-----Original Message----- From: han_maenen [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Tuesday, 2000-10-17 18:01 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: to y'all [Yahoo! Clubs: Metric America] MARCUS: And how would one would better "manipulate amounts" if such amount is, say, 5' 3 7/8'', that may be required to be divided by 3, for instance??? And, BTW, good luck in finding the response to that division by 3 on your measuring device!!! REM by HAN: Yes, this is a striking example! For instance, dividing 687 mm by 3 is still easier to do than dividing 5' 3 7/8'' by 3!) JAKE: Our system is MORE PRACTICAL than metric. MARCUS: So far you haven't proven the above assertion by any stretch of imagination! Practicality is a subjective concept, what is practical for one may not be for others. I, for instance, am very familiar with metric measurements. To me, they are a lot more practical than any ifp unit which I have no feel or familiarity with whatsoever. Whenever I see values in ifp I automatically and instinctly "translate" to metric (despite the hassle of conversion) so that I tread in more... "familiar" territory. Also, I don't need to resort to flimsy "body" parts references to relate to the world around me, besides I *always* use measuring instruments when I need to measure things precisely, and on this score evidently what system is used is irrelevant. And if precision is not required I can mentality estimate **anything** in my head with meters, centimeters, millimeters, etc, and by sticking to a *universal* meter I am much less prone to error than if I used my particular body parts to "size things up with"! (BTW, I happen to know the nearly exact size of some of my body parts that I usually may use to actually go and measure things with - and I find my palm to be more "convenient" for that than my "thumb"..., so that in the end I may come very close to the real size of things - evidently such values are given in metric to the mm precision! ;-) ) JAKE: Just name how many times in their lifetime the average Joe has to answer a question like: "What net force (in pounds) is required for a 5-pound object to accelerate at 16ft/s2?" Yas that may be easier to solve with the metric units but just how often do you have to solve this kinda problem? MARCUS: And why should entire industries, which are the players that need to have access to such ease of use the most, be held hostage due to the convenience / ignorance/ whatever of some? Wouldn't it make more sense to simply educate the public to "follow suit" instead? Besides they are the ones that would ultimately benefit the most *in case* that necessity (of doing calcs) ever emerges, as it's proven that over 70-75% of people are mathematically... "challenged". JAKE: ...I just oppose the movement to wipe out ifp from our daily lives. Can y'all respect that? cont'd --------------------------------------------- DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE BY EMAIL! --------------------------------------------- You have chosen to receive messages from "Metric America" by email. Reply to this message: http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/metricamerica/bbsfrp?action=r&tid=metricamerica &sid=12177109&mid=836 Unsubscribe from the Club mailing list: http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/metricamerica/config/change_mb_list Return to "Metric America": http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/metricamerica ---------------------------------------------- Not a member? Remove yourself from this list: http://edit.clubs.yahoo.com/config/unsubscribe_mb_list?.userID=millitesla&.g roupID=metricamerica&.groupType=&.code=kqkKEmys7C
