America needs to finally adopt the metric system.

Originally posted by DantesLost
reply to post by Totakeke

 

I have to say i really dislike the metric system,and actually find it harder to use.

The metric system also allows for covert price inflation.
For example;in the US when liquor started to be sold in the international standard (750 ml,about 0.198 gal) instead of in fifths of a (U.S. fluid) gallon (0.2 gal about 757 ml) and the price remained the same.In Ireland,Glanbia,a large liquid milk processing company,decidec to replace its one-pint milk packs with half-litre packs which contain 62 ml less milk at the same price.



[edit on 26-12-2008 by DantesLost]

Ya and that too...I get less liquor, those metric bastards.....

Originally posted by Xtrozero
If America adopted the metric system then it would make us a little bit like the French and we do not want that to happen.

No...no we do not.

That would be quite awful.

You know, I am very familiarized with both systems and I can honestly say that I hate, hate, HATE the metric system. It's annoying and I can't stand it and I'm not going to start using it just because the rest of the world does. They want everything in metric? Let them convert it. America doesn't NEED to do something because another country wants it to. They've tried to get metric to catch on before and it doesn't work. Why? Because there's nothing wrong with the system we've got. I like my inches and miles and feet, yards, pounds and cups. I hate liters and I hate meters and I hate the prefixes.

Inches, miles, feet, and yards. So which one do you use for length? What!? All four? Isn't that kind of silly? Why have four units for length? That's a pretty big problem. The English system is broken. We have over 15 different measures for length alone; metric has only one. And when you have to convert those old measures, you need to use weird conversion factors and often get strange numbers as a result. Tell me, how many ounces are in 47.9 pounds? (766.4 ounces) What about the number of feet in 2.7 miles? (14 256 feet) Conversely, the number of grams in 47.9 kilograms is 47 900 grams and 2.7 kilometers is 2 700 meters. No math required.

Metric has caught on. It's used every day. Cars are all completely metric, electricity is metric (electricity was discovered after the invention of the metric system), all pharmaceuticals are metric, electronics are metric, all clothing not made in the US are metric, meteorologists even record all data in metric but report in English because of the general public. Metric didn't catch on because of an uncoordinated effort and no final date for finishing metrication. People actually used to be very adamant about the switch back in the 70s. It is estimated that at least 60% of all industry is metric. A lot of products are produced to metric standards, such as bathroom products.

If America adopted the metric system then it would make us a little bit like the French and we do not want that to happen.

Deciding whether or not to do something based on other countries is just ridiculous. Well, France uses electricity, so we can't have that. They also use water, so that's gone. Automobiles? Forget about it, France has those. And we can't have oxygen or even soil, because they have those in France. There is actually evidence to support that the metric system began in England hundreds of years earlier. France was just the first country to standardize it.

And I'm sorry that some people use the metric system to rip people off, because that's not what it was intended for. Dirty business practices have nothing to do with the metric system. If someone uses the metric system as a cloak to inflate prices then that doesn't make the metric system "bad."

[edit on 17-1-2009 by Totakeke]

Originally posted by Totakeke

If America adopted the metric system then it would make us a little bit like the French and we do not want that to happen.

Deciding whether or not to do something based on other countries is just ridiculous. Well, France uses electricity, so we can't have that. They also use water, so that's gone. Automobiles? Forget about it, France has those. And we can't have oxygen or even soil, because they have those in France. There is actually evidence to support that the metric system began in England hundreds of years earlier. France was just the first country to standardize it.

And I'm sorry that some people use the metric system to rip people off, because that's not what it was intended for. Dirty business practices have nothing to do with the metric system. If someone uses the metric system as a cloak to inflate prices then that doesn't make the metric system "bad."

[edit on 17-1-2009 by Totakeke]

Do you not understand a joke when you see it? hehe

Do you not understand a joke when you see it? hehe

The written word is much harder to interpret than the spoken word. ^_^

If America adopted the metric system then it would make us a little bit like the French and we do not want that to happen.

I'll assume this is sarcasm, heh? (Sarcasm is hard to discern from text. )

[edit on 17-1-2009 by Totakeke]

I strongly oppose converting to the metric system because of the detrimental effect it would have on music.

For instance, can you imagine Roger Daltry belting out: "I can see for kilometers and kilometers and kilometers and...'? I just doesn't flow right.

