If you've ever wondered why most of the world switched to Metric ...

[godlameroso]

I never said Imperial is better or worse, it's a different tool. I don't understand why everyone I talk to assumes I speak in extremes or absolutes? Is a hammer better than a ratchet? If you're removing bolts, no, if you're driving nails, sure.

It's easier to measure angles and proportions in imperial than metric.

please explain how

Bake a cake and find out for yourself, is it more precise to measure things out in grams than fractions of a cup? Sure, but those happy mistakes from being slightly off are your magic touch. It's like music, all the great musicians were just a little off, not perfectly metronomic, well maybe the drummer of Rush, but still, it's those tiny little variations from perfect that give things their own little flavor. In any case think about how angles are measured, 360 arc degrees breaks down into quarters very easily, and you can subdivide that easily and quickly. It may not be ultra-perfect, but you can get very very close and quickly.

[henry]

In any case think about how angles are measured, 360 arc degrees breaks down into quarters very easily, and you can subdivide that easily and quickly.

Was Sumeria an empire?

The many factors of 60 are indeed useful, but sexagesimal is a pain when you’re trying to convert kph to m/s in you’re head.

[godlameroso]

In any case think about how angles are measured, 360 arc degrees breaks down into quarters very easily, and you can subdivide that easily and quickly.

Was Sumeria an empire?

The many factors of 60 are indeed useful, but sexagesimal is a pain when you’re trying to convert kph to m/s in you’re head.

Yes absolutely, they do not translate well, you have to multiply by pi to convert from angle to metric. This causes a lot of confusion, phi for instance is similar, it's easier to express it as a ratio A+B/A than as an exact value. Which is more in line with reality, things tend to exist as relationship between two extremes, not any exact value. Exact values are all in your head, think of an oxygen sensor, it's never reading perfectly stoichiometric, in a finely tuned engine it will hover back and forth just straddling .4 volts.

Like Carl Jung said, you could have a quarry full of pebbles and you can determine the average weight of the pebbles, and it's just as likely that if you examine each individual pebble none even come close to that ideal average weight you've determined.

Here's the audio book.



It's a decent read, really helped me get npt fasteners in the bsp threads in my head Only mechanics and plumbers know that joke from painful experiences.

[nzjrs]

Yes absolutely, they do not translate well, you have to multiply by pi to convert from angle to metric.

Wait are you saying degrees are imperial and radians ish are metric?

Followed by philosophical argument for imperial units - but what seems like actually an argument for no standardisation in general?

[Just_a_fan]

I never said Imperial is better or worse, it's a different tool. I don't understand why everyone I talk to assumes I speak in extremes or absolutes? Is a hammer better than a ratchet? If you're removing bolts, no, if you're driving nails, sure.

It's easier to measure angles and proportions in imperial than metric.

please explain how

Bake a cake and find out for yourself, is it more precise to measure things out in grams than fractions of a cup? Sure, but those happy mistakes from being slightly off are your magic touch.

Would that be the US Customary "cup" or the US Legal "cup"? The former is c.236.5ml, the latter is 240ml. Or even the metric cup which is 250ml.

In the UK, we used to have the cup which was 10 imp. fluid oz. or half an imp pint. But that's bigger than the US cups (either Customary or Legal versions).

Or one can just use a single measurement system that is agreed by the vast majority of the world and which is also the underlying system of the one you use every day (US Customary units are defined by reference to the SI system).

As for adding your own flair to your cake mix, recipes are only ever a guide and most people won't try to get an exact amount for the ingredients once they've made the recipe a time or two.

[DChemTech]

please explain how

Bake a cake and find out for yourself, is it more precise to measure things out in grams than fractions of a cup? Sure, but those happy mistakes from being slightly off are your magic touch.

Would that be the US Customary "cup" or the US Legal "cup"? The former is c.236.5ml, the latter is 240ml. Or even the metric cup which is 250ml.

In the UK, we used to have the cup which was 10 imp. fluid oz. or half an imp pint. But that's bigger than the US cups (either Customary or Legal versions).

Or one can just use a single measurement system that is agreed by the vast majority of the world and which is also the underlying system of the one you use every day (US Customary units are defined by reference to the SI system).

As for adding your own flair to your cake mix, recipes are only ever a guide and most people won't try to get an exact amount for the ingredients once they've made the recipe a time or two.

Those are rather marginal confusions - and I'm just standing in front of my cupboard wondering whether to go for a coffee cup or teacup, and even among those my random assortment of kitchenware comes in several sizes. And when does it turn from cup to mug?

Proportioning in imperial is nothing short of a crime. You always need to calculate back to metric anyway for some meaningful dosing - and even then it's not clear indeed, if things come down to the gram.

[Just_a_fan]

Those are rather marginal confusions - and I'm just standing in front of my cupboard wondering whether to go for a coffee cup or teacup, and even among those my random assortment of kitchenware comes in several sizes. And when does it turn from cup to mug?

