Phil, I understand all the base 12 comments re-engineering and that the system has been in place a long time and is derived from practical human experience. But there is nothing standard about it (by which I mean you have 12" in a foot, 16 ounces in a pound but 14 pounds in stone). My experience is that base 10 is just generally easier to calculate, I am not an engineer but halves, thirds, quarters and sixths are entirely possible in the decimal system too and with digital calulation and computerised modeling I don't imagine engineering in the decimal system is at all difficult, really.
However this comment of yours makes no sense:
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Originally Posted by Phil Ayesho  Standard measure makes more visceral sense than the entirely arbitrary units of the metric system. |
There is nothing in the slightest arbitrary about the metric system.
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In 1790, in the midst of the French Revolution, the National Assembly of France requested the French Academy of Sciences to “deduce an invariable standard for all the measures and all the weights.” The Commission appointed by the Academy created a system that was, at once, simple and scientific. The unit of length was to be a portion of the Earth's circumference. Measures for capacity (volume) and mass were to be derived from the unit of length, thus relating the basic units of the system to each other and to nature. Furthermore, larger and smaller multiples of each unit were to be created by multiplying or dividing the basic units by 10 and its powers. This feature provided a great convenience to users of the system, by eliminating the need for such calculations as dividing by 16 (to convert ounces to pounds) or by 12 (to convert inches to feet).
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and
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The initial metric unit of mass, the “gram,” was defined as the mass of one cubic centimeter — a cube that is 0.01 meter on each side — of water at its temperature of maximum density. For capacity, the “litre” (spelled “liter” in the U.S.) was defined as the volume of a cubic decimeter — a cube 0.1 meter on each side.
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Both from:
Origin of the Metric System Quote:
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The degree Celsius (°C) scale was devised by dividing the range of temperature between the freezing and boiling temperatures of pure water at standard atmospheric conditions (sea level pressure) into 100 equal parts.
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From:
Metric System Temperature (kelvin and degree Celsius)
But then I'd imagine, Phil, that you actually knew that, didn't you?
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Originally Posted by The Greek Dude Which of the following sounds bigger?: or Quote: |
My penis is 20.5 centimeters in length.
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To me 20.5 sounds bigger - But that's because I know 8" is closer to 20.3cm so an 8" cock would be 2mm shorter than a 20.5cm cock.
