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

[steffen_anywhere]

Indeed. For some reason the supposedly more "tolerant" cultures of the world, can't accept that we want to use a system of measurement different from theirs. Furthermore they don't get that metric's only advantage is in engineering and scientific circumstances.

 

This is true. It doesn't really matter in everyday life. I personally can't stand the imperial system, but if you're used to it, there is no reason not to use it for that.

[dalekphalm]

This is true. It doesn't really matter in everyday life. I personally can't stand the imperial system, but if you're used to it, there is no reason not to use it for that.

The problem isn't in every day usage. It's in highly technical math, science and engineering. Especially when working internationally with large projects, like the ISS (which actually had issues because the US engineers made some mistakes during conversion or something).

 

 

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.

I would argue that it's only "easier" to work with because that's what they learned. I don't see any logical reason why working with metric would be any more difficult, or even easier.

 

 

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

*cough* Canada. So was there any other reason besides that? Please, join the metric revolution! It's much better over here! We have cookies and free health care!

 

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.

 

I hate to break it to you, but the cold war is over man. And at this point, you have more allies that use Metric then you do enemies. Also, your first three points are very illogical. The metric system is a more logical and simpler system to use. I've yet to see a single person post a logical reason to continue using metric. The reason pretty much rolls down to "because we use it already" for most arguments here. If the US started a 50-year education program where they started teaching metric in primary school, and slowly over time phased out imperial, then your country would manage and survive.

 

For all the Imperial proponents out there, please watch this:

[cae]

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.

 

Sorry, I was thinking of leap seconds. You answered his question, I kinda stopped after the first. Thanks.

[Deletive]

-snip-

 

I would argue that it's only "easier" to work with because that's what they learned. I don't see any logical reason why working with metric would be any more difficult, or even easier.

 

-snip-

I guess it's just easier, to be able to have everything in one format. metric is a little weird when working with architecture  because everything you buy in the store is very so in the imperial, people are just lazy now I guess

[shiftberry]

Americans  B)

[Charger]

I guess it's just easier, to be able to have everything in one format. metric is a little weird when working with architecture  because everything you buy in the store is very so in the imperial, people are just lazy now I guess

but dimensional lumber is labeled as the size it was originaly cut at before it was dried and planed smooth so that is rather confusing as well

[chilicheeseburger]

I'm from europe and I can't figure out screen sizes in centimeters. I always use inches for that.

But the worst thing is that the EU made a law that cars have to be advertised in kilowatts first and then optionally in horse power. I'll never understand that.

But while the metric system is alright for most other things, I feel we shouldn't complain about the US using the imperial system. It's what everybody here grows up with so of course it's easier to use for them.

[dalekphalm]

I guess it's just easier, to be able to have everything in one format. metric is a little weird when working with architecture  because everything you buy in the store is very so in the imperial, people are just lazy now I guess

Well of course everything in the store is in imperial, because that's the US standard. If Metric were adopted, they would likely have all products rated in both for a interim period, then everything would slowly phase to only displaying metric measurements.

[ShadowCaptain]

Try being in the UK where we seeming switch unit whenever we feel like it

 

 

I measure small items in CM and Metres, but drive in miles and miles per hour!

 

I use grams and kilograms for some things like how much a phone or laptop weighs, but I weigh myself in stones and pounds

 

Loads more too, we are stuck between metric and imperial

[jmaster299]

The problem isn't in every day usage. It's in highly technical math, science and engineering. Especially when working internationally with large projects, like the ISS (which actually had issues because the US engineers made some mistakes during conversion or something).

 

 

I would argue that it's only "easier" to work with because that's what they learned. I don't see any logical reason why working with metric would be any more difficult, or even easier.

 

 

*cough* Canada. So was there any other reason besides that? Please, join the metric revolution! It's much better over here! We have cookies and free health care!

 

I hate to break it to you, but the cold war is over man. And at this point, you have more allies that use Metric then you do enemies. Also, your first three points are very illogical. The metric system is a more logical and simpler system to use. I've yet to see a single person post a logical reason to continue using metric. The reason pretty much rolls down to "because we use it already" for most arguments here. If the US started a 50-year education program where they started teaching metric in primary school, and slowly over time phased out imperial, then your country would manage and survive.

