Comments on: Is the decimal system best? http://butler-harris.org/archives/316 How can you have the last word if you haven't heard the first? Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:19:01 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 by: TJH http://butler-harris.org/archives/316#comment-22931 Fri, 07 Mar 2008 17:02:57 +0000 http://butler-harris.org/archives/316#comment-22931 Roger -- I once knew, or could have figured out, that "1 liter of water equals to 1 kilo" -- in HS chemistry. Fortunately, it doesn't come up in conversation very often (to paraphrase Woody Allen, when Annie Hall asked if he knew the names of the moons of Jupiter). Since then, I have remembered the rule of thumb 1 gal = 7 lbs. Anyhow, appreciate your comments. Roger — I once knew, or could have figured out, that “1 liter of water equals to 1 kilo” — in HS chemistry. Fortunately, it doesn’t come up in conversation very often (to paraphrase Woody Allen, when Annie Hall asked if he knew the names of the moons of Jupiter). Since then, I have remembered the rule of thumb 1 gal = 7 lbs.

Anyhow, appreciate your comments.

]]> by: Roger http://butler-harris.org/archives/316#comment-22653 Tue, 04 Mar 2008 15:57:07 +0000 http://butler-harris.org/archives/316#comment-22653 I grew up using the metric system and I always thought it was superior, since it is "10 based" AND it provides with an easy translation among linear, area, and volumetric measurements. For example, many people may not be aware that 1 liter of water equals to 1 kilo. And 1 liter is 10 cubic centimeters (or spelling out: 10 cm x 10cm x 10cm). I don't think anyone would argue that such translation is not as easy to do using gallons and pounds. After reading your post, I started thinking... and I noticed you're just like the rest of us: culturally biased! All your analysis was based on the US culture, which is expected, as you live here. And this where I changed my mind and started agreeing with you: the metric system is not necessarily superior. What is superior anyway? It has to be useful to the people, to the masses, and not only to a few "scholars" as you pointed out. I have a house and its structure is made of wood, 2 x 4”, 2 x 6”, etc. and each piece making the walls is 16” apart. You fill this gap with insulation, and that too is already 16” wide. After hundreds of years of building houses, how can anyone expect an entire culture to convert all of these measures to the metric system? In the US, I don’t see this as possible, not in my life time. On the other hand, other countries may build their houses with bricks, especially those in warmer locations. Guess what? Bricks in such locations are not molded and measured in inches, but centimeters. Their houses are not measured in square feet, but square meters. I was trying to tell my dad the size of my house in square feet and, of course, it made no sense to him. I had to convert it to square meters and it made perfect sense, to HIM. I’m all for standards, as long as it serves the people. I understand why we have standard sizes for windows, doors, etc., but this is still within the containment of a culture, in our case, the American culture. Thank you for such thought provoking article! You did change my mind and you made me realize that measurements are part of a culture. How can we impose such changes on people and ask them to radically change their centennial habits for the sake of “global convenience” (arguably)? I grew up using the metric system and I always thought it was superior, since it is “10 based” AND it provides with an easy translation among linear, area, and volumetric measurements. For example, many people may not be aware that 1 liter of water equals to 1 kilo. And 1 liter is 10 cubic centimeters (or spelling out: 10 cm x 10cm x 10cm). I don’t think anyone would argue that such translation is not as easy to do using gallons and pounds.

After reading your post, I started thinking… and I noticed you’re just like the rest of us: culturally biased! All your analysis was based on the US culture, which is expected, as you live here. And this where I changed my mind and started agreeing with you: the metric system is not necessarily superior. What is superior anyway? It has to be useful to the people, to the masses, and not only to a few “scholars” as you pointed out.

I have a house and its structure is made of wood, 2 x 4”, 2 x 6”, etc. and each piece making the walls is 16” apart. You fill this gap with insulation, and that too is already 16” wide. After hundreds of years of building houses, how can anyone expect an entire culture to convert all of these measures to the metric system? In the US, I don’t see this as possible, not in my life time.

On the other hand, other countries may build their houses with bricks, especially those in warmer locations. Guess what? Bricks in such locations are not molded and measured in inches, but centimeters. Their houses are not measured in square feet, but square meters. I was trying to tell my dad the size of my house in square feet and, of course, it made no sense to him. I had to convert it to square meters and it made perfect sense, to HIM.

I’m all for standards, as long as it serves the people. I understand why we have standard sizes for windows, doors, etc., but this is still within the containment of a culture, in our case, the American culture.

Thank you for such thought provoking article! You did change my mind and you made me realize that measurements are part of a culture. How can we impose such changes on people and ask them to radically change their centennial habits for the sake of “global convenience” (arguably)?

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