quade 4 #51 February 4, 2011 QuoteMetric is all about water. Not actually. It's about a scratch two French guys made on a metal bar. They thought they were making a scratch representative of 1/10,000,000ths the distance between the the Earth's equator and the poles, but they were wrong. Ok, so let's run that down. What's so special about the distance between the equator and the poles? Why not pole-to-pole or circumference of the Earth at the equator? If the system is going to be based on decimal numbers, then why 10,000,000? Why not 1,000,000 or just, 1? Because they made an arbitrary decision. They wanted their basic unit to be "sort of" close to what people were used to using in their everyday life already, the yard, and it turns out the meter is "sort of" close to being a yard. Arbitrary. BTW, the French guys fucked up. It's not 10,000,000 meters from the equator to the poles, so as it turns out, there's REALLY nothing special about the meter. If there's really nothing special about the meter, then everything based on it like kilograms is arbitrary too.quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 4 #52 February 4, 2011 Quote OK based on your series of replies I have determined you dont actually know what "arbitrary" actually means. Try to use words you undertstand. Perhaps you should look in a dictionary. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/arbitrary Quote arbitrary adjective, noun, plural -trar·ies. –adjective 1. subject to individual will or judgment without restriction; contingent solely upon one's discretion: an arbitrary decision. 2. decided by a judge or arbiter rather than by a law or statute. 3. having unlimited power; uncontrolled or unrestricted by law; despotic; tyrannical: an arbitrary government. 4. capricious; unreasonable; unsupported: an arbitrary demand for payment. 5. Mathematics . undetermined; not assigned a specific value: an arbitrary constant. Some French guys just decided the meter was 1/10,000,000th the distance between the equator and the pole. Arbitrary. See definition #1. Some Swedish dude named Celsius (well that IS the tip off isn't it?) decided that he'd mark a temperature scale setting zero at the freezing point of water and the boiling point at 100. Arbitrary. See definition #1.quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
popsjumper 2 #53 February 4, 2011 I prefer metric because things sound bigger that way. 6 inches = 15.24 centimeters I no longer need girls with small hands.My reality and yours are quite different. I think we're all Bozos on this bus. Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #54 February 4, 2011 Quote I prefer metric because things sound bigger that way. 6 inches = 15.24 centimeters I no longer need girls with small hands. [shakes head] (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pchapman 279 #55 February 4, 2011 Quote BTW, the French guys fucked up. It's not 10,000,000 meters from the equator to the poles, Aw, cut them some slack. They were approximately right. But yes it is all arbitrary. A lot of standards have been re-defined. So the metre (as you probably know) is no longer based on the length of a bar of platinum in a vault in Paris (or something like that), but on the distance light travels in a vacuum in a particular fraction of a second. Light speed in a vacuum seems to be a pretty universal constant, but then the unit of a second is somewhat, even if it is a convenient fraction of an approximate earth day. I just don't want to give "arbitrary" a bad name. Whether we drive on the right or left side of the road is also arbitrary (even if based on various historical reasons), but we had better pick one or the other! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ridestrong 1 #56 February 4, 2011 Fahrenheit*I am not afraid of dying... I am afraid of missing life.* ----Disclaimer: I don't know shit about skydiving.---- Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
turtlespeed 226 #57 February 4, 2011 QuoteQuoteMOST life on this planet is water based. So? What exactly makes that so special? Nothing. It like when people thought the Earth was the center of the universe and the Sun revolved around it. I guess if you want to elevate us to some special place int he universe, then maybe it's fine to think water is some magical ingredient from which all other standards could be derived, but the reality is the universe is vast and we only know a very small part of it. I will grant that water helps define life here on Earth, but . . . so what? maybe it is because sentient life has not been found anywhere else? And the most important thing is that without water, boobies would not be. That would be a universal tragedy.I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #58 February 4, 2011 QuoteFahrenheit 451? (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
turtlespeed 226 #59 February 4, 2011 QuoteQuoteFahrenheit 451? 911I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
piisfish 140 #60 February 4, 2011 42scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 3,110 #61 February 4, 2011 >But the scale is completely arbitrary. It's not like it holds any universal truth to it at >all. Well, by those standards, all measurements are completely arbitrary. Still, basing it on a common and easily measurable physical event is a good idea IMO. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VincePetaccio 0 #62 February 4, 2011 Quote>But the scale is completely arbitrary. It's not like it holds any universal truth to it at >all. Well, by those standards, all measurements are completely arbitrary. Still, basing it on a common and easily measurable physical event is a good idea IMO. +1 I can think of no scale or unit of measurement that is not relative to something.Come, my friends! 'Tis not too late to seek out a newer world! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Heatmiser 0 #63 February 4, 2011 Quote Quote Quote MOST life on this planet is water based. So? What exactly makes that so special? Nothing. It like when people thought the Earth was the center of the universe and the Sun revolved around it. I guess if you want to elevate us to some special place int he universe, then maybe it's fine to think water is some magical ingredient from which all other standards could be derived, but the reality is the universe is vast and we only know a very small part of it. I will grant that water helps define life here on Earth, but . . . so what? maybe it is because sentient life has not been found anywhere else? And the most important thing is that without water, boobies would not be. That would be a universal tragedy. This.What you say is reflective of your knowledge...HOW ya say it is reflective of your experience. Airtwardo Someone's going to be spanked! Hopefully, it will be me. Skymama Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andy9o8 2 #64 February 4, 2011 Quote Quote And the most important thing is that without water, boobies would not be. That would be a universal tragedy. This. What part of "silicon-based life form" do you people not understand? