I mean… the length of one ten millionth the distance between the equator and the North Pole is a much more convenient and relatable standard for the lay person if they find themselves without a measuring device I’m sure.
Then they had 2 guys in a boat sail between Dunkirk and France for 6 years measuring the curve of the earth to define the meter. Which- they measured wrong. But- they just went with it.
But joking asides, it’s all fairly arbitrary. What is the difference between using one specific length of a toe or one specific length of a tree branch or one specific formed precious metal ingot kept in a vault?
It’s a popular thing to make fun of how ridiculous “standard” units are for relying on body parts- but one of the biggest “hooks” to metric is everything is in tens. Of course.. base 10 counting is used because… the average person has 10 fingers. That’s it. That’s why when you get to 9 you “carry the one.” There’s no hard reason that says you HAVE to. We are just used..
.. to that because we have 10 fingers so base 10 counting is pretty common. There were societies like certain indigenous Americans that counted either spaces between fingers or knuckles and so had a “base 8” system, and bases like 8,10,12 have various advantages for certain applications like computing or calculations of various types. “Base 10” isn’t even the “best” or “easiest” base to work with when it comes to performing various operations- it is again- simply because people are used to it and we have 10 fingers which makes it easy/intuitive as children etc. to count on our fingers.
So the very base 10 system that is so central to the metric system is an example of where humans used a system based on body parts because not having a tool can suck but usually if you are missing body parts your day is going worse.
Then they had 2 guys in a boat sail between Dunkirk and France for 6 years measuring the curve of the earth to define the meter. Which- they measured wrong. But- they just went with it.
But joking asides, it’s all fairly arbitrary. What is the difference between using one specific length of a toe or one specific length of a tree branch or one specific formed precious metal ingot kept in a vault?
It’s a popular thing to make fun of how ridiculous “standard” units are for relying on body parts- but one of the biggest “hooks” to metric is everything is in tens. Of course.. base 10 counting is used because… the average person has 10 fingers. That’s it. That’s why when you get to 9 you “carry the one.” There’s no hard reason that says you HAVE to. We are just used..
So the very base 10 system that is so central to the metric system is an example of where humans used a system based on body parts because not having a tool can suck but usually if you are missing body parts your day is going worse.