E: /stoned

    • Victor@lemmy.world
      0·
      2 months ago

      The problem is that the meter is originally defined in terms of the size of the earth, which is in no way related to the speed of light.

        • Victor@lemmy.world
          0·
          2 months ago

          Well yes, but only by a little. It was using ancient measuring techniques which were highly error-prone. Like running from one place to the next and counting the length manually. Shit like that. Still impressively close to the real size!

          • RandomVideos@programming.dev
            0·
            2 months ago

            But if the people deciding what the meter was at first were allowed to make errors, why werent the people deciding what the new meter was?

            • Victor@lemmy.world
              0·
              1 month ago

              Like what the other person said, you don’t know the extent of your error until you have a more accurate measuring technique.

              And you don’t just redefine an already-established unit. 😅 Rather, all the things that depend on the meter will be fucked up instead.