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hookitt 1 #65 February 4, 2011 I haven't converted that site to a language I understand but to me it doesn't matter. Just look at the fucking weather ..... dot com http://thefuckingweather.com/My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hcsvader 1 #66 February 5, 2011 See! I fucking told you!Have you seen my pants? it"s a rough life, Livin' the dream >:) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JerryBaumchen 1,466 #67 February 5, 2011 Hi pops, Quote I prefer metric because things sound bigger that way. 6 inches = 15.24 centimeters I no longer need girls with small hands. For the most part, the scientific community is/will be using SI ( Systeme Internationale ) which makes it's jumps every 1,000; i.e., one millimeter, then up to one meter, then up to one kilometer, etc. It does not use centimeter or decimeter. Therefore you are looking even better: 6 inches = 152.4 millimeters JerryBaumchen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JerryBaumchen 1,466 #68 February 5, 2011 Hi Andy, Quote The silliness is in the failure to convert-over to metric in the US, as the Canada did. IMO Canada did a very poor job of converting. Back in the 80's I was on a Metric Conversion Team where I worked; I worked on that team for over three years. One day I suggested that we go up to BC Hydro and see what Canada had done in converting. Fortunately, there was a fellow at BC Hydro who had been working in Australia when they made the conversion ( the Aussies ). He told that Australia set a 2-year period to convert. During the 2-year period, they could use either system but at the end of the 2-year period they could no longer use anything in the old system. I consider the Canadian conversion poor because it was not absolute as the Australian conversion was. You cannot be partly pregnant, JerryBaumchen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
popsjumper 2 #69 February 5, 2011 QuoteWhat part of "silicon-based life form" do you people not understand? Start with quantum mechanics and work your way up?My reality and yours are quite different. I think we're all Bozos on this bus. Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Squeak 17 #70 February 5, 2011 Quote Quote OK based on your series of replies I have determined you dont actually know what "arbitrary" actually means. Try to use words you undertstand. Perhaps you should look in a dictionary. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/arbitrary Quote arbitrary adjective, noun, plural -trar·ies. –adjective 1. subject to individual will or judgment without restriction; contingent solely upon one's discretion: an arbitrary decision. 2. decided by a judge or arbiter rather than by a law or statute. 3. having unlimited power; uncontrolled or unrestricted by law; despotic; tyrannical: an arbitrary government. 4. capricious; unreasonable; unsupported: an arbitrary demand for payment. 5. Mathematics . undetermined; not assigned a specific value: an arbitrary constant. Some French guys just decided the meter was 1/10,000,000th the distance between the equator and the pole. Arbitrary. See definition #1. Some Swedish dude named Celsius (well that IS the tip off isn't it?) decided that he'd mark a temperature scale setting zero at the freezing point of water and the boiling point at 100. Arbitrary. See definition #1. Are you being obtuse just for the sake of it or are you seriously that thick. The fact that he chose a a universal (as in everywhere on earth not in the absolute universe) fluid, and used it's solid state and boiling points as the delineations makes it NOT arbitrary. He didn’t just make shit up. and it was not solely his discretion, he was not working in a vacuum and it was pretty much uniformly accepted by the scientific community. You think that if you cut and paste shit or regurgitate text that it makes you seem clever. You rarely achieve that You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky) My Life ROCKS! How's yours doing? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ryoder 1,590 #71 February 5, 2011 Gotta hand it to Quade; He knows how to yank a chain! "There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Squeak 17 #72 February 5, 2011 Quote Gotta hand it to Quade; He knows how to yank a chain! I'm having a bit of a chat on FB right now, about Articulate idiots The question was asked, Squeak why you letting him get under your skin? The Answer He's not, I just like fucking with him, and articulate idiots sometimes get less educated folks believing what they say/type. But like i said that was on FB, not here. If i said it here, i might get banned You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky) My Life ROCKS! How's yours doing? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 4 #73 February 5, 2011 Quote If i said it here, i might get banned You are aware you've technically already crossed that line and I'm cutting you slack; right? What absolutely fascinates me is why some people actually care about the F vs C thing to begin with, since, you know, both systems are equally arbitrary. I suppose it's because they'd rather believe the system they're using is "correct" when in reality, it just doesn't matter. Ok, well, I say that glibly, I guess if you want to build a structure that would last over 5,000 years, you probably wouldn't use metric. quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Squeak 17 #74 February 5, 2011 Quote Quote If i said it here, i might get banned You are aware you've technically already crossed that line and I'm cutting you slack; right? That would be an arbitrary decision on your part would it not. ar·bi·trar·y/ˈärbiˌtrerē/Adjective 1. Based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system. Oh and by the way, care factor ZeroYou are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky) My Life ROCKS! How's yours doing? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 4 #75 February 5, 2011 Quote Quote Quote If i said it here, i might get banned You are aware you've technically already crossed that line and I'm cutting you slack; right? That would be an arbitrary decision on your part would it not. Sometimes it is, sometimes it's not. Yes, today I have arbitrarily decided not to ban you for name calling, but be aware that any further use of terms such as "articulate idiots" will earn you a couple of days off from the forums.quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