SWMBO bought me one of these mugs. Not sure what she was trying to say...



I use it for coffee but not for cooking.

I have a weigh scale for cooking and use grams. If using an old recipe (sometimes I like to try old stuff), I can set the scale to ounces instead. They joy of weigh scales.

[hollus]

I have a weigh scale for cooking and use grams.

But at what altitude do you live?!?

[Big Tea]

This all only started because some old king had 10 fingers and another had 3 feet.

[Just_a_fan]

I have a weigh scale for cooking and use grams.

But at what altitude do you live?!?

Not just altitude but also location on the planet. Gravity varies with location and altitude.

But as cooking is about relative proportions of ingredients, so long as I do my measuring in one place, it'll be OK.

[DChemTech]

I have a weigh scale for cooking and use grams.

But at what altitude do you live?!?

Not just altitude but also location on the planet. Gravity varies with location and altitude.

But as cooking is about relative proportions of ingredients, so long as I do my measuring in one place, it'll be OK.

For some reason I would not be surprised if Ottolenghi at some point adds "0.74 grams of 3-day old Tibetan peppercorns, weighted at the main square of the Lhasa." to one of his recipes.

[Jolle]

I have a weigh scale for cooking and use grams.

But at what altitude do you live?!?

Not just altitude but also location on the planet. Gravity varies with location and altitude.

But as cooking is about relative proportions of ingredients, so long as I do my measuring in one place, it'll be OK.

If you use a pressure scale, you should cook in Newtons instead of grams

[Just_a_fan]

But at what altitude do you live?!?

Not just altitude but also location on the planet. Gravity varies with location and altitude.

But as cooking is about relative proportions of ingredients, so long as I do my measuring in one place, it'll be OK.

For some reason I would not be surprised if Ottolenghi at some point adds "0.74 grams of 3-day old Tibetan peppercorns, weighted at the main square of the Lhasa." to one of his recipes.

[godlameroso]

Yes absolutely, they do not translate well, you have to multiply by pi to convert from angle to metric.

Wait are you saying degrees are imperial and radians ish are metric?

Followed by philosophical argument for imperial units - but what seems like actually an argument for no standardisation in general?

Philosophy turns into a matter of semantics and hardly ever deals with anything real and concrete. I merely imply that if there's a problem true diversity means accepting different points of view, as long as the aim is to be constructive seeing things from different perspectives gives greater understanding. Try not to think of things in terms of right and wrong, if you know something is wrong it can make you more correct if you can explain why it is wrong. If you understand why, then you will automatically change your behavior.

Even trying to understand can be its own motivation. Riccardo trying to understand the car has motivated him to spend time on the simulator, that desire to understand makes you put in the work, because you see what people are capable of and it makes you want to elevate your game in response. Understanding is the path to love.

To understand something means you have to engage it with your whole being, and in that relationship you become defined. It can be anything, a person, a car, a sport, the wind, your body, an idea, if you engage that with your whole being, and attempt to understand it, can you not call that love?

If your loved one is sick, you understand and you instantly change your behavior towards them, because you understand what it's like to be sick.

You don't go on a track walk because you have to, you go because you want to understand your environment, because what if the laser scan or the slow cruise on FP1 doesn't pick up the same amount of detail as your eyes at walking speed?

Then the people that misunderstand me will have visions of Verstappen with a magnifying glass on the kerb stones.

[Big Tea]

Yes absolutely, they do not translate well, you have to multiply by pi to convert from angle to metric.

Wait are you saying degrees are imperial and radians ish are metric?

Followed by philosophical argument for imperial units - but what seems like actually an argument for no standardisation in general?

Philosophy turns into a matter of semantics and hardly ever deals with anything real and concrete. I merely imply that if there's a problem true diversity means accepting different points of view, as long as the aim is to be constructive seeing things from different perspectives gives greater understanding. Try not to think of things in terms of right and wrong, if you know something is wrong it can make you more correct if you can explain why it is wrong. If you understand why, then you will automatically change your behavior.

Even trying to understand can be its own motivation. Riccardo trying to understand the car has motivated him to spend time on the simulator, that desire to understand makes you put in the work, because you see what people are capable of and it makes you want to elevate your game in response. Understanding is the path to love.

To understand something means you have to engage it with your whole being, and in that relationship you become defined. It can be anything, a person, a car, a sport, the wind, your body, an idea, if you engage that with your whole being, and attempt to understand it, can you not call that love?

If your loved one is sick, you understand and you instantly change your behavior towards them, because you understand what it's like to be sick.

You don't go on a track walk because you have to, you go because you want to understand your environment, because what if the laser scan or the slow cruise on FP1 doesn't pick up the same amount of detail as your eyes at walking speed?

Then the people that misunderstand me will have visions of Verstappen with a magnifying glass on the kerb stones.

If that is not Philosophy, I don't know what is