 

For all the Imperial proponents out there, please watch this:

 

The Cold War being over doesn't matter, it is still the reason why the US never switched over to metric. As it has been pointed out, and you talk about it yourself, the US uses the imperial system of measurement and we use it because our country is founded by British colonists. The UK has never made the full conversion to the metric system either, so the US is not alone among the major world superpowers to still be using the imperial system of measurements.

The point I was making is that just because other people do something, or because other people think something is better, does not make those people right. Anyone calling America or American's dumb or stupid are the intolerant ones.

[LAwLz]

The point I was making is that just because other people do something, or because other people think something is better, does not make those people right.

However, the other people are right if they use logic and reason to argue why they do things the way they do it, and all you got as a defense is "but I have already learn the other system".

I don't see why we are even having this discussion. Metric is superior and the vast majority of the world uses it. "I don't want to learn another system" is a reason for you not changing, but it's not a reason for why the future children of your country should learn it nor is it a reason why it is objectively superior.

 

 

Edit: Actually, there isn't even anything to learn. You're already used to the prefixes since they are used in other areas such as computers (kilobyte, megabite etc). It's also so logical that the only thing you have to remember is "each 100 is a new unit".

[jmaster299]

However, the other people are right if they use logic and reason to argue why they do things the way they do it, and all you got as a defense is "but I have already learn the other system".

I don't see why we are even having this discussion. Metric is superior and the vast majority of the world uses it. "I don't want to learn another system" is a reason for you not changing, but it's not a reason for why the future children of your country should learn it nor is it a reason why it is objectively superior.

 

 

Edit: Actually, there isn't even anything to learn. You're already used to the prefixes since they are used in other areas such as computers (kilobyte, megabite etc). It's also so logical that the only thing you have to remember is "each 100 is a new unit".

I never said I needed to learn anything, I know how the metric system works. But just because everyone else does something one way is no reason for other people to be called stupid for not doing the same. There is no purpose to be served by forcing a country of 300 million plus people into learning the metric system. We are already the richest and most powerful country in the world. Logic actual dictates that you should conform to how we do things, not the other way around. China comes in second in terms of GDP, but is still only half as much as the US.

 

[KamiKatze]

@dalekphalm Huge thanks for bringing all the pro metric arguments together so niceley! Also like your way of thinking about an introduction of the metric system in the USA.

 

There's also a reason why we abandoned different kinds of phone chargers for mirco USB (looking at you apple). But be careful with those "swap system" or "force system" comments or someone will draw the parallel to Hitler again, like in the last thread about metric vs imperial.

[LAwLz]

I never said I needed to learn anything, I know how the metric system works. But just because everyone else does something one way is no reason for other people to be called stupid for not doing the same. There is no purpose to be served by forcing a country of 300 million plus people into learning the metric system. We are already the richest and most powerful country in the world. Logic actual dictates that you should conform to how we do things, not the other way around. China comes in second in terms of GDP, but is still only half as much as the US.

Ehh... Are you seriously suggesting that all other countries in the world should change to what you are using, even though it is far less logical of a system and it's 300 million people vs several billions of people?

This is the reason why people think of Americans as egoistic and self centered.

 

1) There is nothing to learn with the metric system since it's based on logic and is intuitive. The imperial system is the one you have to learn since it's full of illogical and arbitrary numbers.

 

2) The US is not the richest country in the world, not by a long shot if you're going by PPP. Qatar is the richest country followed by Luxembourg, Singapore, Norway, Brunei, Hong Kong and then the US (in that order). Don't even get me started on the national debt the US has... Even if you were, why does it matter? If 95% of the world has the metric system as the standard, why does it matter if the other 5% uses 1 or 2 other systems. Should it be the 5% that changes to what the 95% uses, and nother the other way around? It's like saying the class field trip should be dictated by the kid with the richest parents, instead of a majority vote.

 

3) You're arguably not the most powerful country in the world. It's fairly hard to measure something like that but I'd say China has more influence. If you're looking at purely military spending then you are the "most powerful" though. That's like saying the guy with the iron mace at a business meeting is the most powerful though. It is estimated that the US will be in second place by 2030 even with your extremely ridiculous military budget if you're taking GDP, population and technology advancements into consideration (China taking first place, and then even further into the future India will overtake the US as well if things continue like they are right now).

