US should go metric

Except for a couple of Caribbean nations and the UK using miles for their road system, the entire world uses the Metric system. The US should get with the program.

Yes, I know that a movement was started in the 70's to do so, and failed.

Indeed. In addition to the arguement that everyone else uses it, it's a more logical system anyways.

1000millimetre = 100centimetre = 10decimetre = 1metre = 0.1decametre = 0.01hectometre = 0.001kilometre, and virtually all measurements, volumes, etc work on the same such scale.

Imperial on the other hand, the figures seem pulled from someones ass.

Fractions (*shudder*) = 63360 inches = 5280 feet = 1760 yards = 1 mile

Also, Celsius,

0 = freezing, 100 = boiling.

Fahrenheit, like Imperial, seems made up

32 = freezing, 212 = boiling :eek7:

Yeah I wouldn't mind it at all. We had to learn it in school so for me it prolly wouldn't be that big of a deal.

it would take some adjsusting for the people but the biggest problem i think would be the cost of changing all the signs and all the systems that use the current way..i personally wouldnt mind learning metric but i dont think its ever going to happen

Absolutely; based on 10's and very simple.

There's alot of wasted time and effort in industry and shipping converting back and forth. So many Liters (Litres?) of fuel, Kg vs Lbs, etc etc. People here whine that they can't understand, and don't realize what the temp would be. What's 14*C they cry. I know it's around 60*F (OK, 57.2 I looked it up) but you'd get used to that in a very short operiod of time.

I think the problem would be putting up all the new road signs and such, and the money it would cost. Should have done it in the 70's, it would have been much cheaper.


The English system was supposedly based on a monarch's measurements - 1 inch was approximately from the last thumb joint to the end of the thumb. 1 foot? Well, his foot. 1 yard was approximately the monarch's length of stride. I don't know where the mile came from, probably eyeballed that then paced it out.

Time to get with the times.

I find it amusing that we call it the standard system when pretty much 99% of the world uses metric. Wouldn't that make metric the standard? Anyhow, I wish they would switch, it would make conversions about one million times easier. It is a far more logical system.

Why should the US do something because everybody else is doing it. Other countries dont do what we are doing because we are doing it...... wait nevermind. they do

Of course the US should switch to the metric system. Anyone who doesnt think it makes a billion times more sense is an idiot.

There's lot of idiots here I'm sure, that's why the US hasn't switched.

Why should the US do something because everybody else is doing it. Other countries dont do what we are doing because we are doing it...... wait nevermind. they do
The US shouldn't do it because everyone else is doing it, the US should do it because it's a more logical, superior system, and the US persistence in sticking with Imperial is a mocking point...

Yeah they should.

But in about 2 years I'm not going to care. Because I'll no longer be living here :P

(And japan and the uk along with the others should convert to LHD while we're at it)

What's LHD and where you headed?

We have more and more older people who just can't learn. It's never going to happen. Good luck convincing 51% of the people that it's better. Us, the younger generation have no problems with it, but the problem is with the older people

What's LHD and where you headed?

Left-hand drive ;)

The metric system is only for the mathmatically challenged. :icon16:


Its not a big deal.

Its not a big deal.


I tend to agree, I've lived in several countries and am fully conversant in both systems.

Left-hand drive ;)

Duhh....what? :)

But Yogs. Why should people have to deal with 2 systems of measurement? It flies in the face of common sense. One system in common. You're in computers. It's difficult to maintain functionality between MACs and PCs. Wouldn't it be better if they worked the same?

I use all metric tools on my Honda already so i wouldn't mind. The only thing that would bug me would be the measuring long distances...i work construction and that would be a big change.

Not really; the specs for what you were building/measuring, instead of saying 6' 11 1/2" would say something like 212.1cm, and instead of using a ruler with feet and inches, you'd use one labeled in meters. Same tool, same length, just different numbers on it.

I think It would really suck. I don't like the metric system...Prolly because I was never raised on it...Whatever, USA would not change, Were all to lazy...

