its own standards and is much the same in its use and description as the imperial system. I doubt if you were raised with the metric system in use that you'd have the same issues, in fact I'd hazard a guess at saying that you'd probably find the imperial measures too long for regular use.

It's not like learning another language, you know, something that's a real culture shock - I think you're taking this way too seriously.