Measure Me

There is something recursive about measuring the thing that we use to measure things that we then use to measure.

A gram used to be the weight of a cubic centimeter of water, and a (centi-)meter was the circumference of the Earth divided a million times, thus the Earth is 40 million meters.

But dematerialization has been a thing for much longer than the macro image series mania (called memes nowadays) that has by now thoroughly taken over our cultural ecosystem.

And now, the standard of weight all around the world no longer comes from an object you can hold in your hand, but from a measurement of electricity. A meter, by the way, is no longer determined by the Earth, but by a measurement of an electromagnetic wave, which is about as close as you can get to being immaterial.

Post Script:
In a slight twist of categorical confusion, the British Thermal Unit (BTU) is the amount of energy it takes to heat one pound of water by one degree F, whereas the metric version is a Calorie, or the amount of energy it takes to heat one gram of water by 1 degree C. Regardless, I second the suggestion that we quick change everything to metric while the government is on pause.

Notes:
Kilogram gets a new definition
Dec 2018, BBC

Radiolab episode about the meter

Empericism
In philosophy, empiricism is a theory that states that knowledge comes only or primarily from sensory experience. 

Metronomy is a London-based electro rock band, check them out.