Is that statement not a bit overboard? "Expand your brain, ffs." From the sheer intent, that's a pretty horrible insult. And from a moderator. I didn't think bit-tech had a place for an attitude like that, let alone from a moderator. You *****.
QFT. The path of least resistance would be to leave the **** alone and let people make their own choices. Yeah, because what this country needs is yet more unnecessary legislation that alienates one or more segments of society. I think we should remove all the other idiosyncrasies that previously defined us as a nation; an unwritten constitution, driving on the left side of the road, the Queen's English, etc... and then we can finally become the gray, nondescript, homogeneous mess that some would like us to be.
I wouldn't mind a sensibly worded constitution tbh, put our rights into text as at the moment as it goes for civil liberties the goverment just does what it likes to encroach upon them.
We seem to have done rather well without one so far, and this government in particular haven't done very well when it comes to legislation. How many of our unwritten constitutional rights would be omitted from a new written constitution? What infringements of our human rights do you reckon they would insert in the name of the fight against terror? If it's not broke, don't fix it.
[rant] I feel a mite like a fish out of water sometimes on this board, being from the states and all, but I HATE the "imperial" system, inches, feet, yards, miles, BULL**** I was raised on it, and still hate it. I WISH the world would go all metric, every last F* one of us. I'm also a believer in a universal currency. Just makes more sense to me, the entire world on the same page. I'm tired of the your $$ is worth more than mine this week, mine worth more than so and so's, let's make money on trading money, how much sense does that really make??? Why do I have to sit here and deal with DUMBA** fractions? who in the world came up with a number like 23/64ths anyhow? lets base our lame system off the number 2? really? bloody genius! why is it I have to waste my precious brain power converting an outdated system to figure out that a 1/2" wrench fits a 13mm bolt head? Why do I have to have 2 sets of wrenches to work on 1 friggin car, not knowing weather or not the bolt is going to be metric or "standard"? Standard? really? what kind of pompous A** decided that this should be the "standard" anyhow? [/rant]
So the guy who recommended your country standardise on one particular standard is a pompous a** because he didn't recommend the system that you standardise on?? That sounds fair.
At the risk of thread deviation, QFT. The US has a written Constitution (and a very good one, as it happens) but that did not prevent the Patriot Act from coming into being. Written law is in itself no protection nor guarantee; it has to be written in the hearts and minds of the people.
[Many] Metric-style systems have also been around for a long time (000s of years), but the metric system we know today, only really took off in the second half of the 20th century. British Imperial Units have been in place for hundreds of years... long before we thought of SI units. Bearing in mind that modern America is based on British ancestry, would it have made any sense 200 years ago for the US to choose one of the many metric-type systems in use around the world? Bearing in mind that the British Empire once covered a quarter of the globe, choosing the Imperial system of the 'home' country seems like the obvious choice, given that it was the most widely used 'standard' around the globe at that time. You can argue for or against US metrification, but to argue that the US was wrong to choose an Imperial system 200 years ago is pure folly. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2431521.ece
Indeed. Look at the use of RIPE; it's being used within the letter of the law, but not the spirit of the law. Without a written constitution, we only have the spirit of the law - which IMHO is the most important bit.
Very true! Although the US needs to get with the times, quit slacking, and *gasp* conform? I dunno. the thought of one country being able to communicate with another in the same units of measure, in the same currency, just seems to make way more sense to me. BILLIONS of dollars, euros, yen, whatever are lost and gained on any given day, due to the simple fact that we do not have a standardized unit of measure or currency. seems quite stupid to me.
Your mistake is to assume that anybody "decided" anything. As I said before, these systems are as cultural as language. They sort of evolve and become invested with all sorts of cultural significance and identity which makes them pretty hard to change. Think of language: Esperanto failed miserably because people hang on to their own language as a part of their cultural identity --much like their own currency. Our land, our customs, our tongue, our money. Our standards(!). Think of the name of the measurement system: "Imperial". A bit loaded with cultural connotations there, no? Imperial has tradition behind it, conventions steeped in history. It is culturally defining. Metric is regarded as blandly rational and Euro. Still not convinced? OK, can we get rid of Fahrenheit while we're at it? I know it is conventional in the US but there's no logic to it. At least Celcius indicates clearly when water boils and freezes solid --it's practical. Then again, the real geek thinks in Kelvin. And what about the clock? 24 hours, 60 minutes and 60 seconds? How about a decimal system? Now think of the debates that rage around daylight savings times... and that is just about putting the clock forward or back an hour. If I put a psychological slant to it (and some of you know I would), we're talking about Personal Constructs here: the concepts by which we interpret and think about the world. We like our constructs rigid and narrow. We're very averse to changing our constructs --it messes with our sense of reality and our worldview. We feel threatened by such things; it generates an almost irrational anxiety.
I am not saying it was wrong back then, i say it is stupid to call it a "standard" now, considering that the "standard" is the international standard. But please carry on with your life, if it's not broke, don't fix it and, above all, don't improve it.
The industrial age was built on the Imperial standard. Metric may make sense to us, but the improvement is relative.
I don't rightly understand why it is a big deal. People will use what they're used to, no matter the legislation. As Nexxo said, look at language. The official language over here is English. Does that mean everyone knows, uses, loves, and embraces it? Of course not. Personally I don't even think legislating one over the other will alienate people. They will just continue on using what they know.
I think I just threw up a little. I remember dealing with those darn things on some of the old British bikes back when I had my shop!
