Boehlke
Alpha Wolf
2nd in command
Wild things in the North Eastern Valley
Posts: 1,505
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Post by Boehlke on Aug 21, 2006 10:40:07 GMT -5
yeah, that's about the best idea I've heard for many years.. lol, just imagine all that has to be rewritten. glad I'm not the one getting that job ;D
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Post by lordhowl on Jan 19, 2010 21:29:01 GMT -5
the 19th century is the 1800's. like we're in the 21st century and it's the 2000's. that's some thing that have always bothered me.. why is not the year 2000 in the 20th century? was 100bc 1st century? The problem is, when they first started to count the century, they didn't have zero. That's right. The European Christians had no concept of zero. So, it has always been controversial whether the **00 years belong at the beginning or end of the decade. My brother had complained, in the year 2000, that unlike the previous decade, it was being counted at the beginning, not the end. But that's nothing. The decimal point wasn't invented until the 19th century. That's right. Some guy "invented" it as a way to make fractions easier to deal with. Now, I'm talking about the decimal point, not to be confused with the decimal number system.
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Boehlke
Alpha Wolf
2nd in command
Wild things in the North Eastern Valley
Posts: 1,505
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Post by Boehlke on Jan 31, 2010 8:21:22 GMT -5
Now would you look at that. You learn something new every day!
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Post by Zack Flak on Jan 31, 2010 8:29:07 GMT -5
As far as I can see, the European Christians sucked at measuring everything. I mean, just look at the imperial system! It's based off the fact that the king had 12" feet! I know that's an over-simplification, but still, it's completely pointless and arbitrary, not to mention confusing.
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Post by lordhowl on Jan 31, 2010 10:15:54 GMT -5
As far as I can see, the European Christians sucked at measuring everything. I mean, just look at the imperial system! It's based off the fact that the king had 12" feet! I know that's an over-simplification, but still, it's completely pointless and arbitrary, not to mention confusing. Actually, what survived as the English Standard System is gross simplification of what was around in the middle-ages. There were literally hundreds of different "measures" and measuring systems around England and probably thousands in Europe, just like the Languages and dialects. Measuring with one's foot makes sense if that's what you have available. It's only when Britain came together as a country with a massive trade system that they had to standardize it some way. The might have used Joe the Cobbler's foot, but they wanted everyone to use it, so they used the king's foot. It makes sense when you understand that communication had broken down after the Roman Empire. As people pulled together again they needed a more rational standard. It's only later that they thought of standardizing it worldwide.
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Post by Zack Flak on Jan 31, 2010 12:11:18 GMT -5
What I take issue with is not the standardization, as that is a good thing, nor the use of the word "foot" as that has been used for a loooooong time prior to said standardization. My issue is with the number 12. I prefer going by 10s. The metric system is far better, I think.
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Post by lordhowl on Jan 31, 2010 15:12:46 GMT -5
What I take issue with is not the standardization, as that is a good thing, nor the use of the word "foot" as that has been used for a loooooong time prior to said standardization. My issue is with the number 12. I prefer going by 10s. The metric system is far better, I think. I didn't read back in the thread. Sorry. But there was also a time they had measures and didn't use the Arabic Decimal system. Many civilizations, including Medieval ones, used a base-12 system. There were several reasons why, but mainly, fractions were easier. 12 is divisible by many things: 2, 3, 4 and 6. Ten is only divisible by 2 and 5. You have to remember also, the decimal point wasn't around until the 19th century. Until it was invented, they had no easy way of doing fractions in the decimal system. I know it's funny to think of something like a decimal point as having been invented, but it was.
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Post by sophielovessam on Jul 1, 2010 7:30:13 GMT -5
My history teacher explained this all last year. It's weird though I think :L
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