Tucker Carlson: metric system is weird, utopian, inelegant, creepy

Kaon · Jun 11, 2019

Desk trauma said:
Have we finally found an idea too absurd to have someone defend it?

It is interesting that, with all of the corrupt systems in the world, Carlson chooses metric.

Belk · Jun 11, 2019

Occams Barber said:
That's an American cup. If it was an Australian cup the answer would be 50 (srsly )
OB

Yikes! Must make cooking interesting.

StromRider · Jun 11, 2019

USincognito said:
I'm sure there's some mutual back scratching going on.

M3 MAAWS recoilless rifle - Swedish

I can remember firing the Carl Gustav in Infantry Officer training in Gagetown in 1983 and thinking what an old weapon it was. To see it is still going with the many improvements and different types of rounds is amazing.

RDKirk · Jun 11, 2019

jayem said:
We Americans love our traditions. Even when they're outdated. For many of us, it will be difficult to conceptualize a house on a 0.607 hectare lot (1.5 acres.) Or a car with a 223.7 kilowatt engine (300 hp.)

Very few Americans can see and estimate 1.5 acres or 300 hp with comprehension. Few even know for sure what "horsepower" is.

I remember back in the early 70s in the Air Force when we in the intelligence business had to transition to the metric system. So when we were, say, describing a Russian runway, we might say it was "approximately 100 yards wide." Okay, so that was probably accurate to within six or eight yards, given our measuring capability at the time.

But when we re-wrote the description during the transition, we merely calculated the approximation, saying, the runway was "approximately 91.44 meters."

Okay, yeah, even then we rolled our eyes. All of a sudden a measurement that was actually accurate only to within six or eight yards became accurate to the centimeter.

We would have done better merely to change "approximately 100 yards" to "approximately 100 meters." The margin of error would have been the same without introducing a false level of precision.

And it just won't sound right when your team has to move the ball 9.14 meters for a 1st down. And midfield is the 45.72 meter line.

And yet, nobody really batted an eye changing the 100 yard dash to the 100 meter dash.

RDKirk · Jun 11, 2019

Clearly, the US should have switched to a metric system when Thomas Jefferson first proposed it.

USincognito · Jun 11, 2019

RDKirk said:
Very few Americans can see and estimate 1.5 acres or 300 hp with comprehension. Few even know for sure what "horsepower" is.

I remember back in the early 70s in the Air Force when we in the intelligence business had to transition to the metric system. So when we were, say, describing a Russian runway, we might say it was "approximately 100 yards wide." Okay, so that was probably accurate to within six or eight yards, given our measuring capability at the time.

But when we re-wrote the description during the transition, we merely calculated the approximation, saying, the runway was "approximately 91.44 meters."

Okay, yeah, even then we rolled our eyes. All of a sudden a measurement that was actually accurate only to within six or eight yards became accurate to the centimeter.

We would have done better merely to change "approximately 100 yards" to "approximately 100 meters." The margin of error would have been the same without introducing a false level of precision.

And yet, nobody really batted an eye changing the 100 yard dash to the 100 meter dash.

I seem to vaguely recall my parents referencing "clicks" back in Iran in the early 70s and more references to them in Germany in the early 80s. Can't recall my dad using any metric terminology stateside.

jayem · Jun 11, 2019

And yet time is still measured everywhere by a sexigesimal system...60 sec. in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day. All factors of 6. Which goes back to Babylonian days. I've heard this is because 60 is a more versatile number than 100. It can be divided more ways. 60 has 10 whole integer divisors: 2,3,4,5,6,10,12,15,20, and 30. Whereas 100 has only 7: 2,4,5,10,20,25,and 50.

Belk · Jun 11, 2019

jayem said:
And yet time is still measured everywhere by a sexigesimal system...60 sec. in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day. All factors of 6. Which goes back to Babylonian days. I've heard this is because 60 is a more versatile number than 100. It can be divided more ways. 60 has 10 whole integer divisors: 2,3,4,5,6,10,12,15,20, and 30. Whereas 100 has only 7: 2,4,5,10,20,25,and 50.