And how about that old Hans C Andersen ditty: "Two point five centimeter worm, two point five centimeter worm, measuring the marigold"? Yuk!

Or, how 'bout that old Cole Porter classic from Anything Goes: "I love you 36 and 9 liters, 36 and 9 liters and a hug around the neck." A real show-stopper, that one.

And, of course: "1.5748 meters. Eyes of blue. Could she, could she, could she coo. Has anybody seen my-y-y ga-a-a-a-a-al?"

Say "no" to metric. Save the music.

I strongly oppose converting to the metric system because of the detrimental effect it would have on music. For instance, can you imagine Roger Daltry belting out: "I can see for kilometers and kilometers and kilometers and...'? I just doesn't flow right. And how about that old Hans C Andersen ditty: "Two point five centimeter worm, two point five centimeter worm, measuring the marigold"? Yuk! Or, how 'bout that old Cole Porter classic from Anything Goes: "I love you 36 and 9 liters, 36 and 9 liters and a hug around the neck." A real show-stopper, that one. And, of course: "1.5748 meters. Eyes of blue. Could she, could she, could she coo. Has anybody seen my-y-y ga-a-a-a-a-al?" Say "no" to metric. Save the music.

The English system will still be around for hundreds of years, living on in terms like "inch worm" and "I wouldn't touch that with a 10-foot pole." The only thing we should change is the way we measure. The music industry can use whichever words it wants, which include English measurements.

With all the other more serious problems to fix in this country, do we really need to be worrying about a measurement system standard at this point?

How about we just continue to use both as people see fit and focus on more pressing and more important matters.






Cheers!!!!

With all the other more serious problems to fix in this country, do we really need to be worrying about a measurement system standard at this point? How about we just continue to use both as people see fit and focus on more pressing and more important matters.

It costs us money in lost contracts all the time, and every now and then some aircraft or orbiter goes down, costing millions of dollars. There are lots of calls for redoing America's infrastructure; this is one of the things that needs to, and can be, fixed. If we never fixed the little problems and just focused on the big problems then those little problems become big problems.

It wouldn't even be that hard. Once the road signs are fixed it's already halfway over. Most businesses are already metric, too; the only other things that would have to be changed are the little things. Australia converted successfully and without any problems.

And doesn't that just sound odd? "Use both?" Why do we need to have two measurement systems, when there is an international, base-10 system more efficient than the one we currently use? Dual systems do not work.

[edit on 18-1-2009 by Totakeke]

reply to post by Totakeke


In response to your insanely long post RE-explaining a system that I already know. No matter HOW many times you argue about metric being "easy", I will never EVER use it because I don't like it. In fact, I hate it and have already said so.

You say that choosing NOT to go to metric based on the opinions of other countries is stupid; so your whole argument about the rest of the world having already converted is equally dumb. It's international peer pressure and it's not going to work.

We have SO much more to deal with and there are SO many more things we could be doing rather than worrying about the the measuring system we use. You like your measurements metric? Fantastic for you, I like mine English. It's not broken, it's just different.

As an engineer I would completely agree that the metic system should be taught in elementary school and slowly phased in as it is much easier to use and results in less silly errors. I often find myself writing in sharpie on all my measuring instruments for cooking that use cups and other such measurements the metric equivalents.

[edit on 18-1-2009 by Num1Skeptic]

Obama is well into symbolic, like using the Lincoln Bible, etc.

Here a small symbolic gesture to show the whole world that the USA is part of that very same planet; adopt the Système International d'unités (S.I.) also call the Metric system. I forgot which one, but there is only another country beside the USA which is not metric (UK is, since a long time, of course, there might still be pocket of the old system).

When you enter the medical profession, everything is in cc (injection so many centimeter cube or so many grams of this or that), so you don't even have a system that cover the whole range.

I live in Canada, we switch (partially, I must confess) for the Metric system, all the road distance, speed limit, your weight on your driving license, these sort of things, are all metrics, etc. Sure people might buy apple by the pound or they me only know their height & weight in the old system, but basically we are metrics.

I'm an aerospace Engineer, I'm use to calculate everything in lb and psi or in 0.020" of an inch (in fact per aluminum gage thickness), but I will have no problem switching to metric.

Right now, I so use to road distance, speed and temperature in metric, that the old system does not mean a thing really.

So for the sake of being universal, sharing something in common with the rest of the world, ease trading goods around the planet, etc., please switch to metrics.

