Amen brother. As a carpenter I can tell you that when it comes to dividing 10 inches in half we know without thinking the answer is 5". Divide again and you have 2-1/2", again 1-1/4", again 1/2+1/8 which is just 5/8", again is 5/16", again is 5/32". All these are clearly marked on a tape measure and some steel rules graduate down to 64ths. Metric man divides 10 cm by half to get 5 cm but then it starts to become less accurate with 2.5 cm, 1.25 cm and then 0.625 and again 0.3125. Try finding that on a tape measure. Metric may be useful in extremely large measurements (astronomy) or extremely small measurements used in science, but for the built environment, that which we see and feel with our hands and our eyes, the height of our chairs, the proportions of our rooms and windows and doors, eating utensils, and all of architecture, imperial is the obvious winner. In Mexico you can still find masons who build arches using nothing but the rim of their hat to guide the curvature of the bricks.
I always appreciate your perspective, Yoshi! I've never considered the non-human implications of the metric system. Now I have a legitimate reason to reject it, rather than my historical unsubstantiated crabbiness... :-) Thanks for the highly entertaining, informative essay. I laughed out loud a LOT, particularly at your assessment of America. Good stuff.
Good article. When I visited Scotland in 2019 I had older people telling me how much they hated the metric system, and you could see the old imperial measurements all over towns and cities. So at least there it had not taken full hold.
Also reminds me of an article about the ancient Babylonians. They used base 60. According to modern astronomers the Ancient Babylonians' calculations of the stars were extremely accurate. And 60 is divisible by 12.
Great post. I too subscribed to the fallacy of "muh base 10" without ever giving it much thought. But still, for certain applications, metric is better. For precise administration of medications in a hospital for example, "7 ml" is better than "about a quarter of an oz"
Amen brother. As a carpenter I can tell you that when it comes to dividing 10 inches in half we know without thinking the answer is 5". Divide again and you have 2-1/2", again 1-1/4", again 1/2+1/8 which is just 5/8", again is 5/16", again is 5/32". All these are clearly marked on a tape measure and some steel rules graduate down to 64ths. Metric man divides 10 cm by half to get 5 cm but then it starts to become less accurate with 2.5 cm, 1.25 cm and then 0.625 and again 0.3125. Try finding that on a tape measure. Metric may be useful in extremely large measurements (astronomy) or extremely small measurements used in science, but for the built environment, that which we see and feel with our hands and our eyes, the height of our chairs, the proportions of our rooms and windows and doors, eating utensils, and all of architecture, imperial is the obvious winner. In Mexico you can still find masons who build arches using nothing but the rim of their hat to guide the curvature of the bricks.
That's a good nuanced and "measured" response. Perhaps applying the same measures to EVERYTHING is a large part of the problem.
I always appreciate your perspective, Yoshi! I've never considered the non-human implications of the metric system. Now I have a legitimate reason to reject it, rather than my historical unsubstantiated crabbiness... :-) Thanks for the highly entertaining, informative essay. I laughed out loud a LOT, particularly at your assessment of America. Good stuff.
Good article. When I visited Scotland in 2019 I had older people telling me how much they hated the metric system, and you could see the old imperial measurements all over towns and cities. So at least there it had not taken full hold.
Also reminds me of an article about the ancient Babylonians. They used base 60. According to modern astronomers the Ancient Babylonians' calculations of the stars were extremely accurate. And 60 is divisible by 12.
Great post, unique writing. Thank you
Thank you, I learned to write by never reading anything so I haven’t copied many other styles.
Great post. I too subscribed to the fallacy of "muh base 10" without ever giving it much thought. But still, for certain applications, metric is better. For precise administration of medications in a hospital for example, "7 ml" is better than "about a quarter of an oz"