Do you measure distance in time?

Discussion in 'Off Topic' started by Candles, May 23, 2014.

?

Do you measure a distance in how long it takes rather than the physical length?

  1. Yes, I'd say 3 hours instead of 180 miles

    70.0%
  2. No, a distance is always a distance.

    30.0%
  1. Candles

    Candles CAPTAIN CANDLES, DUN DUN DUN, DUN DUN DUN DUN.

    Messages:
    4,251
    Likes Received:
    10
    Trophy Points:
    0
    I've been wondering about this for a while now. Here in Oregon, it's common for people to measure a distance in how long it takes. Like, if you asked me how far away Seattle is from Portland, I'd say three hours, not 190 miles, or if you asked me how far away the supermarket is, it's about 10 minutes.

    I know that other people do this too, in particular I've heard Canadians do it, but I'm wondering just how often people do this in other parts of the country and other parts of the world, like in the Eastern United States and over Europe.
     
  2. complete_

    complete_ lamer

    Messages:
    6,438
    Likes Received:
    144
    Trophy Points:
    0
    no one does this
     
  3. f1r3w4rr10r

    f1r3w4rr10r Modeler

    Messages:
    2,475
    Likes Received:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    0
    It depends really. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.
    I think it also has something to do with the fact that me and my parents don't own a car. (Yes you can actually get around without one in Germany.)

    Also: Miles? Pfft! Metric system for the win!
     
  4. flasche

    flasche Member Staff Member Moderator

    Messages:
    13,299
    Likes Received:
    168
    Trophy Points:
    0
    in a way everyone does, well at least those using SI units, since a meter is defined by the distance light travels in 1/c seconds. ;)
     
    Last edited: May 23, 2014
  5. D.D.D. Destroyer

    D.D.D. Destroyer Member Staff Member Moderator

    Messages:
    9,509
    Likes Received:
    111
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Depends on the situation. I have 35 minutes of commuting to uni, but my granny is 30 kilometers away. Going home from Cracow is about 2 hours, but I have 200 meters to the grocery store.
     
  6. ImSpartacus

    ImSpartacus nerf spec plz

    Messages:
    8,598
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Yes, it turns out that using hours to measure driving distance lets you cover a larger confidence interval, which is handy if you aren't super confident about the distance in question.
     
  7. Paradox

    Paradox I am a gigantic asshole who loses people's hard wo

    Messages:
    6,926
    Likes Received:
    148
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Humans always try to be as right as possible so in loads of uncertain cases they'll use large measurements like time cause people are used to not caring if you are off 5 minutes or not since everyone is late.
    Thus saying its a 2 hour drive, if its 1.50 or 2.10 noone cares but it actually matters a lot by miles and km driven. difference between 20 minutes is almost 50 km. Being off by 50 km is like this large number and people are gun be like HEY BRO YOU WERE WRONG OMG, people hate being wrong. Thus time usage.
     
  8. ImSpartacus

    ImSpartacus nerf spec plz

    Messages:
    8,598
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    0
    And time is really the metric that you give a shit about when discussing travel.

    A lot of people don't get that. Usually, I couldn't care less how much distance your car covered during your vacation. I want to know how many bored hours you had to endure. That matters to a person.

    Stockholders so the same thing. Do they REALLY care about a company's quarterly earnings? No, they care about how much the stock price is going to increase.

    We do the same thing in empires. Does it really matter how many kills you get? No, it matters how much you help your team win.

    So if you can tell me what I care about, instead of making me do some silly conversion, then you're being a better communicator.
     
    Last edited: May 23, 2014
  9. D.D.D. Destroyer

    D.D.D. Destroyer Member Staff Member Moderator

    Messages:
    9,509
    Likes Received:
    111
    Trophy Points:
    0
    spartacus pls
     
  10. Trickster

    Trickster Retired Developer

    Messages:
    16,576
    Likes Received:
    46
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Most people use time for a good reason. When you ask how far away something is, 95% of the time you probably just want to gauge how long it would take you to get there. Distance doesn't help in this respect because of speed limits, road routes, etc. So time is cutting to the point of what the other person actually wants to know. You aren't measuring distance in time, you're answering the question they're actually asking, even if they don't realise it.
     
  11. Ikalx

    Ikalx Member

    Messages:
    6,210
    Likes Received:
    9
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Compared to distance, time is the more immutable of the two at least for travel. Which doesn't really make sense because the distance doesn't change, but it might take me an hour to cover 5 miles into london, whereas an hour going out of london might be 50 miles or more. In that respect, distance tells you nothing unless you are going by foot or bike.

    For time, the one variable is really traffic. If you hit lots of traffic your journey might take substantially longer, if none, much shorter. With distance...well...it doesn't really tell you anything. It doesn't help you plan your journey, it doesn't speak to the terrain or likelihood of obstacles or lack thereof. All that can be covered in time. It's a catch-all.
     
  12. Space_Oddity

    Space_Oddity The Shitstorm

    Messages:
    2,958
    Likes Received:
    43
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Who doesn't do this?
     
  13. Grantrithor

    Grantrithor Member

    Messages:
    9,820
    Likes Received:
    11
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Time is something you can be certain of if you know how long it takes to get somewhere through practice; distance doesn't really work because people can't measure distance without proper instruments. Not to mention cars don't fly like the crow.
     
  14. Lazybum

    Lazybum :D Staff Member Moderator

    Messages:
    4,827
    Likes Received:
    190
    Trophy Points:
    0
    For most people this is true, however when I was hiking I rather have an actual distance. Reason being is that everyone kinda walks at different paces, plus your pack weight can really affect stuff. Unless it is something real close by, like walk in that direction for 5-10 minutes, but otherwise distance feels more helpful I feel.

    Anyways, yeah I do that all the time. Say the time it takes, not the distance.
     
  15. BigTeef

    BigTeef Bootleg Headshot master

    Messages:
    7,036
    Likes Received:
    36
    Trophy Points:
    0
    I walked 5 blocks, it took me 5 minutes.

    Mind=blown
     
  16. Trickster

    Trickster Retired Developer

    Messages:
    16,576
    Likes Received:
    46
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Well yeah, distance matters when you're travelling for the sake of travelling, especially on foot or bicycle. But generally speaking, it's all about context. It's pretty clear in which context the person is asking you, so it's pretty clear which way you should answer.
     

Share This Page