It seems that there is no “absolute” unit of measurement in that all measurements are just approximated comparisons; and,
This supports the argument that subjective measurement is always flawed.
I ran around looking for, for example, what is a “meter”? and came up with this:
“Now, it is defined by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures as the distance travelled by light in absolute vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second.”
Given the theory of relativity and the uncertainty principal, it’s difficult to assume any specific measurement. But I’d probably start from the quonta and work my way up. The only fundamental measurements I believe would be time, space, and mass. I think there’s also a museum in France with a steel bar for standardizing one meter.
Scientists have used the measure of a plank’s constant as a very natural unit of measurement. I forgot how it was determined, but I know there is a pretty good physical basis for it.
A physical standard for measurement exhibiting a constant, finite extension in the dimension to be measured; and
A method for determing the extension of other things in that dimension by reference to that standard.
Of these, the concept and the method have to be artificial. The physical standard may be natural or artificial.
If a measurement method uses a naturally-occurring standard, does that meet your definition of “absolute,” or are there other criteria to be satisfied as well?
Im sure they measure time by the radioactive decay of some element. near plutonium in the chemical scale; maybe not near plutonium, but thats been given as the standard internationally because it remains the same and isn’t open to Political’ness’s. remember everything is politics. everything! including time. nothing to do with the subjects’ circadium rhythm etc. same with dimensional measurements, if you assume space extends more than 1 and only finitely, not infinitely because then the space btween every space would be infinite and we’d get nowhere. then you need a constant, and the speed of a photon in a vacuum is a constant. except the experiment when they teleported a photon faster than the speed of light, thus ruining the famous e=mc2.
that aside, they use the constants of radioactive decay and photon waves. try to eliminate the variables i.e., vacuum. To come with an ‘absolute.’ but it is flawed… in more ways then i can remember. ‘a yardstick does not say that the object to be measured is one yard long’ Wittgenstein.
Please vote in the poll, too, thanks.