Re: Kanji for 'ishi' (stone) can be pronounced 'koku'

Sean <sean@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
On 2006-09-04 16:05:52 -0700, mtfester@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx said:

Right. But it has nice, round touch points. Freezing at zero and
boiling at a hundred are nice and, uh, symmetrical.

Why? Or why not begin with a scale that at least can pretend to have
some physical basis; say, 0 being the absolute theoretical lower limit
and 10 being the boiling point of (say helium) or 100 being the boiling
point of hydrogen?

Because that would be useless in most people's lives.

Why? Instead of say "It's 25 degrees out", you'd say "It's 310" or
something like that.

Water freezing
and water boiling are utterly common phenomena that mean something to

So is a human body temperature. If that's your criterian, then
zero degrees for ice, and human body temperature for 100. Then, when
somebody said it's 50 degrees, you'd have a fairly good idea this was
a bit below ideal temperature, but not uncomfortably so.

Yes, this is much better. As an added advantage, people generally carry
their bodies around with them, and if healthy have a pretty accurate
measure of 100 degrees. And the 100 degrees wouldn't be harmful.

For zero degrees, they can always pop into a McDonalds for a drink
with ice, should it be necessary to recalibrate the lower end of
your scale.

Yes, clearly this is much superior; basing things on everyday
experiences.

just about everyone. Perhaps in your world you are dealing with
situations of no temperature, or boiling helium. Most of us don't deal
with that stuff.

So, you seem to think a good scale is little more than something that
calibrates what one is used to?

A certain gentlemen might suspect that I don't know that the freezing
When I look out my window at the thermometer I have hanging outside and
I see it's at zero or thereabouts, it's enough information to help me
make some accurate enough predictions about likely driving conditions,
sweater requirements and so on.

How odd; my mother has the same reaction when she looks out a window and
sees that it's 32 degrees or thereabouts. What wonderful 'symmetry'.

32 is a stupid number. I mean no insult to your mother.

So, zero is an "intelligent" number?

Now, a one might note that the vast majority of your objections are
little more than you personally weren't raised with them, therefore they
are inferior. How does that line of "thinking" seperate you from (oh,
to pick a purely random example) the Ann Coulter's of the world?

I absolutely grew up in a non-metric world.

So did I.

Pounds, inches, the whole
nine yards.
When, as a university student, I got a summer job with a Japanese

I got used to the metric system in high school.

Science class...

daily lives yet.) The metric system just made sense to me. Before,

It's a measuring system, nothing more (nor less.)

plain, simple sense. On the other hand, goofiness is ok too, so I guess
there is a certain entertainment value in Americans rejecting the
metric system because it started with the goddamn French or whatever
other reason they have for rejecting it.

Didn't you previously claim the current US measuring system is "really"
metric?

But I suppose eventually
they'll wriggle up on to the beach and grow legs.

I suppose one day people will become intelligent enough to realize that
the fact that they have a personal prejudice does not imply that that
prejudice is 'better'.

Or perhaps you simply like the swamp life...

Mike
.

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