I also guessed the size of the biggest redwood tree incredibly well :) By converting my guesstimate in meters to some form of archaic measurement only used by cavemen and Americans. What’s up with that?
Only officially used by Liberia, Burma/Myanmar, and the United States—quite a lot of people in the UK defy the mandate of their governments and continue using traditional measurements.
Despite what the Daily Mail would have you think, “The Units of Measurement Regulations 1995 require that all measuring devices used in trade or retail be capable of displaying measurements for most products in both metric and imperial quantities” (WP, emph. added).
Moreover, “many imperial units [are] still legally mandated for some application; draught beer must be sold in pints,[31] road-sign distances must be in yards and miles,[32] length and width (but not weight) restrictions must be in feet and inches on road signs (although an equivalent in metres may be shown as well),[32] and road speed limits must be in miles per hour,[32”
AFAIK, very few scientists anywhere in the world (except USA) use “traditional” measurements, so I was also surprised that non-SI units would be used in a LessWrong survey.
It’s not a big issue for me, but the additional complications in converting units (and the non-standard cross-unit conversions within the imperial system too) do distract from more important matters IMO. That’s kind of the whole point of the SI, apart from striving for more accuracy in the measurements.
AFAIK, very few scientists anywhere in the world (except USA) use “traditional” measurements, so I was also surprised that non-SI units would be used in a LessWrong survey.
My experience is that most scientists (in the US) use SI units in the lab, and the imperial units everywhere else. Water boils at 100 degrees, and it’s 98 degrees outside.
My experience is that most scientists use SI units in the lab, and the imperial units everywhere else. Water boils at 100 degrees, and it’s 98 degrees outside.
This reads as if it is intended to be a contradiction of the grandparent. This is odd because it actually strengthens the grandparent’s claim. US scientists were already outright excluded from the claim so your additional testimony just enhances (!USA) to (!USA || USA && LAB). Pardon me if I misread the intended message (the other interpretation is that the comment is a misleading non-sequitur.)
Following the ‘sharing anecdotal impression’ line my experience is that scientists use SI units in the lab as well as elsewhere. Exceptions, with respect to “feet” in particular are for approximations of (human) height or when talking to people over 50 years old. Fahrenheit is never used but can be parsed and translated from foreign sources in much the same way that Cuneiform can be translated if absolutely necessary.
I had missed that, too. (On the other hand, while I—a non-US scientist—do measure my own weight in kilos, kilos are arguably the traditional unit of body weight measurement in my country. And I do sometimes use pints for draught beer.)
Only officially used by Liberia, Burma/Myanmar, and the United States—quite a lot of people in the UK defy the mandate of their governments and continue using traditional measurements.
Despite what the Daily Mail would have you think, “The Units of Measurement Regulations 1995 require that all measuring devices used in trade or retail be capable of displaying measurements for most products in both metric and imperial quantities” (WP, emph. added).
Moreover, “many imperial units [are] still legally mandated for some application; draught beer must be sold in pints,[31] road-sign distances must be in yards and miles,[32] length and width (but not weight) restrictions must be in feet and inches on road signs (although an equivalent in metres may be shown as well),[32] and road speed limits must be in miles per hour,[32”
AFAIK, very few scientists anywhere in the world (except USA) use “traditional” measurements, so I was also surprised that non-SI units would be used in a LessWrong survey.
It’s not a big issue for me, but the additional complications in converting units (and the non-standard cross-unit conversions within the imperial system too) do distract from more important matters IMO. That’s kind of the whole point of the SI, apart from striving for more accuracy in the measurements.
My experience is that most scientists (in the US) use SI units in the lab, and the imperial units everywhere else. Water boils at 100 degrees, and it’s 98 degrees outside.
This reads as if it is intended to be a contradiction of the grandparent. This is odd because it actually strengthens the grandparent’s claim. US scientists were already outright excluded from the claim so your additional testimony just enhances (!USA) to (!USA || USA && LAB). Pardon me if I misread the intended message (the other interpretation is that the comment is a misleading non-sequitur.)
Following the ‘sharing anecdotal impression’ line my experience is that scientists use SI units in the lab as well as elsewhere. Exceptions, with respect to “feet” in particular are for approximations of (human) height or when talking to people over 50 years old. Fahrenheit is never used but can be parsed and translated from foreign sources in much the same way that Cuneiform can be translated if absolutely necessary.
I was adding anecdotal evidence about US scientists, which I somehow missed were excluded from the claim. Thanks for pointing out the oddity.
nod. It was easy to miss, I only saw it on second read myself. Before that I had only typed my own Australian anecdotal perspective.
I had missed that, too. (On the other hand, while I—a non-US scientist—do measure my own weight in kilos, kilos are arguably the traditional unit of body weight measurement in my country. And I do sometimes use pints for draught beer.)