[jamesli]

I would argue it is extremely simplistic to compare languages to unit systems side by side.

In languages, it is both a way of communication and also a way of thinking, to say the least. Mandarin Chinese is my native language. My English is just ok, but it already gives me a new way of thinking, much more than a different perspective.

Also, there are many words and phrases in one language that you can't find a matched translation in another language, even between languages that are closely related, like English and German.

Different unit systems, on the other hand, can be converted to and from each other without losing anything. There could be some affinity attached to a system one grew up with. It is incomparable to languages, though.

[jacobolus]

> Different unit systems, on the other hand, can be converted to and from each other without losing anything.

This really depends what you’re trying to do. Learning electrodynamics is a lot easier if you use cgs–Gaussian units instead of SI units, cf. http://bohr.physics.berkeley.edu/classes/221/1112/notes/emun...