Is there a reason for american units of measurement to make no sense at all?

[dalekphalm]

Roughly 300 million people have already memorized this information and use it every day without much difficulty. Your just hating.

 

Funny how you call us stupid for being different and using a more difficult system of measurement. I honestly prefer imperial because I find using fractions to be easier in my head, than decimal points.

 

Furthermore, it's easier to "eyeball" imperial measurements, there are instances where being "less accurate" is actually an advantage.

I'm sorry, before you start hating on me, could you please point out where I called "you" (or americans for using imperial) stupid? I don't think it makes sense to use it, but obviously that doesn't make you stupid.

 

As for your only advantage (That being easier to eyeball - because "We already use it" isn't a valid "prop"), it's only easier because you're used to eyeballing in Imperial. If you grew up with Metric, you'd have no problems eyeballing things. It also entirely depends on which measurement you're trying to "eyeball". A meter is less accurate than a foot. So according to your logic, a meter is therefore easier to eyeball then a foot is? What about an inch compared to a centimeter? I find centimeters extremely easy to eyeball.

 

Besides, especially in distance measurements, you've got so many options in metric. Meter, centimeter, millimeter, decameter, kilometer, etc.

 

Fractions have their place, but you can use fractions with metric too. Although in most cases, I personally find the decimal system way easier and way better. For example, if someone said what is half of 3/64ths, unless you already have the answer memorized, it's much easier calculate the answer if it was in decimal already. With that in mind, I'll leave this one up to "personal preference". Some people might just be better at working with fractions compared to decimals, but that will be different for each person.

[Tro]

Just to be clear, I DONT CALL AMERICANS STUPID AND I DONT BLAME THEM, they can't do anything about it. 

[dalekphalm]

Just to be clear, I DONT CALL AMERICANS STUPID AND I DONT BLAME THEM, they can't do anything about it. 

Exactly. I blame the american government for not just forcing the conversion to Metric, just like every other industrialized country did. It's the more logical system, not to mention the international scientific and mathematical standard.

[cae]

Even if we switched, there'd still be people that would be worse off because of it. They have no reference for "eyeballing" metric because they either didn't learn it or didn't retain it. Forcing a switch just makes those people to convert rather than adopt, which is even worse. You think feet in a mile is bad.. they'd be trying to work out the mile to kilometer conversion.

 

Working around cars, I have to buy two sets of tools, SAE and metric. I definitely prefer the metric to fractions. "It's not a 3/4".. maybe a 5/8" or 9/16"" but usually I don't care to actually figure its size and just hope that my tools are still arranged in order and move up or down units. Metric is simpler, "It's not a 17, guess I'll try a 16 or 15" or rarely "Some idiot mixed SAE in here." While I'm on cars and measurements, forget horsepower too!

[Charger]

Exactly. I blame the american government for not just forcing the conversion to Metric, just like every other industrialized country did. It's the more logical system, not to mention the international scientific and mathematical standard.

hows that working out in the uk? where does stone weight work into the metric system?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16245391

[dalekphalm]

hows that working out in the uk? where does stone weight work into the metric system?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16245391

That's a failure of the UK government to push for full adoption in my opinion. They still use Imperial here and there (Speed limits in MPH for example, and people measuring things in Stones as you mentioned).

 

 

Even if we switched, there'd still be people that would be worse off because of it. They have no reference for "eyeballing" metric because they either didn't learn it or didn't retain it. Forcing a switch just makes those people to convert rather than adopt, which is even worse. You think feet in a mile is bad.. they'd be trying to work out the mile to kilometer conversion.

 

Working around cars, I have to buy two sets of tools, SAE and metric. I definitely prefer the metric to fractions. "It's not a 3/4".. maybe a 5/8" or 9/16"" but usually I don't care to actually figure its size and just hope that my tools are still arranged in order and move up or down units. Metric is simpler, "It's not a 17, guess I'll try a 16 or 15" or rarely "Some idiot mixed SAE in here." While I'm on cars and measurements, forget horsepower too!

Yes, that will be an issue. But not an insurmountable one. The US government just needs to take the plunge. Yeah, it'll suck for a while when professionals are used to the old system. But they will adapt. And every new generation will learn metric in school, and be capable and comfortable with metric as they enter the work force.

