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Old 07-04-2017, 15:41   #436
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Re: Metric system dumbs us down.

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We started off with a joke about cultural differences of no particular import. These 430 posts later, posts about a triviality, I think the thread has transmogrified into a joke about fanatiscism.

Pax vobiscum!

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I think the thread has transmogrified into a really interesting and broad ranging discussion about all sorts of real world measuring systems. I'm really enjoying it.
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Old 07-04-2017, 22:38   #437
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Re: Metric system dumbs us down.

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I think the thread has transmogrified into a really interesting and broad ranging discussion about all sorts of real world measuring systems. I'm really enjoying it.
Indeed. A true learning experience
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Old 07-04-2017, 22:48   #438
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Re: Metric system dumbs us down.

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I think the thread has transmogrified into a really interesting and broad ranging discussion about all sorts of real world measuring systems. I'm really enjoying it.
Here is one that, somewhat surprisingly, has not been discussed or even mentioned, unless I plain missed it. What is the size of a pixel? It is probably best not to answer if you are even slightly apixelated, or is it pixelated?
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Old 07-04-2017, 23:37   #439
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Re: Metric system dumbs us down.

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Here is one that, somewhat surprisingly, has not been discussed or even mentioned, unless I plain missed it. What is the size of a pixel? It is probably best not to answer if you are even slightly apixelated, or is it pixelated?
It varies depending on screen size and resolution.

A Pixel is one "picture element" or dot on the screen.

So divide your screen width and height by the horizontal and vertical resolution you have currently set and that will tell you the current size of a pixel on your system.

Change the screen resolution on your computer back to the old 640x480 standard and each pixel will probably be at least 4 times the size of one on your current monitor setting.

A pixel will be several inches in height and width on a giant scoreboard in a sports stadium. On a modern computer monitor , they may be in the 1/100ths of an inch range.
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Old 08-04-2017, 00:32   #440
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Re: Metric system dumbs us down.

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On a modern computer monitor , they may be in the 1/100ths of an inch range.
oh dear - mixing the meteric (1/100th) with imperial (inch)

Will the confusion never stop?
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Old 08-04-2017, 05:08   #441
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Re: Metric system dumbs us down.

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oh dear - mixing the meteric (1/100th) with imperial (inch)

Will the confusion never stop?
That's because the common practice with screens and printers is to use DPI (Dots Per Inch).

Oh, BTW it's metric, not meteric
And metric is not a synonym for decimal. It means based on the metre.
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Old 08-04-2017, 05:24   #442
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Re: Metric system dumbs us down.

When I was a scout we plaid a game, sort of a simple version of "Kim's game": Toss a number of coins on the table so they fall in a random pattern. The "test subject" is to tell you how many coins there are. People will perceive the number instantly, without counting, if the number is six or less. Some people can instantly perceive that there are seven and a very few can instantly perceive that there are eight. Beyond eight, people have to actually count them. I've done it with university students too. Same result.

That's why, I do believe, the "old" system works far better than the decimal system for so many things. We are wired for six!

And something that really tickles me is that tomorrow I'll be knocking up a jig for making finger-joints to join the corners in wooden drawers. The "air" you need to have in each little notch to accommodate each little "finger" so the pieces come together easily, yet will not be too loose, is - you guessed it - 6 "thou"!

I tell you: Homo sapiens is wired for six! The decimal merchants will never win :-)

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Old 08-04-2017, 05:37   #443
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Re: Metric system dumbs us down.

Quote: "And metric is not a synonym for decimal. It means based on the metre."

Jai Pedantry - the world needs more of it! :-0)!

Seriously - it does!

My scanner "halftones" material. You can choose between several DPI values. Dunno whether it's useful or not, since I cannot conceive of a situation where you'd ever make a "paper (printing) plate" on a PC. Tho I guess if I played with the function that "copies" photographic negatives, the need for "screening" would emerge.

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Old 08-04-2017, 07:13   #444
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Re: Metric system dumbs us down.

