Imperial System... oh how i loathe theee!

gutted · 09-17-09, 11:16 AM

LOL

Ok first off.. let me just say this up front. Im an American construction worker... and despite using it all my life... i fugging hate the Imperial System.

Yup.

It sucks almost as bad as fractions.

Only thing worse is "Imperial Fractions". Its the devil. I mean seriously.. "Hey Chuck... hand me the 5/8 nut driver... no better make that the 9/32. No that one dont fit either.. hand me the 1254/1340984 driver."

I'm a logically thinking type of person... and mathematically, the imperial system just has no logic to me. Who the hell comes up with Inches, Feet, Yards, and Miles? The system is ancient and needs to die!! LOL!!

Dont even get me started on liquid quantities/measurements!!

but i digress..

I really wish this country would switch to the metric system as i used to hear people say was coming. It will make our lives easier. but i Doubt it will happen any time soon.

I dunno, i guess thats just the way my brain is wired.

So how many of you "Imperial subjects" prefer Metric? And how do the rest of you just not get annoyed when your ruler jumps from yds to miles.

Distortion · 09-17-09, 11:21 AM

I know nothing about the imperial system, thats why I use it in SH4, just to learn something about it.

Hitman · 09-17-09, 11:22 AM

[Quickly jumps down on his stomach before Rockin Robbins sees this thread and the FLAK starts shooting]

sergei · 09-17-09, 11:25 AM

INCOMING!

SteamWake · 09-17-09, 11:25 AM

Uhh you know you can change that right?

gutted · 09-17-09, 11:29 AM

yes.

I used metric since day 1 of SHIV coming out.

Since i reinstalled SH4 recently after a long hiatus.. i decided to go imperial for a laugh.

It ended in fits.

ETR3(SS) · 09-17-09, 11:40 AM

Imperial seems quite simple to me. 1NM=2000yds=6000FT. The ruler jumping from yards to miles is no different than it jumping from meters to kilometers. IMO.

gutted · 09-17-09, 12:03 PM

5,500yds = 2.7nm
5,500m = 5.5km

it speaks for itself.

About the only good thing is the Nm/Knot relationship.

If only we could get these sailors to quit using Kts and use Kmh.

lol, ok i was just joking on that last one.

gutted · 09-17-09, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hitman

[Quickly jumps down on his stomach before Rockin Robbins sees this thread and the FLAK starts shooting]

oddly, given how long it's been since i visisted this site.. that's one of the few names i remember. Mostly from some tactical/targetting discusions we had.

Iron Budokan · 09-19-09, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gutted

LOL

Ok first off.. let me just say this up front. Im an American construction worker... and despite using it all my life... i fugging hate the Imperial System.

I much prefer metric. It's simple and intuitive and straightforward. Can't beat that combination, imo.

Rockin Robbins · 09-19-09, 12:26 PM

The facts will never sway those whose minds are already made up. Ease of calculation in the base 10 system is the ONLY advantage of the metric system. Aside from that its units are the wrong size, the mathematical relationships are not in correspondence with the numerical relationships between sizes, frequencies, weights or temperatures in the real world as I have described carefully in the posts above.

Bald statements of "this is better" do not substitute for reason, example and proof.

DarkFish · 09-19-09, 12:48 PM

I don't agree with you that the metric system is harder to use because the units would be too far apart. I can estimate pretty well how long a meter is, just as easily as someone who grew up in the US can estimate the length of a feet/yard/inch/mile/whatever. The imperial system might be based on human measures, but I'm positive my feet are a lot bigger than yours

Besides, because we've got 10 fingers to count with our natural counting system is base 10.

BTW, Fahrenheit VS Celsius has nothing to do with metric, the only difference between them is that celsius is based on the freezing (0°) and boiling (100°) point of water while fahrenheit is based on brine (0°) and the body temperature of a human (98.6°).
They both make sense, they are only based on other values. It's not like a fahrenheit is divided in 14 feirenhahts which is divided in 8.36 hahrenfeit or something

Rockin Robbins · 09-19-09, 02:41 PM

Actually the way I was taught way back in elementary school, Mr. Fahrenheit was very scientific about it. He made himself up a mercury thermometer and one day he went outside and said "It's DAMN cold. I don't think I remember any day as cold as this. I'm going to call this temperature zero." and he marked his tube of mercury.

Then in the summer one day he said, "It's DAMNED hot. I don't remember any day as hot as this. I'm going to call this temperature 100. He marked his tube of mercury.

