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But for some areas of our world-existance ... ya think that the prehistoric invention of POWERS OF 2 might have met some really practical need? Ya think? I sure do. Powers of 10 is great, but powers of 2 (and 3) are emminently practical for guessing and estimating things.

Exactly. Halving and doubling are really possible and practical tasks. If I gave you a pile of flour or a container of water and asked you to divide it into 8, this would be a lot easier than dividing it into 10.

"Exactly. Halving and doubling are really possible and practical tasks. If I gave you a pile of flour or a container of water and asked you to divide it into 8, this would be a lot easier than dividing it into 10."

So why doesn't a foot have 16 inches, or a yard 4 feet? Ok, ok, I know that 12 is a good number because it can be divided evenly in so many ways. But that's the whole system - an inconsistent mish-mash of multiples that confuses the heck out of most people. Then again, most people probably can't understand the metric system, either. Let's face it, most people just aren't that bright ;)