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Originally Posted by StuM View Post
That's because the common practice with screens and printers is to use DPI (Dots Per Inch).

Oh, BTW it's metric, not meteric
And metric is not a synonym for decimal. It means based on the metre.
The meteric comes from not proof reading adequately - I meant to write metric.

But I agree that metric doesn't mean decimal, although both are in factors of 10
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Old 08-04-2017, 08:54   #445
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Re: Metric system dumbs us down.

Quote:
Originally Posted by TrentePieds View Post
When I was a scout we plaid a game, sort of a simple version of "Kim's game": Toss a number of coins on the table so they fall in a random pattern. The "test subject" is to tell you how many coins there are. People will perceive the number instantly, without counting, if the number is six or less. Some people can instantly perceive that there are seven and a very few can instantly perceive that there are eight. Beyond eight, people have to actually count them. I've done it with university students too. Same result.

That's why, I do believe, the "old" system works far better than the decimal system for so many things. We are wired for six!

And something that really tickles me is that tomorrow I'll be knocking up a jig for making finger-joints to join the corners in wooden drawers. The "air" you need to have in each little notch to accommodate each little "finger" so the pieces come together easily, yet will not be too loose, is - you guessed it - 6 "thou"!

I tell you: Homo sapiens is wired for six! The decimal merchants will never win :-)

TP
Very cool:

https://www.google.com/search?q=subi...&client=safari
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Old 08-04-2017, 10:48   #446
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Re: Metric system dumbs us down.

Well, whaddayaknow! I never thought any more of it, than that it was another one of Baden-Powell's bits of "field craft" from the Boer War :-) Didn't know it had been made into a science :-)

From another article I found as a result of looking at the one you referenced: "They see the domino as composed of two groups of four and as "one eight." Bingo!

You will recall I said "so [the coins] fall in a random pattern". I was aware of the phenomenon of "grouping" because when you play the game you can actually quite readily see this happening. If the random pattern happens to be an "organized" one, the mind "sees" the number of GROUPS in the pattern, but again with a limitation of six to eight, the limit depending on the "subject's" perceptual acuity, which seems to be unrelated to IQ as manifest in a classroom.

Cool indeed!

Thank you very much :-0)!

TP
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Old 08-04-2017, 15:55   #447
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Re: Metric system dumbs us down.

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Thanks for that - I haven't run across the concept or the word before.

See, that's what I love about threads like this, always some new knowledge to pick up.
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Old 08-04-2017, 19:02   #448
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Re: Metric system dumbs us down.

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Originally Posted by carstenb View Post
oh dear - mixing the meteric (1/100th) with imperial (inch)

Will the confusion never stop?
Oh goody! I created confusion for some. /s/ Loki
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Old 09-04-2017, 03:31   #449
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Re: Metric system dumbs us down.

Quote:
Originally Posted by TrentePieds View Post
Well, whaddayaknow! I never thought any more of it, than that it was another one of Baden-Powell's bits of "field craft" from the Boer War :-) Didn't know it had been made into a science :-)

From another article I found as a result of looking at the one you referenced: "They see the domino as composed of two groups of four and as "one eight." Bingo!

You will recall I said "so [the coins] fall in a random pattern". I was aware of the phenomenon of "grouping" because when you play the game you can actually quite readily see this happening. If the random pattern happens to be an "organized" one, the mind "sees" the number of GROUPS in the pattern, but again with a limitation of six to eight, the limit depending on the "subject's" perceptual acuity, which seems to be unrelated to IQ as manifest in a classroom.

Cool indeed!

Thank you very much :-0)!

TP
But wait! most peopel easily recognize a "9" of spadesor hearts etc. Maybe from the pattern? What about "10"s?
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Old 09-04-2017, 04:32   #450
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Re: Metric system dumbs us down.

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In sum total, metric, imperial, and traditional, it is still donkey dust.
"Donkey dust" ??? Do you mean "Nun's fart" ???

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