And you know there were near miss and mistake made in translation from system to system (some Mars probe, etc.).

In response to your insanely long post RE-explaining a system that I already know. No matter HOW many times you argue about metric being "easy", I will never EVER use it because I don't like it. In fact, I hate it and have already said so. You say that choosing NOT to go to metric based on the opinions of other countries is stupid; so your whole argument about the rest of the world having already converted is equally dumb. It's international peer pressure and it's not going to work. We have SO much more to deal with and there are SO many more things we could be doing rather than worrying about the the measuring system we use. You like your measurements metric? Fantastic for you, I like mine English. It's not broken, it's just different.

But why don't you like it? Do you not like it because it's just different? Do you not like it because we don't use it in America?

Going metric because other countries did is certainly not the main reason, but it helps to show how simple and universal the metric system is. The English system worked for a few hundred years, but we live in an era of technology and we can't be bothered measuring with units defined as the amount of land plowed by an ox (which is one acre, apparently). It most certainly is not peer pressure, but that every other country converted says something about the usefulness of the metric system.

Switching to metric is no big deal. Again, we can't just sweep little things under the rug, because as we've seen, they can and will come back to bite us. We solve little problems all the time. This one should be easy.

[edit on 21-1-2009 by Totakeke]

reply to post by Tuning Spork


CHORUS
But I would walk 804,672 meters
And I would walk 804,672 more
Just to be the man who walked 1,609,344 meters
To fall down at your door...

Jon

Originally posted by Totakeke
But why don't you like it? Do you not like it because it's just different? Do you not like it because we don't use it in America?

I can tell you why I don't like metric - it was created by a committee. The Imperial System of measurements was created by people who had to measure people-sized things.

Metric measurements are all wrong for the size of things we use every day.

Meters are too large for most items you have in your house, centimeters are too small for the things we can easily hold and manipulate, and kilometers are too short for any real travel.

Volume is even worse: a liter is too large to drink in one sitting and a milliliter is a useless day-to-day measurement unless you are a scientist, doctor, or a masochist.

Every unit in Metric is just too big or too small and that means nothing fits quite right. In Metric, you can't just order a "unit" of liquid to drink. The unit sizes are wrong so you have to order 500 milli-units or half a unit. How is this helpful to the average person?

No body likes working in portions of a unit regardless of whether the portions are fractions or decimals. For example, most everyone would hate to refer to a book as 0.1 meters long. Saying 10 centimeters is slightly better, but whats wrong with 4 inches? Why is 10 centimeters superior to 4 inches?

The fact that Metric measures are derived from the diameter (circumference?) of the earth is just a pointless factoid. It matters not how the measure was derived because you don't go around measuring things just to compare them with the size of the earth. "Wow, that buildings is 0.00001 earths tall!"

If I were to create a measurement system based on the distance between pimples on the average goats' arse it would be as valid as metric. It could even have the power of 10 feature as metric that you seem to get all hot over.

Metric is scientific; Imperial is human.

There is at least one very good reason why metric has not taken hold in America. Our construction and home improvement industry is almost exclusively Imperial. The entire industry, from studs to tiles to doors to nails to drywall, relies on Imperial measures.

I provide technical support for a local lumber wholesaler and they work almost exclusively in board-feet of lumber. All lumber (even the stuff from Canada and Europe) is 8', 10', 12' and 14' long and plywood is always 4' x 8' with widths of 1/4", 3/8", 1/2", 3/4", and 7/8".

As a result, our homes have (usually) 8' ceilings, 2'-3' foot wide doors, and the window openings are all in inches. Even if you mandated an industry-wide change, you would still need to have everything in the old sizes and you would have to retrain an entire industry of people who are not exactly "the sharpest bulbs in the pack."

Jon

Originally posted by Voxel

Originally posted by Totakeke
But why don't you like it? Do you not like it because it's just different? Do you not like it because we don't use it in America?

I can tell you why I don't like metric - it was created by a committee. The Imperial System of measurements was created by people who had to measure people-sized things.

Metric measurements are all wrong for the size of things we use every day.

Meters are too large for most items you have in your house, centimeters are too small for the things we can easily hold and manipulate, and kilometers are too short for any real travel.

Volume is even worse: a liter is too large to drink in one sitting and a milliliter is a useless day-to-day measurement unless you are a scientist, doctor, or a masochist.