Then dividing the difference into hundredths, he arrived at the size of a degree in Fahrenheit. That 32º ended up being the freezing temp of water was just an accident.

It was a charmingly human way to reckon temperature and one which divided rough extremes of human tolerance into 100 gradations, a great size for the degree in relation to the human being. That's the essence of imperial and traditional measurements. As the Greeks said, rightly or wrongly, "man is the measure of the universe." According to their way of thinking, only the presence of man makes the universe worthwhile at all. I happen to agree with them that our very existence bears with it a validation of our appropriateness and worth in the universe we inhabit.

Our modern (that should be in quotations, I doubt it is in any way enlightened) way of thinking is that man is inherently evil and the universe would be much better off without us. Tree huggers live their lives with the aim of killing off the vast majority of us and forcing the rest of us to live in the stone age. And they act as if THAT were some kind of a service to the planet, which spawned us as the pinnacle of its accomplishments.

So we adopt systems of measure which have no relationship to man whatever, as man is supposedly irrelevant to the universe he measures. Doesn't the Heisenburg uncertainty principle imply that the act of measurement changes the qualities of that which is measured?

Frederf · 09-19-09, 03:12 PM

Meh, Fahrenheit does start at absolute zero. You confuse the start of a scale and the zero of a scale. Oh absolute zero is cold it would hurt your hands... chuckle, chuckle... is that a logical point or are you just trying to distract?

Music is in base ten, just fractionally. So what if you break a measure up into 8 parts. A half note is 4/8 of a measure. Again you confuse fractions with base. You completely changed topics between talking about how music is composed to the physical composition of tones in order to make me seem wrong. Yeah octaves are based on 2^N math, we all knew that. Base-2 math is not owned by either measurement system.

Ease of calculation is not the only benefit. How about having one bloody unit per unit of measure? What's the sense in having inches, feet, yards, miles for distance instead of a single measure? And Imperial are more convenient? How about a measuring a brake rotor? Are inches or millimeters more natural? How about a film thickness on the order of green light's wavelength? Would you pick mils or nanometers?

I also don't buy this egotistical thing about "man is the measure of all things" where you make it into a choice between a man-based system and a human-abhorrent system. How about the system that isn't based on man but is merely indifferent to man. You don't have to be a tree hugger or some humans are evil type to simply get over the ego about everything being man-centric and get on with it.

The Heisenberg measurement changes the world is hardly man-centric. A measurement doesn't mean a guy in a lab coat with a ruler, it just means any time there is an interaction which requires a definite value. The idea that it takes a person to enact that law... ouch my brain. I guess there's a reason Fark.com has a Florida tag.

Hitman · 09-19-09, 05:11 PM

[/joking mode on]

I don't know about other countries but here in Spain we are divided in high school in two groups, according toour preferences: Humanities, and Sciences. Those who choose "Sciencies" go on studying maths, physics, chemistry and suhc, while those who -like me- chose humanities get philosophy, latin and history. And it's a classic here

to discuss against the sciences guys what is more useful, philosophy or maths/physics. In the end, we always beat the science guys because we are better at argumentation, and do you know what? This discussion you are having here is actually a philosophical one, even if you were not aware of it

Yes, gentlement, you are actually joining one or another of the big sides in philosophy: Realism vs. Idealism

Realistic are those who think that the world is what it is, independently of what we think of it (Imperial measurements), and idealists are those who think that the world is what we think it is (Metric system). Who is right? None of you! Only us guys from humanites

, who have learnt since long that the discussion yoru are having is actually futile if you want to get the real measure of knowledge

[/joking mode off]

09-17-09, 11:16 AM	#1
gutted The Old Man Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: New Orleans, LA. Posts: 1,379 Downloads: 487 Uploads: 11	Imperial System... oh how i loathe theee! LOL Ok first off.. let me just say this up front. Im an American construction worker... and despite using it all my life... i fugging hate the Imperial System. Yup. It sucks almost as bad as fractions. Only thing worse is "Imperial Fractions". Its the devil. I mean seriously.. "Hey Chuck... hand me the 5/8 nut driver... no better make that the 9/32. No that one dont fit either.. hand me the 1254/1340984 driver." I'm a logically thinking type of person... and mathematically, the imperial system just has no logic to me. Who the hell comes up with Inches, Feet, Yards, and Miles? The system is ancient and needs to die!! LOL!! Dont even get me started on liquid quantities/measurements!! but i digress.. I really wish this country would switch to the metric system as i used to hear people say was coming. It will make our lives easier. but i Doubt it will happen any time soon. I dunno, i guess thats just the way my brain is wired. So how many of you "Imperial subjects" prefer Metric? And how do the rest of you just not get annoyed when your ruler jumps from yds to miles.

