You can login if you already have an account or register by clicking the button below.
Registering is free and all you need is a username and password. We never ask you for your e-mail.
The conversions don't have rhyme or reason yes, but the imperial system is based on ease of use for laymen.
Look at temperature - in C, 0 degrees is fairly cold and 100 degrees is extremely hot. But weather temperatures in most places only fluctuate between like 5C and 30c, so you're barely using any of the scale. In F, weather temperatures usually go between 0 and 100ish , making it a lot easier to say how relatively hot or cold it is.
Same for feet and inches. Most things humans deal with on a daily basis are still smaller than a meter long, and it's harder to think about 30 centimeters than it is to use 1 foot, and nobody uses decimeters.
I'll give benefit of the doubt on miles vs kilometers though - the only reason we use them in the States is that our country is so freaking big that a larger unit of measure is more convenient.
view the rest of the comments →
[–] [deleted] 3 points 9 points 12 points (+12|-3) ago
[–] OneTrueCube 0 points 5 points 5 points (+5|-0) ago
Eh, not exactly.
The conversions don't have rhyme or reason yes, but the imperial system is based on ease of use for laymen.
Look at temperature - in C, 0 degrees is fairly cold and 100 degrees is extremely hot. But weather temperatures in most places only fluctuate between like 5C and 30c, so you're barely using any of the scale. In F, weather temperatures usually go between 0 and 100ish , making it a lot easier to say how relatively hot or cold it is.
Same for feet and inches. Most things humans deal with on a daily basis are still smaller than a meter long, and it's harder to think about 30 centimeters than it is to use 1 foot, and nobody uses decimeters.
I'll give benefit of the doubt on miles vs kilometers though - the only reason we use them in the States is that our country is so freaking big that a larger unit of measure is more convenient.
[–] voat-ist 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
Also, feet divide so nicely.
[–] voat-ist 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
You realize every system of measurement is completely arbitrary right?