Imperial or Metric?

[Duke Malcolm]

Which do the people of the Org prefer?

Imperial :

16 ounces to a pound, 14 pounds to a stone
12 inches to a foot, three feet to a yard, 1760 yards to a mile.
pints (that's all I know for fluids -- and need to know)

Advantages : Good for the brain, requires mental thought to add things up, makes people better at maths

Metric :
1000 grams to a kilogram
1000 millilitres to a litre
1000 millimetres to a metre, 1000 metres to a kilometre.

Advantages : Easy to use

In USA, they use good ol' Imperial units.

Here in the UK, we use an odd mix of both. Shopkeepers are forced by law to sell products in Metric, but many display both Imperial and Metric units (except on pre-packed thingies). Distances are measured in miles on roads, but OS and road maps are in kilometres. Schools teach Metric, but some pupils know Imperial, and I have made an effort to learn it, sort of. The Metricisaction process began in 1971 with the introduction of the decimal currency...

In Europe, they use Metric.

[Kaiser of Arabia]

Viva l'Mile!

[The_Doctor]

Imperial sucks. It is mad.

1760 yards for a mile, how the hell did they get number?

[The_Doctor]

Another thing, why is it so political?

[Dutch_guy]

metric system,

does the imp. system really make people smarter , or is just said by english people to promote their system ? just like us high schoolers like to say that chewing gum makes you think better.

In short is that proven ?

[Gawain of Orkeny]

14 pounds to a stone

Wow I never knew that. Im gonna have to order a stone of weed then

I think metric would be easier if you were brought up on it and makes more sense but Imperial is pretty much stuck in my brain at ths point. I remeber going to Canada and getting gas and it was 75 cents a gallon and I was like whoa thats expensive. Then I reaslized it was an imperial gallon. I guess thats another matter though.

[Kaiser of Arabia]

Sorry but I just never understood metric. I mean, is a kilomete less then a mile, as I always thought it was, or is it more than one, like my teachers say it is? Why does it go to centimeter to meter? I hate decimals!

[The_Doctor]

I mean, is a kilomete less then a mile

Yes.

Why does it go to centimeter to meter

A centimeter is 100th of a meter.

[ShadesWolf]

Imperial
every time

[Ronin]

Sorry but I just never understood metric. I mean, is a kilomete less then a mile, as I always thought it was, or is it more than one, like my teachers say it is? Why does it go to centimeter to meter? I hate decimals!

a kilometer is 1000 meters.....

a mile is more....1600 meters i believe......

[Kaiser of Arabia]

Yes.



A centimeter is 100th of a meter.

yeah but a centemeter is like the equivilant measure of an inch (not size wize but useage wise) and a meter a yard, what bout somthing thats in between?

[Ronin]

i think metric makes much more sense because all the measures and sub-measures are multiples of one another in a regular sense...

like....1 kilogram is 1000 grams....and 1000 kilograms is 1 ton...

on the other hand in imperial you get:
"12 inches to a foot, three feet to a yard, 1760 yards to a mile."

how does this make sense?....why is the foot 12 inches but then there are only 3 feet in a yard????

[Duke Malcolm]

It is much more practical, I feel, since a yard is roughly one stride

[Ronin]

yeah but a centemeter is like the equivilant measure of an inch (not size wize but useage wise) and a meter a yard, what bout somthing thats in between?

there is a measure that equals to 10 centimeters....or 1/10 of a meter....

i´d not sure of it´s name in the english language.....but if i was to guess to a translation it would be something like "decimetre".....but it´s not commonly used...at least over here...

again...between the meter and the kilometer there are 2 intermediate units...that are equivalent to 10 meters and 100 meters......these are taught in schools but then are not used in everyday practice...

same thing for volumes...

[asilv]

yeah but a centemeter is like the equivilant measure of an inch (not size wize but useage wise) and a meter a yard, what bout somthing thats in between?

There is decimeter which is 10 cm or 0,1 m, but it's rarely used.
edit: too slow...

[Kaiser of Arabia]

there is a measure that equals to 10 centimeters....or 1/10 of a meter....

i´d not sure of it´s name in the english language.....but if i was to guess to a translation it would be something like "decimetre".....but it´s not commonly used...at least over here...

again...between the meter and the kilometer there are 2 intermediate units...that are equivalent to 10 meters and 100 meters......these are taught in schools but then are not used in everyday practice...

same thing for volumes...

yeah i know bout the decimeter, the prob is its never used. that saddens an old fasioned imperialist like me.

