This seems totally obvious to me. A Newton meter is equal to the gravitational force of 1 Fig Newton divided by the unit-less co-efficient of my top tube measurement, 50.5. 

So lets apply this to the real world.  My seatpost clamp says 16 Newton meters.  To get my saddle to stay on this thingy, I am assuming that Ritchey wants me to tighten the bolts to 16 Newton meters, not eat 16 Newton meters and then hope that my bike stays together through acts of good will. 

Follow me here where X represents the number of Fig Newtons for which an equal gravitational force is needed to keep my saddle on my bike:

16 Newton meters = X/50.5

so then X = 808 Fig Newtons

And when I think about the amount of force it actually takes to tighten those bolts, 808 Fig Newtons doesn’t seem like much at all. 

People say physics is hard, but I don’t believe them.  It’s like riding a bike- it just takes practice.  And some creativity.