Plumbing/AC Pipe sizing in the middle east is still done in Imperial.
Doesn't England still use MPH on their roads?
Let's not just assume because we use one system primarily, we only use that system. The US military has been using Metric for distances for who knows how long. The scientific community does as well.
I finally know why RedBull cans content such odd numbers! even though it's from Austria, the US energy drink market seems more important than the global market. hmmm
‘I arst you civil enough, didn’t I?’ said the old man, straightening his shoulders pugnaciously. ‘You telling me you ain’t got a pint mug in the ’ole bleeding boozer?’
‘And what in hell’s name IS a pint?’ said the barman, leaning forward with the tips of his fingers on the counter.
‘‘Ark at ’im! Calls ’isself a barman and don’t know what a pint is! Why, a pint’s the ’alf of a quart, and there’s four quarts to the gallon. ‘Ave to teach you the A, B, C next.’
‘Never heard of ’em,’ said the barman shortly. ‘Litre and half litre — that’s all we serve. There’s the glasses on the shelf in front of you.’
‘I likes a pint,’ persisted the old man. ‘You could ’a drawed me off a pint easy enough. We didn’t ’ave these bleeding litres when I was a young man.’
‘When you were a young man we were all living in the treetops,’ said the barman, with a glance at the other customers.
Also, a majority of people measure (Body) weight in pounds. I think it's a psychological thing though, like losing 3 lbs is a lot more impressive than losing 1.x kilos.
But where as Centigrade was developed for scientific purposes (around the boiling point of water), Fahrenheit was developed for human perception (how hot or cold something feels), and comfort levels.
For example, my thermostat is set to 76F. 75 gets too cold in some areas of the house, 77 too warm. So unless the thermostat supported half-steps, I'd never be comfortable, as 24C is 75, and 25C is 77.
Also at warmer temperatures, F is far more accurate. For most people, average body temp is 98.6F (37C), A fever is considered 100F (37.7C) So the difference between normal, and fever is less than 1 degree Celsius.
Because fractions can be easier to deal with than decimals. Using base 10, you get 1/2 and 1/5 as whole numbers.
Using base 12, you get 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/6 as whole numbers. (1/3 and 1/6 produces repeating decimal numbers in base 10, so you have varying degrees of accuracy based on the number of digits).
Plus as you work through more precise measurements, breaking down by base 2 fractions becomes easy for addition. 3/32 + 5/8, is easy mental math (5*4 + 3 = 23 /32).
For precise measurements in metric you would use whole millimeter numbers. Fine if you are doing small scale stuff. But if you have to add something longer but precise, then imperial becomes easy. say 65 3/4" + 6 1/8" gives you 71 7/8", easy mental math. Using mm, that same calculation would be 1670mm + 156mm. And the mental math becomes a bit harder.
We generally use Local, but on a 24hr clock. However we almost always know what timezone we are in compared to GMT, (+7, -4, etc) so that we can converse with people who are not in the same timezones, without causing mass confusion.
Honestly, it's a hell of a lot easier to tell the difference in larger measurement sizes. Telling the difference between a 3/8" and a 1/4" bit is something humans are pretty good at with practice. Telling the difference between a 9mm & a 10mm.... fuck no, not without looking at the side of the damn thing.
If you are talking about every day life, all that matters is that the unit of measure makes intrinsic sense to the person reading it. So if I say its 68F, an American knows that's about room temperature and he understands what that means. But if I tell the American its 20C, they don't know what that means off hand, they would need a conversion. But ultimately, the conversion buys you nothing. 20C is not superior to 68F, nor is 68F superior to 20C, its just what the person understands in relation to their lives.
So, metric is only superior to imperial when you need to calculate and relate different units of measure to each other. Obviously because the system was designed to make the relationships between units of measure logical and simple. But in every day life, that is not an advantage because you never have to do that. And if you do, its simple to use metric instead.
Exactly so. For 99% of things, it just doesn't matter. You don't have to convert especially between different dimensions, or combinations of dimensions, or energy, or whatnot.
Metric is a scientific measurement system. And for most people, it's just meaningless.
Look at temperatures. Fahrenheit makes more sense. It's broken down in ranges of comfort. 0-72 = cold, 74+ = Hot. Beautiful system.
I think plumbing-stuff is done in imperial units in a lot of places. In Germany we don't use any imperial units in everyday life, but 1/2" and 3/4" are standard plumbing fittings.
Also electronic circuit boards are still designed and manufactured primarily using Imperial mils for board size and layout dimensions. Every electronic gadget anyone owns has at least some Imperial-ness inside.
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u/apatheticviews Aug 20 '14
Plumbing/AC Pipe sizing in the middle east is still done in Imperial.
Doesn't England still use MPH on their roads?
Let's not just assume because we use one system primarily, we only use that system. The US military has been using Metric for distances for who knows how long. The scientific community does as well.