Because too many people would get confused. Im fine without the metric system. Maybe the rest of the world should just but out of our affairs...


:tongue:

The change will occur slowly, but it won't happen over night, it would be too big a change for people and too large a financial burden. If all industry in the US had to suddenly change to metric the costs would be huge.

It's simple, money. Just like anything they don't switch because of money. Not because it would cost them so much to swicth all the signs and so forth to convert in metrics, but it's about losing buisness.
It's like asking why Europeans use 3rd angle projection and why North Americans use 1st angle projection.

Good point, I always hated 3rd angle projection. I suppose it has the most to do with the huge infrastructure in place already to support the various techniques and systems. Too costly and difficult to change.

its just not that important, really.

its not like one half of our nation is speaking metric, and the other speaking imperial. we all converse in imperial, so it all works out fine.

yes, metris is more logical, and yes i try to use it as much as possible (basically because you get looked at silly at rugby practice if you say yards instead of metres), but logical isnt always better

In this case it is.

we are both equally able to communicate distances to our peers. we are both equally capable of understanding measurements. where is one "better" than the other?

being more logical is not being better?
I could care less because I have to be able to use both systems flawelessly

call me a deconstructionist, but logic has its flaws. so no, its not always better

lol, so being irrational and stupid has it's benefits or being logical?




Bush loves you!

i have no problem either way, but here in az our major roads are spaced one mile apart in a grid pattern. it would sound funny to tell someone they needed to go 1.61km and make a right. also it would be a bitch trying to learn how to read a metric clock. and i think i will stick with my imperial twelve pack of beer instead of switching to the far inferior metric ten pack. other than that, im a poor judge of distance and there is no difference between a metric or an imperial "its over there".

Metric clock? What, you guys measure time in something other than seconds, minutes, and hours?

The only thing I don't like in metric is the temperature... it's so inaccurate. Every degree Centigrade represents MANY degrees Farenheit.


Oh, and the reason Farenheit seems so... made up is because IT WAS!!! Dude came along and arbitrarily chose 32* to equal the freezing point.

It's perfectly accurate, as long as you use decimal places. Also, it makes more sense for the freezing point of water to be 0 than 32.

The only thing I don't like in metric is the temperature... it's so inaccurate. Every degree Centigrade represents MANY degrees Farenheit.
Kelvin anyone?

The only thing I don't like in metric is the temperature... it's so inaccurate. Every degree Centigrade represents MANY degrees Farenheit.


Oh, and the reason Farenheit seems so... made up is because IT WAS!!! Dude came along and arbitrarily chose 32* to equal the freezing point.


as patton specified Celcius is perfectly accurate, and lets not forget that the official physics Kelvin degrees use the same scale as Celcius you just have to subtract 273.

And yes the Metric system is far more efficient especially since its base 10.

and grimmy: metric clock??? :eek7:

yes. metric clock. only ten positions instead of the twelve that america loves to divide things into. are your clocks not that way?

I have 12. I hadn't heard of that before.

yes. metric clock. only ten positions instead of the twelve that america loves to divide things into. are your clocks not that way?


not in all the years i lived in europe, analog clocks still use 12. Its the good old 24H for 1 earth rotation standard. The only difference is that they generally use all the 24 hours (known as military time in the US) instead of 12H with AM and PM.

Metric clock? Never heard of that one :D

We use the 12, am/pm system in Canada.

Also, Celsius degrees are always officially given with 1 decimal point as well, making it actually 4 or 5 times more accurate than Fahrenheit degrees :)

well, then i guess your metric isn't so great after all. if you can't make a clock that runs off of ten then why should we bother to switch to metric. :grinyes:


btw your clocks have 24 positions on them instead of just twelve?

The only thing I don't like in metric is the temperature... it's so inaccurate. Every degree Centigrade represents MANY degrees Farenheit.


