I would argue that the imperial system is more practical for some applications. Say, for example, you have a recipe that calls for a cup of water and makes 6 servings of whatever, and you want to cut it down to 1 serving. So you need 1/6 of a cup, or 8 teaspoons. But if a similar recipe calls for 250 ml of water, you'd cut it down to 41.67 ml. Sure, you could round down to what is apparently 2 metric tablespoons and it would probably be fine, but that's not more precise and logical, is it?
Most people is pretty quiet right about now. Me, I see a stiff -- one I didn't have to kill myself -- I just get, the urge to, you know, do stuff. Like work out, run around, maybe get some trim if there's a willin' woman about... not that I get flush from corpses or anything. I ain't crazy.
Jayne ,'The Message'
Natter 68: Bork Bork Bork
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
-t - Sep 07, 2011 8:07:51 pm PDT #24723 of 30001
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration
billytea - Sep 07, 2011 8:48:53 pm PDT #24724 of 30001
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.
I would argue that the imperial system is more practical for some applications. Say, for example, you have a recipe that calls for a cup of water and makes 6 servings of whatever, and you want to cut it down to 1 serving. So you need 1/6 of a cup, or 8 teaspoons. But if a similar recipe calls for 250 ml of water, you'd cut it down to 41.67 ml. Sure, you could round down to what is apparently 2 metric tablespoons and it would probably be fine, but that's not more precise and logical, is it?
That's not for a different application though, just for dividing by a different number. That cuts both ways. If you needed to cut it down to a fifth, metric would be easier. If you needed a seventh, neither one divides that neatly.
A better question is, which more easily handles the cases where it doesn't divide so neatly? I'd say the answer is metric, simply because we have a decimal system. Either system, you could try to approximate, with varying degrees of success. If you want a greater degree of precision, however, it's easier to work that out in the decimal-based system. (Which I imagine is why grams and millimeters seem to dominate in science-related areas, even in America).
Cass - Sep 07, 2011 9:03:22 pm PDT #24725 of 30001
Bob's learned to live with tragedy, but he knows that this tragedy is one that won't ever leave him or get better.
I'd say the answer is metric, simply because we have a decimal system.
Base ten, man, base ten. So much easier. I wish we used it. That's math I can always do in my head.
-t - Sep 07, 2011 9:09:15 pm PDT #24726 of 30001
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration
Well,I'm not really meaning to make the case that the imperial system is superior, just that it's not ridiculous. The metric system is fantastic for anything very large or very small, and I can't really think about physics using imperial measurements, myself, but for every day usage they both serve pretty much equally well.
Cashmere - Sep 07, 2011 9:10:05 pm PDT #24727 of 30001
Now tagless for your comfort.
I prefer to give my weight in stones.
Matt the Bruins fan - Sep 07, 2011 10:08:45 pm PDT #24728 of 30001
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand
Ugh. Just woke up on the couch from a dream that combined my job doing something about managing location shooting on Nantucket and a house infested with setient tarantulas . shudder
§ ita § - Sep 07, 2011 11:32:14 pm PDT #24729 of 30001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
Calli - Sep 08, 2011 1:01:21 am PDT #24730 of 30001
I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul—Calvin and Hobbs
Frontline's kept my cat bloodsucker-free, and I take him for outdoor walks several times a week. I wish we had similar stuff for humans. But I hadn't heard there's a generic for it--I'll have to look it up. Thanks!
Toddson - Sep 08, 2011 4:16:05 am PDT #24731 of 30001
Friends don't let friends read "Atlas Shrugged"
Someone once commented that if the U.S. ever really did go metric, the only people who'd be comfortable with it would be scientists and drug dealers.
le nubian - Sep 08, 2011 4:23:55 am PDT #24732 of 30001
"And to be clear, I am the hell. And the high water."
The problem is that I learned metric and imperial in school, but I don't have a frame of reference for imperial. Cookbooks aren't written in metric, my car does not display metric, I don't think in metric (although I used to for temperature, not anymore). It would be almost like learning a new language. I would have to mentally convert all the time.