Why are physicians generally huge jerks?

[warty goblin]

So by your argument, if a number is relatively close to another number on any given scale of arbitrary magnitude, we should round it. Fun fact, the radius of the Earth is about 1000 miles (because 3959 is closer to 1000 than 10000, obviously).

Now, if we go the non-stupid route, then rounding to the nearest eighth of an inch sounds fine, yes?

If I'm doing Fermi estimation, I'll happily round the earth's radius to 1000 miles. If I need to know roughly how far something is falling after a second I will use 10 meters per second squared. And if I need a board that is precisely 2 by 4 inches I will measure and cut a board that is precisely 2 by 4 inches. There are places in carpentry where I don't care about an eighth of an inch, and places where I care a lot about 1/64th inch, it just depends what I'm doing.


The level and sort of precision required depends entirely on the problem being considered. 2x4 is a sensible term that has entirely sufficient precision for how they are actually used. And convincing people to add six syllables to a completely clear and well understood name is a battle that's both doomed and pointless.