PowerCrazyMay 28, 2024
Do Europeans really give their height in cm? You’d think they short hand it like to like 1.7m or whatever since height is one of those things that doesn’t really need to be exact and will change by a cm or so based on the kind of shoes you are wearing, or wearing shoes at all.
Show threadLinssiili

When using feet and inches, its fine to use precision of 1 inch as it’s much smaller unit than 0.1 m.

If one says that they are 5’11" (180.34 cm), they can be 5’10.5" (179.07 cm) to 5’11.5" (181.61 cm) tall. That’s 1.4% variance.

If using meters with one decimal place, and say they are 1.8 m (5’10.9"), they can be 175 cm (5’8.9") to 185 cm (6’0.8") tall. That’s 5.6% variance.

Thus it’s not really viable to use only one decimal place when using metres as unit, so in many languages it’s easier to just say the length in centimeters compared to use two deeimal places.

May 29, 2024 at 8:56amWeb
Show threadElderWendigoMay 29, 2024
That also explains why the guy in the comic is being an ass or an idiot by listing his height to the nearest hundred of a centimeter. A half inch and whole centimeter are more appropriate precisions for human heights. In your example even, a real-world measurement of 5’ 11" can’t just be blindly translated to 180.34cm because it adds precision that was not there in the 5’ 11" measurement unless otherwise specified. 180cm would be more appropriate but is still overstating the precision a bit. Using SI units without appropriate scientific notation and without respect to significant digits is kind of like watching a 3D movie with one eye closed.