why do we do this to ourselves?  why do we insist on using fractional measurments based on halving the next unit: halves, quarters, eighths, sixteenths, thirty-seconds, sixty-fourths, and so on? for example, let's say you are a plumber calculating an 45 degree offset. you know the ofset you want down to an eighth of an inch.  now you have to multiply this by a rounded irrational number 1.414 which is decimal. then you have to take that decimal result and subtract twice the takeoff which are invariably given as a fractional inch. even if you have a calculator that does fractions to make this work faster you still end up with a decimal result. but guess what?  your fucking measuring tape uses fractions. that means you have to convert back to a fractional result from a decimal result. but the fraction has to be denominated in 64ths. so now you need to convert the various 64th values into decimal so you can do a comparison and figure out which one is correct. finally you have your answer and you can cut your pipe. but you wouldn't have had to do any of these conversions if we all used decimal politically speaking, why do we torture ourselves this way?
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