“hey can I borrow a drill bit?”
“Sure, what size?”
“0.33333333333333333333333333333333 centimeters”
Comment on What has he done to deserve this?
ramenshaman@lemmy.world 3 months ago“Hey could I borrow a drill bit?”
“Sure, what size?”
“Seventeen sixty-fourths”
“Fuck you”
Sorry man I think in 2024 you’re objectively wrong.
the_crotch@sh.itjust.works 3 months ago
ramenshaman@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Metric drill bits are measured in mm and hardy anybody needs that much precision. I have a set of metric drill bits in 0.1mm increments and I might not ever need greater precision than that. Maybe in some lab environments they need greater precision but I imagine once you’re on that level it would be custom anyway.
the_crotch@sh.itjust.works 3 months ago
0.33333… is what happens when you try to divide 10 by 3. This is because 10 is such a broken number that 1/3rd (a pretty common fraction) becomes an infinitely repeating decimal. In base12, 1/3rd is 4. Metric is broken by design because it’s based on base10. Lets take the lessons learned from the metric system and invent something new, something better, something base12.
bufalo1973@lemmy.ml 3 months ago
And 12 doesn’t divide nicely by 5. So what?
ramenshaman@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Yes, I learned about fractions and decimals in elementary school.
FlorianSimon@sh.itjust.works 3 months ago
Not 0.4?!
Thorry84@feddit.nl 3 months ago
Oh you don’t have a seventeen sixty-fourths? No problem, just give me a letter H sized drill bit, that’ll do fine.
roguetrick@lemmy.world 3 months ago
You’re pointing out the problem in base10 having too many fractions that don’t divide cleanly. This is why base10 is shit.
Low IQ Base10: 17/64 - 0.265625
Equivalent expression in Chad Base12: 15/54 - 0.323
ramenshaman@lemmy.world 3 months ago
This post is about the metric system, not base 10 vs base 12. Metric is superior to imperial.
Also 15/54 is in no way more convenient than 17/64, I’m assuming you’re joking.
roguetrick@lemmy.world 3 months ago
It’s the same number in different bases and our friend you replied to was pointing out that it was a mistake to adopt base10 measuring instead of throwing out base10 counting was a mistake. And he was right.
ramenshaman@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Ok, I reread their comment and I see what you’re getting at. Base 12 would be better in many cases but I just don’t see anybody switching anytime soon. We would pretty much have to start over. If people had 12 fingers we probably would have started on base 12 to begin with.
the_crotch@sh.itjust.works 3 months ago
And the metric system would be better still if it was base12. It’s time for a replacement.
Preflight_Tomato@lemm.ee 3 months ago
The world if metric began in base 12:
The world if metric began in base 12
Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works 3 months ago
I’m enjoying you playing devil’s advocate here thoroughly.
Lemmy is so pigheaded sometimes with certain topics that all they see is one side of everything.
uis@lemm.ee 3 months ago
Let’s use BasePi then