You people outside the U.S. (and a few small Caribbean states) don’t know how lucky you are that your leaders saw the wisdom of adopting the metric system. I get so frustrated reading scientific and international books and articles where it is used and I have to continually make mental calculations to convert to the (terrible) system I am used to.
My generation was supposed to be the first American metric generation. In grade school in the 70’s, they taught metric along side our system and explained that we would soon be using it for everything. For a while road signs and product packaging started to include both units of measure. (I understand in some parts of the country you can still see this, although here in the south, I haven’t seen a kilometer on a road sign in years.) We were making preparations, and then—I don’t know what happened. The momentum stopped and suddenly there was no more talk of conversion.
So now we are the odd lot, still clinging to a primitive system that is cumbersome and confusing. If I were to guess, I’d say there is considerable overlap between the people who killed metric in the U.S. and the people who embrace creationism, deny climate change, and want the U.S. to get out of the U.N.
Is it any wonder Americans can’t think logically. The entire measuring system is illogical and inconsistent.
wiki
From its beginning, the main feature of the metric system was the standard set of inter-related base units and a standard set of prefixes in powers of ten. These base units are used to derive larger and smaller units and replaced a huge number of unstandardised units of measure that existed previously. While the system was first developed for commercial use, its coherent set of units made it particularly suitable for scientific and engineering purposes.
Yeah, each time I have to calculate what 13 sixteens are, I ask myself what exactly I am doing in Canada. But at least we have kilometers and Celsius here. As I already said earlier, we are the missing link between the U.S. and Europe.
I agree that we, and Canada, would have done better had we adopted the metric system, entirely. Oh, by the way, George, all you have to do to calculate what 13 sixteenths is, is multiply 13 by 0.0625.
It’s misspelt “sixteenths,” one part divided into sixteen parts.
That is “sixteenths of an inch” or even ‘thirtyseconds of an inch”, where an inch is a twelfth of a foot. A foot is a unit of length defined as being 0.3048 m exactly.
Still wanna become an architect? At least the scientific world has adopted the metric system.
As a U. S. citizen, I am glad we never converted. I never did understand it even when they tried to push it on us in elementary school.
As a more logical, common sense, simple system of measuring things, I can’t see why. Science and most of the rest of the world use the metric system for a reason.
There’s something to be said for tradition, but not when it means you let the world pass you by with a better way of doing things. Carpentry will be influenced by imperial for generations, and conversational English will carry imperial terms for longer, so you won’t lose it instantly.
As a U. S. citizen, I am glad we never converted. I never did understand it even when they tried to push it on us in elementary school.
As a more logical, common sense, simple system of measuring things, I can’t see why. Science and most of the rest of the world use the metric system for a reason.
There’s something to be said for tradition, but not when it means you let the world pass you by with a better way of doing things. Carpentry will be influenced by imperial for generations, and conversational English will carry imperial terms for longer, so you won’t lose it instantly.
I’m always going to sites that translates metrics into something I comprehend. I really don’t see how metrics is a better system, to be honest.