09-17-09, 11:21 AM	#2
Distortion Rosengarten. Center Join Date: May 2003 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 89 Downloads: 225 Uploads: 0	I know nothing about the imperial system, thats why I use it in SH4, just to learn something about it. __________________ "Ashes to ashes, dust unto dust, it may not run, but shine it must, it may not work, but it will not rust."

09-17-09, 11:22 AM	#3
Hitman Pacific Aces Dev Team Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Spain Posts: 6,109 Downloads: 109 Uploads: 2	[Quickly jumps down on his stomach before Rockin Robbins sees this thread and the FLAK starts shooting] __________________ One day I will return to sea ...

09-17-09, 11:25 AM	#5
SteamWake Rear Admiral Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 13,224 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	Uhh you know you can change that right? __________________ Follow the progress of Mr. Mulligan : http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=147648

09-17-09, 11:40 AM	#7
ETR3(SS) Ocean Warrior Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Between test depth and periscope depth Posts: 3,021 Downloads: 175 Uploads: 16	Imperial seems quite simple to me. 1NM=2000yds=6000FT. The ruler jumping from yards to miles is no different than it jumping from meters to kilometers. IMO. __________________ USS Kentucky SSBN 737 (G) Comms Div 2003-2006 Qualified 19 November 03 Yes I was really on a submarine.

09-17-09, 11:25 AM	#4
sergei Sea Lord Join Date: May 2008 Location: London UK Posts: 1,788 Downloads: 405 Uploads: 29	INCOMING!

09-17-09, 11:29 AM	#6
gutted The Old Man Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: New Orleans, LA. Posts: 1,379 Downloads: 487 Uploads: 11	yes. I used metric since day 1 of SHIV coming out. Since i reinstalled SH4 recently after a long hiatus.. i decided to go imperial for a laugh. It ended in fits.

09-17-09, 12:03 PM	#8
gutted The Old Man Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: New Orleans, LA. Posts: 1,379 Downloads: 487 Uploads: 11	5,500yds = 2.7nm 5,500m = 5.5km it speaks for itself. About the only good thing is the Nm/Knot relationship. If only we could get these sailors to quit using Kts and use Kmh. lol, ok i was just joking on that last one.

09-19-09, 12:26 PM	#11
Rockin Robbins Navy Seal Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: DeLand, FL Posts: 8,900 Downloads: 135 Uploads: 52	The facts will never sway those whose minds are already made up. Ease of calculation in the base 10 system is the ONLY advantage of the metric system. Aside from that its units are the wrong size, the mathematical relationships are not in correspondence with the numerical relationships between sizes, frequencies, weights or temperatures in the real world as I have described carefully in the posts above. Bald statements of "this is better" do not substitute for reason, example and proof. __________________ Sub Skipper's Bag of Tricks, Slightly Subnuclear Mk 14 & Cutie, Slightly Subnuclear Deck Gun, EZPlot 2.0, TMOPlot, TMOKeys, SH4CMS

09-19-09, 12:48 PM	#12
DarkFish Sea Lord Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Stinking drunk in Eindhoven, the Netherlands Posts: 1,844 Downloads: 28 Uploads: 0	I don't agree with you that the metric system is harder to use because the units would be too far apart. I can estimate pretty well how long a meter is, just as easily as someone who grew up in the US can estimate the length of a feet/yard/inch/mile/whatever. The imperial system might be based on human measures, but I'm positive my feet are a lot bigger than yours Besides, because we've got 10 fingers to count with our natural counting system is base 10. BTW, Fahrenheit VS Celsius has nothing to do with metric, the only difference between them is that celsius is based on the freezing (0°) and boiling (100°) point of water while fahrenheit is based on brine (0°) and the body temperature of a human (98.6°). They both make sense, they are only based on other values. It's not like a fahrenheit is divided in 14 feirenhahts which is divided in 8.36 hahrenfeit or something __________________