 

Damn straight, I 100% agree with you there. Trying to find the right SAE tool can be damn annoying compared the Metric.

[Mooshi]

When you're a superpower, you don't give a shit.

 

Though, some of the measurements..I swear people who use inches and the like for computers need to be fixed with a hammer. Some aspects, even Americans use metric or else it feels so wrong.

 

PS: Those in the UK are okay with me for using miles per hour like a normal civilization.

[dalekphalm]

When you're a superpower, you don't give a shit.

 

Though, some of the measurements..I swear people who use inches and the like for computers need to be fixed with a hammer. Some aspects, even Americans use metric or else it feels so wrong.

 

PS: Those in the UK are okay with me for using miles per hour like a normal civilization.

The interesting thing is when you have something like a computer, especially one designed and manufactured in the USA (An Imperial country), and a computer uses BOTH.

 

3.5mm headphone jacks (Also known as 1/8th inch, but seriously, no one calls them that on a computer), then you've got 3.5" HDD's and 2.5" SSD's, etc.

 

Then you have the binary bit/byte system, which while technically neither Imperial nor Metric, it follows a Base-2 version of the metric incremental system (Kilo, mega, etc, at least partially, then it throws in it's own names like Giga, which is sorta but only sometimes an SI measurement).

[Mooshi]

The interesting thing is when you have something like a computer, especially one designed and manufactured in the USA (An Imperial country), and a computer uses BOTH.

 

3.5mm headphone jacks (Also known as 1/8th inch, but seriously, no one calls them that on a computer), then you've got 3.5" HDD's and 2.5" SSD's, etc.

 

Then you have the binary bit/byte system, which while technically neither Imperial nor Metric, it follows a Base-2 version of the metric incremental system (Kilo, mega, etc, at least partially, then it throws in it's own names like Giga, which is sorta but only sometimes an SI measurement).

 

Still, if someone uses anything other than mm for fan sizes, it sounds so weird - even living in an imperial country.

[Charger]

The interesting thing is when you have something like a computer, especially one designed and manufactured in the USA (An Imperial country), and a computer uses BOTH.

 

3.5mm headphone jacks (Also known as 1/8th inch, but seriously, no one calls them that on a computer), then you've got 3.5" HDD's and 2.5" SSD's, etc.

don't forget fan sizes... we tend to use a mix of both systems so a lot of people already know both

I find more people get confused if i use decimal inches then if i use mm

[dalekphalm]

don't forget fan sizes... we tend to use a mix of both systems so a lot of people already know both

I find more people get confused if i use decimal inches then if i use mm

That would be what, about 4.9" for a 120mm fan? Yeah. Fans should stay in metric

[cae]

Yeah, decimals with imperial units is a mess. You're already halfway there! (.5 way there!) Get the same thing on cars, both measurement systems used. You've got a 2 liter engine, that's great, how big is the gas tank? 13.2 gallons. Why not 50 liters? 205mm wide tires on an 8" wide wheel. 17mm lug nuts fastening 17" diameter wheels.

[NInety]

@Raining_Pixel I'm not entirely sure what you mean by:

 

Because that's not 100% right. 0 Kelvin is absolute entropy (Known as absolute zero), or where, hypothetically, energy transfer stops. It's not just the coldest possible temperature on earth. It's the coldest possible temperature in physics (Although there is some new research that suggests this may not be the case). In fact, aside from perhaps a research laboratory, I don't think any location on earth has ever reached 0 degrees kelvin. But who knows, maybe some crazy natural phenomenon made it happen before?

Sorry, didn't know that.

[dalekphalm]

Sorry, didn't know that.

No worries, you were correct in layman's terms. I'm just being a nitpicky ass

[Misanthrope]

Roughly 300 million people have already memorized this information and use it every day without much difficulty. Your just hating.

 

Funny how you call us stupid for being different and using a more difficult system of measurement. I honestly prefer imperial because I find using fractions to be easier in my head, than decimal points.

 

Furthermore, it's easier to "eyeball" imperial measurements, there are instances where being "less accurate" is actually an advantage.

 

Sorry to use you as an example but this is why people don't like Americans: We're the most important 300 million people in the world, fuck the other 6,700 million who base their measurements on scientific certainty and simple convenience let's just keep crashing space shuttles because of our insistence on using this stupid fucking system of a random branch and some dead asshole's foot to measure.

