#metric system

[prokopetz]

"Why does the metric system still use base sixty for units of time rather than base ten" look: implementing metricated time units has in fact been attempted, and it ended up being one of the contributing factors to the fall of the French Republic. Metricated weights and measures are whatever, but it turns out people really don't like it when the government tries to fuck with how long a minute is.

[tumbler-polls]

For USAmericans: height converter

What's your height?

< 140 cm

141-150 cm

151-155 cm

156-160 cm

161 - 165 cm

166-170 cm

171-175 cm

176-180 cm

181-190 cm

191-200 cm

201-215 cm

> 215 cm

Voting ended onMar 3, 2024

[incognitopolls]

US Americans and any other country that uses the imperial system, in what situations do you usually use metric?

Cooking/baking/crafting

Describing the weather

Describing a person's height or weight

Describing the height, length, or weight of objects

Sports (e.g. "running a 10k," 400 meter dash)

In medical contexts (e.g. donating blood, measuring dosage)

Talking to people who use metric– I look up the conversion so they don't have to

In my job (e.g. chemist, nurse, engineer)

I use metric in at least 2–4 of these contexts

I use metric in 5–7 of these contexts

I use metric in all 8 of these contexts (and/or more than are listed here)

My country primarily uses the metric system, show results

Voting ended onFeb 8

Imperial units include feet/inches/miles, cups/pints/gallons, ounces/pounds, etc.

Metric units include meters (kilo-, centi-, milli-, etc), liters/milliliters, kilograms/grams, etc.

–

We ask your questions anonymously so you don’t have to! Submissions are open on the 1st and 15th of the month.

[hometoursandotherstuff]

[sprongulous-the-frungular]

Someone: I wonder how big the International Space Station is?

Me: Imagine a small parking lot full of busses. Then link all those busses together. That's a pretty good representation of the size of the ISS and how cramped it generally is, not counting the solar panels.

Someone: Oh wow, than-

A chinless gaffot who needs to have their spine ripped out like a lawnmower cord: aMeRiCaNs WiLl UsE aNyThInG bUt ThE mEtRic SyStEm¡!¡!

Me: Oh, how dare I make a comparison to real world objects and locations most people encounter in their daily lives! Yeah, I should have used the metric system! Because EVERYONE has a mathematically perfect 1×1×1 meter cube rendered in their mind at all times to use for scale at any given moment! Of course!

[phoenixyfriend]

So like. Here's the thing: regardless of whether you like metric or how good you think it is, two things are important to remember:

ONE: The reason that metric is so common across the globe is in good part due to the powers of imperialism during the 19th century.

e.g. Algeria started using it in 1843 because they were under French control. The Phillippines started using it due to the Spanish colonial government. Commonwealth countries held out for a long time in part because the UK was sticking with imperial for so long.

Metric spread due to colonial powers.

TWO: China's base-ten measurement system predates metric, and the base length of that system held fairly steady for the Qing dynasty, probably just varying due to the size of the region in relation to contemporary technology. So while you could argue that metric took hold because it standardized the length of a meter before China standardized the length of a bù, it's still got the older system.

A lot of places had fairly standardized systems that relied on base-12, also, which is arguably more convenient than base-10.

Besides, why did we pick up on Mesopotamian time (second, hour, day) but not their length or volume? Why did we pick up Arabic numerals but not their mass or temperature?

Because European imperialism decided to use metric as a force for controlling their colonies.

Metric is a good system if you frequently have to translate amounts to a different scale, but goddamn, I can't just ignore the fact that imperialism was a driving factor for getting that system into places controlled by France and Spain in particular.

[beardedmrbean]

[weirdstrangeandawful]

I don't really consider myself an equestrian because I kinda just maintained other people's horses training and was used to train the ponies because I'm am/was the same weight as kids but...

I literally just measured something in hands.

No, no, no, I don't mean my hand. My hand is 3 inches. I mean hands hands. 4 inches hands.

I'm Canadian and study astronomy. I don't use inches. There is only one diagnosis here.