Editing Encyclopedia:Measurements Debate (section)

==Last few remainders of non-metric usage in Europe to cease in 2009==
Europe has ''officially'' set the target for going completely metric by 2009, yet vast numbers of people still think ''only'' in imperial units. Just because a bureaucrat in Brussels says 'Europe is metric' doesn't make it so. (Usually going by the EU, the safe option is to believe the exact opposite of what Brussels bureaucratic thinks!) I know my class all studied through metric, yet we still use both systems. Our road signs say miles, our cars tell speeds in kilometres. We buy litres of soft drink, but drink 'pints' of alcohol. I bake a christmas cake using imperial measurements yet fahrenheit is no longer used or even recognised. (Watching CBS News the other night, they told how cold it was in the US by giving a number in fahrenheit. Neither my flatmate (23 years old) nor I (mid 30s) had a clue what Dan Rather meant.) I suppose what all that means is that Wikipedia shouldn't use one system or the other - just because someone uses kilograms doesn't mean they don't think in miles, or use miles doesn't mean they don't use celsius. I know that is made all the worse by different imperial unit meanings in the US and elsewhere. (Not to mention spelling. We may not think in kilometres, but we still prefer seeing them spelt kilometres not kilometers!) The bottom line is, there is no simple solution. I'm all for standardising things that can be standardised on Wiki, but this is one issue where if you try to limit use to ''one'', vast numbers of Wiki users from somewhere will not have a clue about the meaning. [[User:Jtdirl|JTD]] 02:59 Mar 1, 2003 (UTC)

Leaving aside the [[atheism|atheistic]], [[French revolution]]ary roots of the metric system, and the vile scourge of creeping [[decimalism]], the chief advantage of the traditional or Imperial system is that it allows other divisors, and does not participate in the monomaniacal insistence on powers of 10.  This makes it far more useful in the kitchen, where you may well be called upon to multiply a recipe by three, or take a recipe that feeds four and convert it to feed two, or one, but it's much less likely that you will be called upon to multiply or divide your recipe by 10.  The metric system probably has value in science, engineering, or other fields where higher math will be applied; it is useless around the house.  The Celsius temperatures are much too loose and sloppy to apply to anything like the weather; but Fahrenheit just marked 0 the coldest temperature he recorded in a year, and 100 the hottest <b><font color=red>[see below - David]</font></b>, so it works well for weather in the temperate zone.  I say that if a rule is required use whichever measures do the best job for what you're talking about: metric for science and physics, imperial for anything you will actually encounter in real life.  -- [[User:Ihcoyc|IHCOYC]] 03:37 Mar 1, 2003 (UTC)

: This whole cooking argument is a myth. If you have volume measures, you can scale up your recipe by two. Great! But if you have three times as many guests, you're stuck. You'd have to convert to avoirdupois measures, where 12 is *sometimes* a factor. (but 16 ounces in a pound, no? Oh wait, that's only the english pound I think -- but I don't know because I have not burdened my memory with all the different hanges of base in the system) I agree that 10 is not the best base, but it happens to be the base of our number system. I'd be all for a measurement system in base 12 if we counted in base 12 as well. And the Imperial is not in base 12, there is a different base at nearly every change of units. Quick! How many fuid ounces in an acre-foot? -- [[User:Tarquin|Tarquin]] 08:39 Mar 1, 2003 (UTC)
: PS -- besides, the '''truly''' brain-free way to scale up recipes is thus: suppose your recipe is for 2 and you are cooking for 4. Measure out the amount required, and tip it into your mixing bowl. Repeat. You've just doubled the quantity, no maths required ;-) 

:: ''atheistic, French revolutionary roots''. Thanks for the reminder, IHCOYC :-) <br>I '''knew''' there must be some more good reasons for favouring metric. -- [[User:Picapica|Picapica]] 16:10, 11 Jul 2004 (UTC)

::: Moreover, the whole human-scale argument is a myth too.  If a yard is good for the human scale, why not a metre?  If a quart is fine, why not a litre?  A kilogram is about a couple of pounds.  It's all about what your used to.  Imperial seems good "for anything you will actually encounter in real life" if and only if this is what you use in everyday life. It's certainly not what I use (except for glasses of beer at the pub).  For me metric is the system of measures which do the best job no matter what you're talking about: science or not.  By the way, Ihcoyc, physics is a science.

::: Sure, the Imperial system allows for divisions besides 10 but they're all over the place.  There's no consistancy.  Sometimes the factor is 12, sometimes 3, sometimes 4, sometimes 5, sometimes even 7 or, even more bizzar, 5.5.  I can only second Tarquin's comment.  12 would be useful.  Perhaps 60 could be better.  How about 360?  Then on the other hand, 16 or 32 ... As long as you're consistent.  However, we use base ten for counting so base ten is still the best choice ... until we change our counting system.

::: [[User:Jimp|Jimp]] 14Jun05

:::: I dont have a problem with base 10. Its factors are 2, and 5, which suit me fine. And if we were going to choose a new base, which obviously we're not, then i dont think the main issue would be how many people Mrs Hubbard is going to cook for tonight. Face it - with the computing power we've had since the 60's, all that became irrelevant. The real issue is how many is practical? And 10 is, + its also what we know. So lets just stick to 10 shall we, and go metric. [[User:THE KING|THE KING]] 10:54, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)

::: I agree with you, King, 2 & 5 ''are'' fine.  Even if Old Mother Hubbard ends up cooking for four, that's just two squared.  The only ''useful'' thing really missing is 3 ... I think even Old Mother Hubbard could live with that.  Factors like seven and eleven really do more harm than good.  Besides, these days the people how failed maths at primary school are eating instant cup noodles for diner. [[User:Jimp|Jimp]] 22Jun05