I thought Babylon used base 64?

ETA, Nope base 60 apparently. Jayem is correct.

Babylonian numerals - Wikipedia

USincognito · Jun 11, 2019

jayem said:
And yet time is still measured everywhere by a sexigesimal system...60 sec. in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day. All factors of 6. Which goes back to Babylonian days. I've heard this is because 60 is a more versatile number than 100. It can be divided more ways. 60 has 10 whole integer divisors: 2,3,4,5,6,10,12,15,20, and 30. Whereas 100 has only 7: 2,4,5,10,20,25,and 50.

I haven't used an actual time clock in decades, but back in the mid-80s I worked at a McDonald's that had 100 "minute" hours.

Occams Barber · Jun 11, 2019

Belk said:
Yikes! Must make cooking interesting.

It gets worse.

US measurements for fluid ounces, pints, quarts and gallons (and 'cups') all differ from standard Imperial units. A US Gallon, for instance, is much smaller (3.785L) than a standard Imperial gallon (4.546L).
Imperial and U.S. Systems of Measurement – Basic Kitchen and Food Service Management
OB

USincognito · Jun 11, 2019

USincognito · Jun 11, 2019

View attachment 258055

Kaon said:
Five thousand, two-hundred eighty feet in a mile.

Whatever. Since Jan. I've been all about the kilometers.

variant · Jun 11, 2019

Occams Barber said:
It gets worse.

US measurements for fluid ounces, pints, quarts and gallons (and 'cups') all differ from standard Imperial units. A US Gallon, for instance, is much smaller (3.785L) than a standard Imperial gallon (4.546L).
Imperial and U.S. Systems of Measurement – Basic Kitchen and Food Service Management
OB

Is anyone using the "standard" imperial units? And if not, why would it make sense to call it standard?

Occams Barber · Jun 11, 2019

variant said:
Is anyone using the "standard" imperial units? And if not, why would it make sense to call it standard?

Although 'standard' Imperial units are, as far as I know, no longer officially used, they still crop up in older books/articles and measurement records and have historical significance. They also still get used informally. This means it's important to retain an understanding of what they represent.

I'm using the term 'standard' Imperial Units to differentiate them from US Imperial units which may vary.
OB

Pommer · Jun 11, 2019

USincognito said:
View attachment 258055

Whatever. Since Jan. I've been all about the kilometers.
View attachment 258057

Isn’t the “666” tattoo supposed to go on the RIGHT hand?

USincognito · Jun 12, 2019

Pommer said:
Isn’t the “666” tattoo supposed to go on the RIGHT hand?

That's my Remicade injection. I'll apparently need to be getting them, at $19,000 a pop, every six weeks for the rest of my life.

Pommer · Jun 12, 2019

USincognito said:
That's my Remicade injection. I'll apparently need to be getting them, at $19,000 a pop, every six weeks for the rest of my life.

Sounds ghastly, though didn’t this come of patent protection recently?

USincognito · Jun 12, 2019

Pommer said:
Sounds ghastly, though didn’t this come of patent protection recently?

With preexisting conditions no longer being guaranteed, who knows.

jayem · Jun 12, 2019

USincognito said:
I haven't used an actual time clock in decades, but back in the mid-80s I worked at a McDonald's that had 100 "minute" hours.

I hope you got paid 66.6% more for working 66.6% longer hours.

Kaon · Jun 12, 2019

jayem said:
And yet time is still measured everywhere by a sexigesimal system...60 sec. in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day. All factors of 6. Which goes back to Babylonian days. I've heard this is because 60 is a more versatile number than 100. It can be divided more ways. 60 has 10 whole integer divisors: 2,3,4,5,6,10,12,15,20, and 30. Whereas 100 has only 7: 2,4,5,10,20,25,and 50.

Religion play a significant role in the bases we have used to date.

Tucker Carlson: metric system is weird, utopian, inelegant, creepy

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