Two years ago, I posted a proposal for a new system of units based on Planck units rather than more arbitrary measurements. It didn’t exactly pick up any steam, but in retrospect that was for the best. I made a mistake when defining the new units. And it wasn’t because I was thinking too big — it was because I wasn’t thinking big enough.

If we are to adopt a system of units that will really stand the test of time, we will need to abandon conventions of mathematical expressions that are highly likely to become archaic in the near future: Namely, a decimal numeral system. As computers continue to become more integral to human civilization, it becomes increasingly probable that people will switch over to a system that is more compatible with binary, most likely base 8 or 16. An order of magnitude of 4,096 would work with both: It’s 10,000 in octal and 1,000 in hexadecimal.

Thus, we can ensure the new system of measurement will be forward-compatible if it considers 4,096 the new 1,000. To wit:

Length: The Jot

4,096⁹ Planck lengths (roughly 5.245 millimeters or .2065 inches).

Mass: The Nub

4,096² Planck mass (roughly 365.15 grams or .805 pounds).

Time: The Tap

4,096¹² Planck times (roughly 1.2023 seconds).

Thermodynamic Temperature: The Pin

Where absolute zero is zero pins, and Planck temperature is 4,096⁹ pins (so water freezes below ~626 pins and boils above ~855 pins).

Amount of Substance: The Cob

The amount of substance of a system which contains as many elementary entities as there are atoms in 1/16 nub of carbon 12 (roughly 16²⁰).

And that’s just the beginning. Even after the derived units get sorted out, we’ll need new prefixes to reflect powers of 4,096 rather than one thousand — so far, we only have “exbi-,” for 1,024⁶ or 4,096⁵ — to denote orders of magnitude for these new units in an octal or hexadecimal system. (One exbijot, for example, is approximately 1/5 of a parsec, while one order of magnitude below that [whatever that may be called] is approximately ten astronomical units.)

With those revisions, I believe I have perfected the new system of units, one that will stand the test of time and the advancement of technology. Now, you can really get the word out about these. Good luck!