-----Original Message----- From: danb_83 [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, 2000-10-13 01:12 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Time vs. mass, volume, etc. [Yahoo! Clubs: Metric America] Jake, you seem to have a different definition of "metric" than I do. The real advantage of metric units is not that they are based on 10 (that helps calculations a lot, of course, but is by no means essential) but they are the same in every country and their sizes never depend on what is being measured. Our system of time, although nondecimal, lacks the ambiguity of the so-called "standard" units. Every nation in the world long ago agreed that "minute" means 60 seconds, "hour" means 60 minutes, and "day" means 24 hours. Since there is never any confusion over the units of time, the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality can safely be applied. Although decimalized time might make a few calculations easier, the benefit is far too small to justify replacing every clock in the world. And it still wouldn't do anything to simplify the 365.2425 days in a year. On the other hand, Olde English measurement units are much more ambiguous. For example, an "ounce" could be 28.4 g, 31.1 g, 28.4 mL, or 29.6 mL. "Barrel" and "ton" also have multiple definitions. Now, can you honestly say that this doesn't cause confusion? --------------------------------------------- DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE BY EMAIL! --------------------------------------------- You have chosen to receive messages from "Metric America" by email. Reply to this message: http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/metricamerica/bbsfrp?action=r&tid=metricamerica &sid=12177109&mid=811 Unsubscribe from the Club mailing list: http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/metricamerica/config/change_mb_list Return to "Metric America": http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/metricamerica ---------------------------------------------- Not a member? Remove yourself from this list: http://edit.clubs.yahoo.com/config/unsubscribe_mb_list?.userID=millitesla&.g roupID=metricamerica&.groupType=&.code=kqkKEmys7C
