On the Foundation’s Practice of the International System of Units and the Urgency for a Novel System of Measurements / Discussion

This is the discussion related to the wiki page On the Foundation’s Practice of the International System of Units and the Urgency for a Novel System of Measurements.

Jack Ike 28 Jun 2017 03:13

I don't get it.

djkaktus 28 Jun 2017 03:15

I mean, this is very dumb. You know this is really dumb, right?

But you nearly killed me when Fahrenheit was unchanged.

So +1.

Decibelles 28 Jun 2017 03:20

This fucking cracked me up. Nice.

Accelerando 28 Jun 2017 04:12

I'm upvoting this, but I think this would have been even more effective as an article instead of a tale.

E: on second thought, I'm not seeing any real justification for a researcher to write something like this. I did laugh, but this would be expanded on better in an article.

Last edited on 28 Jun 2017 08:00 by Accelerando Show more

sirpudding 28 Jun 2017 05:09

Isn't this just the old FFF system joke with the bare minimum dressing needed to make it a Foundation thing?

Last edited on 28 Jun 2017 05:10 by sirpudding Show more

Petrograd 28 Jun 2017 05:16

I guess the question is, are the additional units/ names original?

I kinda lost it at "Ferrum (fer), amount"

zkidanomalous 28 Jun 2017 05:52

The only part of this tale that is from the original FFF idea (which is the system I used for the joke, not the other way around) is the furlongs, firkins and fortnights. While half of the additional units are made up (though half of them are, themselves, humorously real), it certainly takes the original scope of the triple F joke to a far distant point than the original intended or did.

I could have easily made a different system, but I like incorporating preexisting material. It provides context, appreciation for the past and develops ideas even further than just adding another humorous system to the internet-sphere.

Last edited on 28 Jun 2017 05:54 by zkidanomalous Show more

TL333s 28 Jun 2017 12:14

I feel like this is (a very funny) setup to a joke that forgot its own punchline.

Genshed 28 Jun 2017 18:57

Reminds me of the Potrzebie system from MAD in the late '50s. In a good way.

DrChandra 30 Jun 2017 06:31

Upvote, but a couple questions.

I kind of get the vibe that the person writing this is not misguided but making a very blatant and doomed attempt to sabotage the Foundation. Was that your intent, and if so who is this guy, who's he working for and why is he trying to sabotage the Foundation in the most impractical way possible?

Second, is the fact that he addresses the O5 council as Gentlemen intentionally old-fashioned, because I'm not aware of any iterations of the modern O5 council that depicts them as being entirely male. There's usually at least two or three women on it.

I'm probably overthinking this.

zkidanomalous 01 Jul 2017 06:25

1. I really appreciate the thought you have put into this. However, this article is intended to be a joke, and this person is being entirely facetious. It is partially making fun of those who don't use metric, while creating its anthesis to point out ridiculousness.
2. It is an old-fashioned voice, yes. To be honest, while I completely imagine the O5 Council including women, I always still want to reference it in masculine style. I think it is like a 60s spy movie influence.