In the spirit of rapprochement with Europe and reorientation away from the United States, it’s time to complete the Metrication process in Canada that was stopped prematurely by the Mulroney government.

        • over_clox@lemmy.world
          5·
          9 days ago

          I find the whole imperial/metric thing funny.

          Like hell, even here in the USA, it’s always the 10 millimeter socket (or in my case the 15 millimeter socket) that somehow disappears.

          A pendulum of one meter length swings at a rate of once per second.

          Where things get weird in the USA is one mile = 5280 feet. Like, who the fuck pulled that number out of their ass?

            • HonoredMule@lemmy.caEnglish
              4·
              9 days ago

              It wasn’t so weird back when people lived in relative isolation without any kind of standards, and had to come up with some sort of reference that was widely familiar and commonly available.

              You know, back in the Neolithic Age.

              It even makes sense why that familiar set of references would get standardized and then survive up until the beginning of the Industrial Age. Beyond that point it’s all driven by American exceptionalism, a.k.a. willful ignorance. What I don’t understand is what happened to the cubit. Feet make sense for distance, but as a craftsman I don’t want to be foot-fondling my work pieces.

          • ByteJunk@lemmy.world
            2·
            9 days ago

            Huh, that’s interesting. Of all things to choose metric, why sockets?

            I think the only thing where imperial is common here in (continental) Europe is screen sizes, which you always see in inches, and it’s weird because people have absolutely no feel for how long 55" or whatever is. The other is pipes, though in plumbing is usual to have the equivalent in mm.

    • ByteJunk@lemmy.world
      6·
      9 days ago

      Congrats on the healthy BMI, and on using the correct scale!

      By my book, you’re now an EU citizen.

      • Nik282000@lemmy.ca
        51·
        9 days ago

        BMI was made by an statistician who never intended it to be used as a means of medical assessment.

            • ByteJunk@lemmy.world
              11·
              7 days ago

              The articles first line starts with:

              Body mass index (BMI) is an anthropometric index that is commonly used in the medical setting and is a factor in assessing various disease risks

              If it’s good enough for doctors, it’s good enough for me. Wake me up when something else takes its place.

              • Nik282000@lemmy.ca
                1·
                6 days ago

                Body mass index (BMI) is an anthropometric index that is commonly used in the medical setting and is a factor in assessing various disease risks but its origins are unknown by many. More importantly, BMI does not properly assess body fat percentage and muscle mass or distinguish abdominal fat from gluteofemoral fat, which is important to note because abdominal fat is associated with insulin resistance, metabolic disease, and cardiovascular complications. Using a less accurate index to assess the relationship between weight and disease risk is conceptually invalid because the use of BMI ultimately trickles into patient treatment, preventive medicine, and overall health outcomes.

                Completing the quote we find that there is a more important aspect to BMI than its common use.