Every unit in Metric is just too big or too small and that means nothing fits quite right. In Metric, you can't just order a "unit" of liquid to drink. The unit sizes are wrong so you have to order 500 milli-units or half a unit. How is this helpful to the average person?

No body likes working in portions of a unit regardless of whether the portions are fractions or decimals. For example, most everyone would hate to refer to a book as 0.1 meters long. Saying 10 centimeters is slightly better, but whats wrong with 4 inches? Why is 10 centimeters superior to 4 inches?

The fact that Metric measures are derived from the diameter (circumference?) of the earth is just a pointless factoid. It matters not how the measure was derived because you don't go around measuring things just to compare them with the size of the earth. "Wow, that buildings is 0.00001 earths tall!"

If I were to create a measurement system based on the distance between pimples on the average goats' arse it would be as valid as metric. It could even have the power of 10 feature as metric that you seem to get all hot over.

Metric is scientific; Imperial is human.

There is at least one very good reason why metric has not taken hold in America. Our construction and home improvement industry is almost exclusively Imperial. The entire industry, from studs to tiles to doors to nails to drywall, relies on Imperial measures.

I provide technical support for a local lumber wholesaler and they work almost exclusively in board-feet of lumber. All lumber (even the stuff from Canada and Europe) is 8', 10', 12' and 14' long and plywood is always 4' x 8' with widths of 1/4", 3/8", 1/2", 3/4", and 7/8".

As a result, our homes have (usually) 8' ceilings, 2'-3' foot wide doors, and the window openings are all in inches. Even if you mandated an industry-wide change, you would still need to have everything in the old sizes and you would have to retrain an entire industry of people who are not exactly "the sharpest bulbs in the pack."

Jon

My goodness, where to start !!!!

kilometers are too short for any real travel.

Are you for real, so a truck driver that use to travel 1000 miles to bring you some good, will feel like, he is ahead on his schedule since he only drove 1600 km?

Don't you have 2 liter bottle of Coke or Pepsi in the USA? And I guess, when you retrieve one from your fridge and pour it in your glass, you are not quite sure, when to stop, aren't you?

The fact that Metric measures are derived from the diameter (circumference?) of the earth is just a pointless factoid

And I guess, the fact that the length of the thumb of the king such and such fit 12 times in the length of his foot, has more meaning?

There is at least one very good reason why metric has not taken hold in America. Our construction and home improvement industry is almost exclusively Imperial.

I agree, this is not an easy thing to change, but your 2" x 4" lumber don't even measure 2" x 4".

I'm 52 years old, I will probably never have a grasp (I guess I could, if I put the effort) for my own weight & height in Metrics (I live in Canada, which is Metrics, I guess, probably semi-officially), but I will never, ever go back to calculate distance, car speed, outside temperature, buying produce, etc. in anything else than Metrics.

reply to post by Totakeke


Furthermore, it doesn't matter how far something "sounds." America is 3,000 miles across or 4,000 kilometers across. Not a big difference.

Text

Actually I think 3000 miles equals 4827 kilometers

reply to post by Voxel


And I forgot, I also much prefer seeing the car fuel consumption in liter/100km rather than the old miles/gallon, since you have the stupid US gallon vs Imperial gallon to take care of.

You have 300 millions Europeans who were able to switch their currency overnight but you couldn't have 300 millions Americans to adopt the Metrics system?

Are they, that stupids? or just stubborns? or they want to hold on to their fading power?

Having one worldwide system for measure will facilitate commerce (I grant you, that in some area, building code, etc., it might take a while, but eventually the standard will be uniform).

By the way, regardless if you say that windows are standardized on a house, I don't know any window contractor who will not physically measure the actual size of a given window, before building/selling you one to fit (they will not rely on that "inches standard").

I'm going to have to agree with Voxel on this one. We don't need "one world system" just like we don't need "one world" anything else. Like I said, you're not going to persuade me into using or liking that silly metric system.

EDIT: Actually, let me give you an even further reason. I do a lot of cooking, it's one of my favorite things to do. Metric just isn't practical when it comes to recipes. In fact: it's awful. I've tried.

[edit on 1/22/09 by TasteTheMagick]

Call it a mix of chauvinism and stubbornness. If you're brought up with a system many would hate to lose it, even if it makes more sense.

Metrics is used is science to measure everything, therefor it would benefit everyone if they would just adapt to that system.

Same with Celsius and Fahrenheit. Just use Celsius...water freezes at 0, boils at 100. Easy