[thrashaholic]

It has to be metric I'm afraid, you can't do physics or mechanics at all easily with imperial measures, it's mathematically more sensible to measure in base ten when we count in base ten (despite the fact that base ten is perhaps the worst imaginable number base in existence, 12 or 24 are much better). Mathematicians always look to make things simpler as well, so in fact metric makes one a better mathematician, not imperial; measurement conversions are arithmetic anyway, not proper maths.

Having said this, I do more readily use imperial for everyday purposes, and it sounds nicer saying "6 feet 1 inch" or "13 and a half stones" or "3 pints" than "182.785 cm" etc. more poetic and pleasing to the ear.

[GoreBag]

Wow I never knew that. Im gonna have to order a stone of weed then

I think metric would be easier if you were brought up on it and makes more sense but Imperial is pretty much stuck in my brain at ths point. I remeber going to Canada and getting gas and it was 75 cents a gallon and I was like whoa thats expensive. Then I reaslized it was an imperial gallon. I guess thats another matter though.

Where was that? Everything's Centigrade in Canada.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Metric all the way. Much more precise, easier to use, let's you focus on keeping track of more important/advanced things and gets rid of crazy fraction measurements.

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

For people who count in base 10, metric is the only sensible way to measure things. Imperial is extremely inconsistent and unwieldy to use. I mean, 8/16s of an inch? Come on!

[Samurai Waki]

Actually if you know how to use Imperial measurements, it is every bit as accurate as Metric. I voted Gah, mainly because I don't care, but also because I've lived around both systems my entire life. When I measure everything in the US I almost always use Imperial, when I'm in the Caymans (like right now) everything is metric. Both sides have their drawbacks, for instance, Imperial is better (in my opinion) for measuring weight, and bulk, especially when it comes to Food OTOH Metric is much easier to use for measuring distance (not any more accurate, just easier.)

[Uesugi Kenshin]

The fact that the metric system's base units are smaller makes it more accurate. Mainly because it is easier to measure 368mm oh I don't know what that would be but let's just say 1/20th of an inch or more commonly 1/16th.

Fractions do make the Imperial system less accurate.

[Duke Malcolm]

The base unit is metres and kilograms, but the fractions are easier because instead of saying 34/100metres, one says 34 centimetres -- 34 hundredths of a metre.

[Samurai Waki]

The fact that the metric system's base units are smaller makes it more accurate. Mainly because it is easier to measure 368mm oh I don't know what that would be but let's just say 1/20th of an inch or more commonly 1/16th.

Fractions do make the Imperial system less accurate.

Yeah, but the scale is so minute that it really doesn't matter, especially for construction. If you are 1/100ths of inch off, but if you switched to metric you could be posibbly 1/250ths of a Centimetre off it still wouldn't matter that much. The only really important accuracy advantage that the Metric system has over the Imperial System is for Scientific Expirements, or drug dealing, but has no real advantages over Imperial for Practical uses.

[Blodrast]

They are both as accurate. That's not the point, though. The metric one is more natural; why do we count in base 10 ? Why not 16, or octal ? Simple, because we have 10 fingers. BKS nailed it right; it is much more natural to use a system based on the powers of ten, because that's what our entire arithmetic is based on.
There is also another argument, which is that it is easier to express things in metric, for the same reason; and people prefer shortcuts.

As for the "it keeps your brain active" argument, please. I sure hope that was a joke.
If we get to the point that that's what we rely on to keep our brain active, then we've got serious problems.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

metric system,

does the imp. system really make people smarter , or is just said by english people to promote their system ? just like us high schoolers like to say that chewing gum makes you think better.

In short is that proven ?

Chewing gum DOES make you think better. It was proven in a study by Cambridge University.

[Monk]

Even though I live in the US I've always found the metric system to be much easier and...well... organized to put simply. As pointed out above there's 1760 yards to a mile. Something i can never remember. However I know by memory there's 1000 meters in 1 kilometer.

[tibilicus]

Go metric!

[Goofball]

Wow I never knew that. Im gonna have to order a stone of weed then

Holy smokes!

That'll cost you a few Euros...

[Oaty]

Imperial measuremeant originated from a foot being as long as a kings foot, so who the hell was the king that had a 12 inch foot. I have a 9 inch foot and am 6 feet tall.

Maybe that king had an irregular foot you know maybe under the same catgory as the 6 toe vice or odd number of toes