Oh, and the reason Farenheit seems so... made up is because IT WAS!!! Dude came along and arbitrarily chose 32* to equal the freezing point.
i see what you mean. but you just get used to it. like in the states they would say 60-65 or 70-75. here we just say about 21 or about 25... but for exact temperatures... yeah.. i see what you're saying. as far as what side of the car to sit on while driving... RHD is where it's at. I've gotten more comfortable driving in Japan than I was in the US. and I like shifting with my left hand because that means my dominate hand is at the wheel.

Next we're gonna argue about what direction the toilet should flush. Counter clock-wise or clockwise.

clockwise!

Either one, just not up.

Two systems cause a big problem: the conversions aren't exact. Take two parts, one made in Europe and the other in the US. The drawing was made in USA, converted to metrics and sent to Europe. Two parts, made exactly according to specification, one in US and the other in Europe probably won't match.
If the drawing was made in Europe and then converted to imperial, the same problem would arise.
This is a bigger problem than you can think, especially in aeronautics.

Metric clocks? 10 divisions? :lol:

There are some clocks with 24 divisions, but usually they have only 12. In Europe we count the time exactly as in the US, the only difference is that, when it is important to specify if you are talking about 5 in the morning or 5 in the afternoon, we don't use 5:00 AM / 5:00 PM but 5:00 / 17:00.

About the tilet flush direction: Sluttypatton, I am with you in this one!

Metric clock? What, you guys measure time in something other than seconds, minutes, and hours?

They look at the sun and take a guess by looking at the distance it has moved from East to West.

yeah, we learned it from watching crocodile dundee :p

I for one'd wish you Septics and Poms'd convert to the Metric system. Kilowatts > Horsepower :D


Oh and so are all the perfectly divisible by 10 distances.

lol, so being irrational and stupid has it's benefits or being logical?
Bush loves you!

:disappoin

the opposite of logic isnt stupidity or irrationality. logic and intellegence are two seperate things. it actually doesnt take any intellegence at all to use logic successfully. in fact, most computer programing is "logical" yet computers possess no intellect.

arguing against logic is not stupidity. and no, stupidity and irrationalism do not have any benifits. unless you consider providing me with something to make fun of a benifit

and no, bush doesnt love me. he, like every politician, couldnt give a damn about me. or you, for that matter

I-19 has distances labeled in km. It runs from nogales, arizona [border town] to Tucson, AZ [where i live]. My dad says the US tried to convert a while back and it failed. Personally i perfer the metric system

Two systems cause a big problem: the conversions aren't exact. Take two parts, one made in Europe and the other in the US. The drawing was made in USA, converted to metrics and sent to Europe. Two parts, made exactly according to specification, one in US and the other in Europe probably won't match.
If the drawing was made in Europe and then converted to imperial, the same problem would arise.
This is a bigger problem than you can think, especially in aeronautics.

Simca Vedette!

As I can recall, a certain Mars lander failed to land since units were in feet rather than metres, or vice versa.

Metric > all.

It's easy for anybody to use, and given that some many people already do, people using imperial measurements are just hindering the rest of us.

all the people using imperial are in one country. how are we hindering you?

Because all the people in your country are influential on a very global scale. You work in imperial units, and we rely on the US for numerous necessities, we have to cater to you.

If we all used metric, it would make global construction, trade and transportation much easier.

all the people using imperial are in one country. how are we hindering you?
Exactly what Porsche said, when a country as powerful as the United States is refusing to use a simpler more widely used system, then they are only complicating matters on the world scale.

then refuse to trade until we do if its that big of a deal.

I for one'd wish you Septics and Poms'd convert to the Metric system. Kilowatts > Horsepower :D


But it looks like your car has less power when that's the case...that's the only imperial thing i like

dude...chemistry in high school is hard as shit and hard enough for me. I dont care, keep the metric, kilo, whatever meters it is the way you want or else ricers will think they'll be goin 0-60 in 3 seconds...but that 0-60 is in 0-60 kph!!!!!

then refuse to trade until we do if its that big of a deal.


And I submit to you that your ghost ideas as presented in the philosophy forum are false. What is relevance of this? you might ask.


Well if your ghost theory would be correct Adam Smith and David Ricardo would be haunting the crap out of you by now for posting that.