That Thread In Which We Discuss The Merits of Different Systems of Measurement.

[Charzy]

So, because this has infected way too many threads, we can have it here. If you can\'t stay civil, then don\'t talk.

I\'ll start: Metric is better than imperial because it works in a regular numbers of multiplications (10, 10, 10 etc.) as opposed to an irregular numbers (12, 3, 1760 etc.)

[togfox]

Metric is better because i suck at fractions.

Seriously though, neither is better but one is easier to use than the other.

[RayneCloud]

Yeah, this will end well..

[Charzy]

Yeah, this will end well..

Well, it should prevent this from happening to other threads. And of course, you can always delete the uncivil discussion and keep the civil stuff.

[Johno]

The SI has the advantage of being easier to use, and it also interlocks a lot more effectively.

[GeneralCheese]

I\'d say that Metric is better because it\'s less prone to conversion errors. IE, in metric it\'s much easier to convert from Metres to Kilometers as it is to convert from Yards to Miles. On the flip side, this ease with converting makes it much more likely that you\'ll create these errors as when your using imperial you usually double check your conversion ratios because of the complexity involved. In metric, you\'re much more likely to add or subtract one or more zeros when changing units.

[cardgame]

There is no satisfactory in=between of centimeters and meters.

47 centimeters is too high of a number to conceptualize/visualize, unlike 18 inches. Of course, this may not be the case for a native Metrican, but for an Imperialist such as I, \'tis a problem.

[RayneCloud]

I\'d say that Metric is better because it\'s less prone to conversion errors. IE, in metric it\'s much easier to convert from Metres to Kilometers as it is to convert from Yards to Miles. On the flip side, this ease with converting makes it much more likely that you\'ll create these errors as when your using imperial you usually double check your conversion ratios because of the complexity involved. In metric, you\'re much more likely to add or subtract one or more zeros when changing units.

I\'ve grown up with imperial, and in the navy we used nautical miles, I find the system easy to use and understand. This country was built on this system and we\'re not going to change just to appease the rest of the planet that doesn\'t like us anyway.

[Lord Wasteland]

I can use either. Doesn\'t really matter. Grew up in America and learned Imperial, parents taught me metric, so I know both excellently.

[RedDwarfIV]

There is no satisfactory in=between of centimeters and meters.

47 centimeters is too high of a number to conceptualize/visualize, unlike 18 inches. Of course, this may not be the case for a native Metrican, but for an Imperialist such as I, \'tis a problem.

Decimetres?

47 centimetres is a little less than 5 decimetres.

[Charzy]

In my mind, I\'d always round that to half a meter for visualisation purposes.

I find it nearly impossible to visualise any imperial unit other than a mile, and that\'s only because it happenes to be exactly a mile from my house to the nearest shop. Hell, my dad and many of his friends fly microlites, and all of them use metric instead of the 'proper aviation imperial system' because it\'s far easier to visualise metric units, and because almost all of their flight instruments have metric units on them. If they can\'t get them in metric, I know at least a few who have modified theirs to show metric as well.

Hell, even the country that spread imperial around the world now uses metric.

[Thiel]

There is no satisfactory in=between of centimeters and meters.

47 centimeters is too high of a number to conceptualize/visualize, unlike 18 inches. Of course, this may not be the case for a native Metrican, but for an Imperialist such as I, \'tis a problem.

Yes there is, it\'s called decimetres.

[Rich]

Hell, even the country that spread imperial around the world now uses metric.

Unofficially we use a healthy mix of the two, miles for our roads, Kg for our vegetables. I just use whatever measurement system gives me the closest to an integral number, or is easiest to visualise for the application at hand.

[Nooblet68]

Generally, Miles is the only imperial I use.

[cardgame]

Pfft, nobody uses decimeters.

[Kryten]

47 centimeters is too high of a number to conceptualize/visualize, unlike 18 inches.

You\'d just say \'half a metre\' in practice. We haven\'t completely lost use of fractions, you know.

[cardgame]

'Oh god! Fractions!' - at least three people in this that or the other thread.

[Kryten]

Fractions are okay as long as they aren\'t hideous ones like eighths or sixteenths.

[semininja]

Powers-of-two fractions aren\'t too bad, but when you get into twelfths and 5280ths, it gets to be a problem.

[ping111]

I\'m a die-hard Metrican, but I sometimes don the hipster glasses and use Kelvin. And also, I generalize stuff, so I say 'oh, it\'s about a mile from here' just to be simpler.

[semininja]

Kelvin is the same as Celsius but with a different reference point, which, if I recall correctly, puts 0 (Kelvin) at -273 (Celsius).

[ping111]

Kelvin is the same as Celsius but with a different reference point, which, if I recall correctly, puts 0 (Kelvin) at -273 (Celsius).

I know, I just use it to be hipster.

[Charzy]

Pretty sure Kelvin still counts as Metric, as it uses the metric temperature system.

A mile is the only metric I use, and even then only because the nearest shop to me is almost exactly a mile away.

[EnigmaZV]

I exclusively use metric. How many cubic feet are in a cubic mile? Cubic inches? It\'s much easier to do math with metric.

[Imandreas]

Personally, I like using imperial if only because different parts of my body are exact lengths for the scale. Seriously, my upper 1/3 of my pinkie is an inch, my foot is a foot, and my arm is a yard. Very odd, right?

(Also, Kelvin IS the official temperature unit in SI. Celsius is not!)