09-19-09, 02:41 PM	#13
Rockin Robbins Navy Seal Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: DeLand, FL Posts: 8,900 Downloads: 135 Uploads: 52	Actually the way I was taught way back in elementary school, Mr. Fahrenheit was very scientific about it. He made himself up a mercury thermometer and one day he went outside and said "It's DAMN cold. I don't think I remember any day as cold as this. I'm going to call this temperature zero." and he marked his tube of mercury. Then in the summer one day he said, "It's DAMNED hot. I don't remember any day as hot as this. I'm going to call this temperature 100. He marked his tube of mercury. Then dividing the difference into hundredths, he arrived at the size of a degree in Fahrenheit. That 32º ended up being the freezing temp of water was just an accident. It was a charmingly human way to reckon temperature and one which divided rough extremes of human tolerance into 100 gradations, a great size for the degree in relation to the human being. That's the essence of imperial and traditional measurements. As the Greeks said, rightly or wrongly, "man is the measure of the universe." According to their way of thinking, only the presence of man makes the universe worthwhile at all. I happen to agree with them that our very existence bears with it a validation of our appropriateness and worth in the universe we inhabit. Our modern (that should be in quotations, I doubt it is in any way enlightened) way of thinking is that man is inherently evil and the universe would be much better off without us. Tree huggers live their lives with the aim of killing off the vast majority of us and forcing the rest of us to live in the stone age. And they act as if THAT were some kind of a service to the planet, which spawned us as the pinnacle of its accomplishments. So we adopt systems of measure which have no relationship to man whatever, as man is supposedly irrelevant to the universe he measures. Doesn't the Heisenburg uncertainty principle imply that the act of measurement changes the qualities of that which is measured? __________________ Sub Skipper's Bag of Tricks, Slightly Subnuclear Mk 14 & Cutie, Slightly Subnuclear Deck Gun, EZPlot 2.0, TMOPlot, TMOKeys, SH4CMS

09-19-09, 03:12 PM	#14
Frederf Seasoned Skipper Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 665 Downloads: 79 Uploads: 1	Meh, Fahrenheit does start at absolute zero. You confuse the start of a scale and the zero of a scale. Oh absolute zero is cold it would hurt your hands... chuckle, chuckle... is that a logical point or are you just trying to distract? Music is in base ten, just fractionally. So what if you break a measure up into 8 parts. A half note is 4/8 of a measure. Again you confuse fractions with base. You completely changed topics between talking about how music is composed to the physical composition of tones in order to make me seem wrong. Yeah octaves are based on 2^N math, we all knew that. Base-2 math is not owned by either measurement system. Ease of calculation is not the only benefit. How about having one bloody unit per unit of measure? What's the sense in having inches, feet, yards, miles for distance instead of a single measure? And Imperial are more convenient? How about a measuring a brake rotor? Are inches or millimeters more natural? How about a film thickness on the order of green light's wavelength? Would you pick mils or nanometers? I also don't buy this egotistical thing about "man is the measure of all things" where you make it into a choice between a man-based system and a human-abhorrent system. How about the system that isn't based on man but is merely indifferent to man. You don't have to be a tree hugger or some humans are evil type to simply get over the ego about everything being man-centric and get on with it. The Heisenberg measurement changes the world is hardly man-centric. A measurement doesn't mean a guy in a lab coat with a ruler, it just means any time there is an interaction which requires a definite value. The idea that it takes a person to enact that law... ouch my brain. I guess there's a reason Fark.com has a Florida tag.

09-19-09, 05:11 PM	#15
Hitman Pacific Aces Dev Team Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Spain Posts: 6,109 Downloads: 109 Uploads: 2	[/joking mode on] I don't know about other countries but here in Spain we are divided in high school in two groups, according toour preferences: Humanities, and Sciences. Those who choose "Sciencies" go on studying maths, physics, chemistry and suhc, while those who -like me- chose humanities get philosophy, latin and history. And it's a classic here to discuss against the sciences guys what is more useful, philosophy or maths/physics. In the end, we always beat the science guys because we are better at argumentation, and do you know what? This discussion you are having here is actually a philosophical one, even if you were not aware of it Yes, gentlement, you are actually joining one or another of the big sides in philosophy: Realism vs. Idealism Realistic are those who think that the world is what it is, independently of what we think of it (Imperial measurements), and idealists are those who think that the world is what we think it is (Metric system). Who is right? None of you! Only us guys from humanites , who have learnt since long that the discussion yoru are having is actually futile if you want to get the real measure of knowledge [/joking mode off] __________________ One day I will return to sea ...