[AlwaysFSX]

You can blame the British for this actually... we got the measurements from them pretty much.

[Mentalguy]

drive on the right side of the road, then start bitching

[Gix7Fifty]

Yet they use the word "milestone" while they turn their metric wrenches!

[Deletive]

it is the standard for most architectural design unless government. I don't know it's just easier to work with being an architect I guess.

[jmaster299]

People in other parts of the world cut off childrens heads for not believing in the same God, so does that mean the US should do the same?

In other countries around the world people get sent to prison for speaking out against their government, so does that mean the US should do the same?

 

In other countries around the world people get sent to prison for reading books that their government does not approve of, so does that mean the US should do the same.

Just because other people do something is not a valid reason or excuse to demand that everyone else does the same. If anyone actually knew the facts and history of the US would know that the US does not use the metric system because of the threat communism posed during the Cold War. Communist countries like Russia, China and Cuba were our biggest enemies, and the people of the US would not embrace anything that our enemies supported.
 

[LAwLz]

Somewhat on topic, there's also been something I've been a little curious about. Why do we measure time the way we do? 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in a hour, 24 hours in a day? I understand what a day and a year is supposed to represent solar system-wise, but isn't it theoretically possible to divide up time's smaller units to fit into a base 10 system?

Not sure if someone has already answered this (only read the first page) but I'll explain it anyway.

We have 60 seconds, 60 minutes and 24 hours because of the Babylonian people. They actually used base 60. They had good reasons for this as well. 60 is 5 * 12, which means that you can divide it far more easily. You can divide it with everything you can divide 10 by, and everything you can divide 5 by, and divide by 12 and so on. You end up with far less decimals.

If you want to say 1/3 of an hour you can say 20 minutes, instead of 33.3333... minutes.

 

The French tried to change our calender and our clocks a a few hundred years ago but it never caught on for the same reason the US still hasn't changed to the metric system, because they are used to something else already.

 

 

 

Atomic clocks. It's fine until you try and mix atomic measurement with our planetary movement, which isn't accurate. It's close, but why we also have leap years.

Ehh, what? Atomic clocks has nothing to do with it being 60 -> 60 -> 24, nor does it have anything to do with leap years. We had 60 minute clocks long before the idea of an atomic clock even existed, and leap years is there because it doesn't take exactly 365 days for earth to circle around the sun. It takes roughly 365.24 days to circle around.

 

 

 

Just because other people do something is not a valid reason or excuse to demand that everyone else does the same. If anyone actually knew the facts and history of the US would know that the US does not use the metric system because of the threat communism posed during the Cold War. Communist countries like Russia, China and Cuba were our biggest enemies, and the people of the US would not embrace anything that our enemies supported.

But the thing is, the US is the illogical ones. Their system really does not make any sense. Refusing to use the objectively superior system just because your old enemies used it is childish. Not only is that in the past, but the US used many things their enemies used. For example Cuba uses the Roman alphabet but I didn't see the US changing to their own alphabet just because of that.

[ilikemacandpc]

-snip-

 

Oh boy...

 

Metric is better because it is logical and simple. Also, being an international unit, you wouldn't have to worry about all these stupid imperial to metric conversions. 

 

Yes, the SI units have some flaws, but not as many as the illogical imperial system. 

[ofr057]

I find the oatmeal does a good explanation why the Americans use imperial still

[Snickerzz]

I prefer the horse measuring system

Hands ftw!

[ofr057]

Not sure if someone has already answered this (only read the first page) but I'll explain it anyway.

We have 60 seconds, 60 minutes and 24 hours because of the Babylonian people. They actually used base 60. They had good reasons for this as well. 60 is 5 * 12, which means that you can divide it far more easily. You can divide it with everything you can divide 10 by, and everything you can divide 5 by, and divide by 12 and so on. You end up with far less decimals.

If you want to say 1/3 of an hour you can say 20 minutes, instead of 33.3333... minutes.

 

The French tried to change our calender and our clocks a a few hundred years ago but it never caught on for the same reason the US still hasn't changed to the metric system, because they are used to something else already.

 

yes the french did try to impose decimal time - it had merits for things like record keeping but I think the 24 hour days have been in grained and more commonly attributable

 

 

 

I prefer the horse measuring system

Hands ftw!

 

neigh ....