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To: sean327

It’s cool. I use metric measures as a tool, like anything else. Sometimes English measures do the job better. Sometimes metric ones do. Sometimes it’s just what you are accustomed to.


109 posted on 06/27/2014 11:04:48 AM PDT by SoothingDave
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To: SoothingDave

I think the biggest objection most people have to the metric system is that they just are not used to it. We know, for instance, how big a foot is, or how much a pound weighs. We really don’t have an intuitive grasp of how much a kilogram weighs or how big a centimeter is. Personally, even though I am accustomed to metric measurement, I still have to mentally convert the metric units to US ones to get an intuitive grasp of how big a quantity I’m dealing with. I find it analogous to learning a new language. You can learn to understand and communicate in your second language, but you never actually learn to THINK in that langauge. You always have to translate everything back into your native one.

On the other hand, as a scientist, the biggest objection I have to the US system has nothing to do with ease of use or precision or anything like that. The main objection I have is that the US system has ambiguous units. An ounce, for instance, could mean the avoirdupois ounce used for measuring most items or the troy ounce used for precious metals. A gallon could mean the US gallon or the imperial one. Miles come in standard or nautical variety. While it’s usually clear which one is meant, it is a source of potential confusion, one which does not exist when using metric units.


113 posted on 06/27/2014 11:15:10 AM PDT by stremba
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To: SoothingDave

Yeah, I’m pretty comfortable using both systems. I don’t have a problem moving from one to the other.


117 posted on 06/27/2014 11:28:23 AM PDT by sean327 (God created all men equal, then some become Marines!)
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