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Old 12-13-2015, 06:19 PM   #118 (permalink)
jamesqf
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RedDevil View Post
Only if you are used to English units.
For those who grew up using metric it combines usability with logic.
Nope. How many strides in a kilometer? What fraction of a liter is that coffee cup on your desk?

As for being properties of the planet, have you ever walked from equator to pole? If not, then you have no way of relating to the meter, do you? (Except that it's just about the distance to your outstretched fingertip, if you're an average-sized adult male, and what else is a yard?) So the "natural" relations of all the other units fall apart. Likewise, the logic is only logical if you somehow convince yourself that the decimal system was somehow ordained by natural law, rather than the happenstance of humans having 10 fingers. Sure, it's useful for some things, but there are times when binary (halves, quarters, etc) or duodecimal (sixes and dozens) are far more convenient.

Consider the waste involved in shipping & storing 5-packs of beer or soda, for instance.
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