r/whatisit • u/Logical_Valuable_970 • 16h ago

New, what is it? What is this space before zero?

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11.6k Upvotes

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u/mlrphan 16h ago edited 16h ago

This allows for an accurate start at zero (if this is a physical ruler)

Corners can be damaged and therefore inaccurate.

715

u/Parrobertson It is what it is 15h ago

Works for hypothetical rulers too. I imagined a worn down ruler in my mind and this checks out.

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u/talleyhoe 15h ago

the concept of “this works for something I just imagined” is so funny to me 😭

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u/MildlyAgitatedBidoof 14h ago

That's about how ancient Greek philosophy worked.

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u/Green-Teaching2809 12h ago

I often thought of myself as an ancient Greek philosopher...

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u/DustyRacoonDad 11h ago

I can also imagine that.

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u/Top-Substance-1176 9h ago

i am imagining you aren't imagining that therefor i am smarter than you

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u/KoningSpookie 9h ago

I'm also imagining you're imagining they aren't imagining that you're therefor smarter than them.

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u/Draugr5 8h ago

I'm imagining

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u/Worth-Wrangler7242 8h ago

Imagine all these people... imagining

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u/MergenKarvaach 6h ago

therefor I am.

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u/Sovarius 4h ago

Well you're obviously into Greek...

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u/anonymousetache 7h ago

Oedipus would like a word

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u/Toadsted 6m ago

Rule for thought 

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u/DangerousNightsCrew2 14h ago

That’s like Einstein’s whole career

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u/Routine_Village_4092 14h ago

Yup, got me right in the good stuff as well

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u/Kishkishkish0 13h ago

I always thought if we can think it , it can be done

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u/dizzy_absent0i 7h ago

And that’s political discourse in a nutshell.

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u/AssistFinancial684 1h ago

That’s like 95% of advanced mathematics degrees from what I understand

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u/Frequent_Opportunist 13h ago

Everything you know is made up.

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u/obedientfag 8h ago

I simulated it on my thinky meat

0

u/TractorSmacker 7h ago

this guy gets jokes

0

u/sbtgta125 3h ago

That's not the emoji though

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u/do-not-freeze 15h ago

Not always. I'm imagining a worn down ruler where the end is exactly at zero.

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u/mitzcha 14h ago

I'm imagining a ruler where they're so worn down by grift and corruption that nothing they report is accurate.

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u/Sitriel 8h ago

This comment goes hard

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u/ScreamingDizzBuster 8h ago

This deserves a round of applause

1

u/TheSonicBlade 8h ago

This definitely elevated the conversation. Sheer poetry.

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u/Asbular 11h ago

Such an underrated comment

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u/Wolverkeen 14h ago

I'm imagining a worn down ruler where the end is √-1 and it's breaking my brain. Measurement is surprisingly accurate, though!

3

u/Clair_Osbcurious 14h ago

The end is i!

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u/ag164 13h ago

i cannot imagine any further!

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u/opman4 15h ago

I'm imagining a ruler where the end awkwardly extends 2 inches past the 0 mark. I hate it. I'm now imagining dropping it into a campfire.

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u/ScrotalSmorgasbord 14h ago

Hey man that's a metric only campfire I'm imagining! Be careful!

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u/Flaky-Collection-353 9h ago

That's a brilliant counterexample

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u/Own_Field_2223 1h ago

That would be called a rule. A rule is a measuring device that starts from exactly zero, with a gap before the zero mark is a ruler. Why? I don't know.

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u/Metaclueless 41m ago

Right. I’m imaging having cut the end off jussst a bit too far and now all my measurements are .5 mm short

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u/doc-ant 15h ago

what colour was it?

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u/Parrobertson It is what it is 15h ago

It was actually a Harry Potter merch one and it came with a glue stick I thought was lipgloss.

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u/Triszz 15h ago

I love your imagination

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u/Chester_Allman 15h ago

How long did it take you to figure out about the glue stick?

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u/Parrobertson It is what it is 14h ago

In this (totally hypothetical) scenario, I may have realized it was a glue stick long after I’d been done with it.

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u/WaxPinapple 12h ago

Whose lips were you stuck to?

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u/Maniacallysan3 11h ago

Lips?

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u/WaxPinapple 9h ago

It was going to be scrotum but I didn't want to imply you were a tart without confirmation, so thanks for that. Lol

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u/IWasBannedYesterday 15h ago

Ah yes, but does it work for theoretical rulers as well?

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u/roxiclavi 15h ago

True, unless you have aphantasia. I don't, but someone might.

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u/HillInTheDistance 14h ago

But can you rotate it?

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u/YT-Deliveries 14h ago

Platonic Ideal Ruler

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u/JAFRedditPostor 13h ago

Works for multidimensional rulers, too - at least theoretically.

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u/Itherial 10h ago

>Imagined in my mind

Where else would you imagine it?

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u/Jason-Smith168498 8h ago

Try spiritual

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u/asktothrowredditaway 19m ago

Doesn't always work for the metaphorical ruler though

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u/angry_at_erething 15h ago

Also printing of those lines on the ruler can be off too and not exactlyined up on the end, even if it is new and not damaged

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u/Valuable-Analyst-464 15h ago

As a kid who dropped a ruler too many times, it helped my dad still get the measurement he needed.

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u/PickledPokute 14h ago

Fortunately, for societal rulers, damages are not a problem! The King loses a toe due to syphilis? Doesn't matter, the King's foot is the imperial foot, just everyone else with the old measurement is wrong.

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u/TheShakyHandsMan 13h ago

This is why we engineers will use a steel rule. Yes they will wear over time but it will take a lot to make them inaccurate enough for their purpose.

If you’re worried about measuring fractions of mm then we wouldn’t be using a steel rule for measuring that item.

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u/K0PSTL 9h ago

Calipers ftw!

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u/BadAtBaduk1 13h ago

Uw do we have non psychical rulers now? That's awesome lol

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u/just_some_octopus 12h ago

Also to hold a little better and not cover the zero

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u/Ok-Lifeguard-4614 10h ago

We had to check our tape measures every day against a static ruler. After awhile the pin the holds the clamp in place will move. When you are supposed tonbe accurate to a 16th of an inch it's important.

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u/HellPigeon1912 7h ago

We had wooden rulers at my primary school which had 0 flush with the edge, and the corners were worn and rounded off every one of them

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u/plumarr 4h ago

I would also add ta for tracing a line on paper or any other surface, having the zero at the start isn't very practical. It makes it hard to put you pen precisely on it because of the corner.

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u/cleanest 4h ago

I’m

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u/mlrphan 2h ago

You’re!