SE5 release is only 3 weeks away!

[Renegade 13]

Will said:

Hey, Fahrenheit isn't really illogical. 32° water freezes, 212° water boils. Logical!

Since we use a base-10 system, 0 and 100 are a little more logical...and easier to remember

[Hunpecked]

Renegade 13 said:
Since we use a base-10 system, 0 and 100 are a little more logical...and easier to remember

Logical? Are you kidding? Basing a number system on the (usual) number of digits on half the limbs of ONE primate on ONE lousy planet in the whole universe? What about primates with 20 prehensile digits? What about primates with a prehensile TAIL? What about who-knows-how-many inhabitants with who-knows-how-many extremities living on uncounted worlds in umpteen zillion galaxies?

No, far better to base a number system on a more universal standard, such as the number of leptons in a hydrogen molecule (2), carbon atom (6), or an oxygen molecule (16) (alternate suggestions welcome).

As for temperatures, again it seems rather silly to base a scale on phase shifts of an arbitrary chemical compound under conditions prevailing only at a particular distance from the center of a particular planet. Note that the somewhat more rational "Kelvin" or "Absolute" scale at least has a universal zero point, but that scale puts the boiling point of water (1 atm pressure) at 373.125 degrees, which is not exactly the kind of round number we're looking for. If we must use water as a benchmark, I'd suggest setting the triple point of water (273.16 degrees Absolute and .006 kilopascals pressure) to a round number (e.g. 100 degrees Rational in base 10 or 16 notation) and working from there.

I understand how inconvenient it will be to switch to a truly rational system, but I just know we'll be the laughingstocks of the galaxy (if we're not already) should we be caught using our current provincial number and temperature scales when "they" make contact.

And for those who made it through the whole rant,

[Yimboli]

how absurd for heiroglyphics to demonstrate counting by powers of 10! clearly the authors should have had the clairvoyance to see past their 10 sausages and think about the countless little green men living on the bright dots in the night sky. the stars are, after all, quite visible from the desert. besides little green men even helped them with the pyramids! dont aliens have 6 fingers total?

e is the number little green men could most likely relate to us with. so make a base e temperature system! there ya go... er... wait, that makes no sense at all. here's an idea - lets make a system that people can USE!! fahrenheit! celcius! kelvin! w00t!

QED

[dogscoff]

Hunpecked said:
I understand how inconvenient it will be to switch to a truly rational system, but I just know we'll be the laughingstocks of the galaxy (if we're not already) should we be caught using our current provincial number and temperature scales when "they" make contact.

Maybe we should all adopt Marain now: http://homepages.compuserve.de/Mostr...el/marain.html

I'm sure they have some sperlatively sensible measurement systems.

[Renegade 13]

Can't use 100 as freezing and 0 as boiling. Since 100 is much greater than 0, and the energetic kinetic motion of water molecules are greater while boiling than while freezing, it just makes sense to have the greater value with the greater value, and vise versa.

Not to mention the fact that having huge negative numbers for extremely hot events would be a pain in the arse!

[Will]

But I like cold more than I like heat. So colder = bigger number = better!

If we were to be truly logical though, I say we should measure things in terms of some combination of the sums, multiples, and powers of e, pi, and phi.

[Renegade 13]

You have a point there Will.

I too like cold temps. much more than warm ones. My reasoning is simple; it's a lot easier to warm up if you're cold (put more clothes on) than it is to cool off if you're hot!

Defining our numbering systems by e, pi, phi would be...not fun for someone like me who isn't exactly a huge fan of math. Not to mention the fact that little kids would have a really hard time learning how to count!!

[narf poit chez BOOM]

No, no, no...You're all wrong!

We should all count in base alphabet!

[Will]

Renegade 13 said:My reasoning is simple; it's a lot easier to warm up if you're cold (put more clothes on) than it is to cool off if you're hot!

Ah, you still have much to learn, grasshopper. The best way to warm up when you're cold is to attach yourself to a member of your prefered sex, and warm up together. But that's off topic...

[Renegade 13]

Will said:

Ah, you still have much to learn, grasshopper. The best way to warm up when you're cold is to attach yourself to a member of your prefered sex, and warm up together. But that's off topic...

Indeed it would be the best way to warm up, but as I'm not on such friendly terms with any member of the opposite sex, I'm afraid I'll have to stick with clothes for now!