You know I don’t work with fractions of an inch on a daily basis… Or even monthly. But inevitably a couple times a year it’s relevant. Every single time I have to take 3/4 multiply it by 2 and get 6/8, then I have to subtract 1/8 to get to 5/8. Repeat ad nauseum to get to whatever time fraction is needed.
It’s frustrating and slow and makes me feel dumb.
That said last time I did it, I measured a 1/8th difference between cabinets we ordered from IKEA and the space they went in and I’ll tell you what, I felt like a genius when it all just fit, perfectly.
Now imagine how good you’d feel if you used Roman numerals to do that
On a serious note, I once heard that an important reason maths was hard for Romans is because of a wrecked writing system. So maybe not using fractions other than fractions of 10 is the way to go
You know I don’t work with fractions of an inch on a daily basis… Or even monthly. But inevitably a couple times a year it’s relevant. Every single time I have to take 3/4 multiply it by 2 and get 6/8, then I have to subtract 1/8 to get to 5/8. Repeat ad nauseum to get to whatever time fraction is needed.
It’s frustrating and slow and makes me feel dumb.
That said last time I did it, I measured a 1/8th difference between cabinets we ordered from IKEA and the space they went in and I’ll tell you what, I felt like a genius when it all just fit, perfectly.
Now imagine how good you’d feel if you used Roman numerals to do that
On a serious note, I once heard that an important reason maths was hard for Romans is because of a wrecked writing system. So maybe not using fractions other than fractions of 10 is the way to go