Either way it doesn’t really matter, because unit conversions are easy math, and a good engineer can work in any unit system.
In defense of imperial, to balance things out here:
It’s baffling that someone would spend so long on a critique while completely missing the point. My argument has never been that imperial is better than metric. I regularly use both, and there are advantages and disadvantages to both. The advantages of metric here have been covered ad nauseum, so there was no need for me to mention them again. And since engineering is a field that intimately deals with both unit systems, I thought it would be good to offer that perspective
I was clearly right to offer that perspective, because the majority of your argument focuses on ideality and exactness. Engineering doesn’t deal with ideality or absolute precision. A scientist uses just the right amount of tape to patch a hole. An engineer eyeballs it, adds more tape as needed, and calls it good enough. I don’t need my feet to exactly be 1 imperial foot or for my knuckle to be exactly 1 imperial inch. As long as it’s within 75-125% of it, I’ve got the right ballpark. And if it’s closer to 50% or 150%? I can do simple math to scale it.
Thank you for illustrating my point on how this thread is an emulation of Reddit, complete with arrogant arguments which miss the OP’s point and also fundamentally misunderstanding their perspective. Plus, not even understanding parts of their argument apparently – I didn’t label 0 or 100 when talking about temperature because I was talking about the abstract number itself. That should have been obvious from me talking about the simplicity of using 0 for very cold and 100 for very hot.
It’s baffling that someone would spend so long on a critique while completely missing the point.
It’s baffling that you spend many many paragraphs on this but people who disagree with you are “missing the point”… Well of course they are…
And since engineering is a field that intimately deals with both unit systems,
I’m an engineer, and have been for many years. I have never “intimately dealt” with both systems. You are again just speaking for a minority.
because the majority of your argument focuses on ideality and exactness. Engineering doesn’t deal with ideality or absolute precision.
You’re accusing me of missing the point yet it’s you who is completely missing the point over and over again. The argument is not about exactness, that is not a property of any unit system. Literally nothing what I wrote is about “absolute precision”, and you completely fail to understand that.
The argument focuses, in fact, on practicality. It is vastly more practical to have just one unit for the physical property of “length” instead of a zoo, it is vastly more practical to have consistent prefixes to “shift” that unit around to make it more appropriate for the task at hand, instead of having to resort to another completely unrelated unit measuring the same thing. It’s easier to understand, easier to memorise, easier to calculate.
The imperial system is not practical, there are no advantages to speak of. If it were an actual duodecimal system, that would be a point, but it isn’t.
A scientist uses just the right amount of tape to patch a hole. An engineer eyeballs it, adds more tape as needed, and calls it good enough. I don’t need my feet to exactly be 1 imperial foot or for my knuckle to be exactly 1 imperial inch. As long as it’s within 75-125% of it, I’ve got the right ballpark. And if it’s closer to 50% or 150%? I can do simple math to scale it.
Okay, whatever kind of engineer you think you are, that’s just not how the world works. Like I said, I’m an engineer as well, having an absolute deviation of 50% is not “engineering”, it’s recklessly bumbling around. It’s an insult to any engineer.
It also just occurred to me that I was thinking only of American engineers. You’re completely right that in other countries, for most applications, engineers wouldn’t need to know the imperial system. Constantly working between the two would mostly be unique to American counterparts.
This certainly explains the difference in opinion and experiences.
It’s baffling that someone would spend so long on a critique while completely missing the point. My argument has never been that imperial is better than metric. I regularly use both, and there are advantages and disadvantages to both. The advantages of metric here have been covered ad nauseum, so there was no need for me to mention them again. And since engineering is a field that intimately deals with both unit systems, I thought it would be good to offer that perspective
I was clearly right to offer that perspective, because the majority of your argument focuses on ideality and exactness. Engineering doesn’t deal with ideality or absolute precision. A scientist uses just the right amount of tape to patch a hole. An engineer eyeballs it, adds more tape as needed, and calls it good enough. I don’t need my feet to exactly be 1 imperial foot or for my knuckle to be exactly 1 imperial inch. As long as it’s within 75-125% of it, I’ve got the right ballpark. And if it’s closer to 50% or 150%? I can do simple math to scale it.
Thank you for illustrating my point on how this thread is an emulation of Reddit, complete with arrogant arguments which miss the OP’s point and also fundamentally misunderstanding their perspective. Plus, not even understanding parts of their argument apparently – I didn’t label 0 or 100 when talking about temperature because I was talking about the abstract number itself. That should have been obvious from me talking about the simplicity of using 0 for very cold and 100 for very hot.
It’s baffling that you spend many many paragraphs on this but people who disagree with you are “missing the point”… Well of course they are…
I’m an engineer, and have been for many years. I have never “intimately dealt” with both systems. You are again just speaking for a minority.
You’re accusing me of missing the point yet it’s you who is completely missing the point over and over again. The argument is not about exactness, that is not a property of any unit system. Literally nothing what I wrote is about “absolute precision”, and you completely fail to understand that.
The argument focuses, in fact, on practicality. It is vastly more practical to have just one unit for the physical property of “length” instead of a zoo, it is vastly more practical to have consistent prefixes to “shift” that unit around to make it more appropriate for the task at hand, instead of having to resort to another completely unrelated unit measuring the same thing. It’s easier to understand, easier to memorise, easier to calculate.
The imperial system is not practical, there are no advantages to speak of. If it were an actual duodecimal system, that would be a point, but it isn’t.
Okay, whatever kind of engineer you think you are, that’s just not how the world works. Like I said, I’m an engineer as well, having an absolute deviation of 50% is not “engineering”, it’s recklessly bumbling around. It’s an insult to any engineer.
G’day.
You have a good one as well.
It also just occurred to me that I was thinking only of American engineers. You’re completely right that in other countries, for most applications, engineers wouldn’t need to know the imperial system. Constantly working between the two would mostly be unique to American counterparts.
This certainly explains the difference in opinion and experiences.