 

4) There are good reasons to change. It is easier to learn so your future children won't have as much difficulty. It makes international communication far easier. Less mistakes will be made once people get used to it (do I have to remind you of the Mars Climate Orbiter?). It is already being used for a lot of things even in countries with the imperial system, for example in science and for computers, so why have two systems when you can have one? You need less measuring devices. It is easier to convert into other measurements. There are probably other reason as well but those are the ones I can think of right now.

[jmaster299]

Ehh... Are you seriously suggesting that all other countries in the world should change to what you are using, even though it is far less logical of a system and it's 300 million people vs several billions of people?

This is the reason why people think of Americans as egoistic and self centered.

 

1) There is nothing to learn with the metric system since it's based on logic and is intuitive. The imperial system is the one you have to learn since it's full of illogical and arbitrary numbers.

 

2) The US is not the richest country in the world, not by a long shot if you're going by PPP. Qatar is the richest country followed by Luxembourg, Singapore, Norway, Brunei, Hong Kong and then the US (in that order). Don't even get me started on the national debt the US has... Even if you were, why does it matter? If 95% of the world has the metric system as the standard, why does it matter if the other 5% uses 1 or 2 other systems. Should it be the 5% that changes to what the 95% uses, and nother the other way around? It's like saying the class field trip should be dictated by the kid with the richest parents, instead of a majority vote.

 

3) You're arguably not the most powerful country in the world. It's fairly hard to measure something like that but I'd say China has more influence. If you're looking at purely military spending then you are the "most powerful" though. That's like saying the guy with the iron mace at a business meeting is the most powerful though. It is estimated that the US will be in second place by 2030 even with your extremely ridiculous military budget if you're taking GDP, population and technology advancements into consideration (China taking first place, and then even further into the future India will overtake the US as well if things continue like they are right now).

 

4) There are good reasons to change. It is easier to learn so your future children won't have as much difficulty. It makes international communication far easier. Less mistakes will be made once people get used to it (do I have to remind you of the Mars Climate Orbiter?). It is already being used for a lot of things even in countries with the imperial system, for example in science and for computers, so why have two systems when you can have one? You need less measuring devices. It is easier to convert into other measurements. There are probably other reason as well but those are the ones I can think of right now.

Your demand is just as illogical to me. Just because other people do it is not justification to demand we do it too. And yes, the US is the richest country in the world. The US has a GDP of $17 trillion a year. China is second with $8 trillion. Qatar just has a higher per capita GDP, meaning they produce a lot of money with a smaller population. But they don't come close to the GDP of the US. 

[Real_PhillBert]

This thread makes me giggle.

 

I hate to break the news but 99% of the engineering and design in the US does use the metric system. I admit that distance (long distance at least) and temperature are miles and F respectively. 

 

The ISS example is an out-lire because it is a government run project. The rest of us in private industry are Meters, and Grams. I would screenshot my Creo from an extremely large agricultural equipment manufacturer as proof, but photobucket is blocked in the office. 

 

I see a ton of bitching about the US needing to do a changeover that we have really already done Lol. 

[Cokeman]

I was wondering why the hell they made it so unnecessarily complicated,  I mean, It doesn't make any sense. I understand that americans are used to it so this topic.

Anyways, what do you guys think of this way of measuring things and stuff, another example is Fahrenheit or whatever, I think Celcius makes so much more sense since 0 degrees = freezing point and 100 degrees = boiling point for water.

I'm not trying to insult any americans, only the american that came up with these units of measurement. I'm just asking for your opinion about it.

We made them that way so they were hard for you Brits to understand. So back in the revolutionary war if you guys captured plans you didn't understand what all the measurement mean. But they are easy to understand if you ask me. Metric makes no sense.

[Cokeman]

I was wondering why the hell they made it so unnecessarily complicated,  I mean, It doesn't make any sense. I understand that americans are used to it so this topic.

Anyways, what do you guys think of this way of measuring things and stuff, another example is Fahrenheit or whatever, I think Celcius makes so much more sense since 0 degrees = freezing point and 100 degrees = boiling point for water.

I'm not trying to insult any americans, only the american that came up with these units of measurement. I'm just asking for your opinion about it.

Also just because they don't all equal 1,000 doesn't mean that they don't make sense.

[LAwLz]

Your demand is just as illogical to me. Just because other people do it is not justification to demand we do it too.

Did you even read my post? I never said "everyone else does it, so you should do too". I gave lots of valid reasons why you should change that were not just argumentum ad populum. You completely ignored those arguments though.

 

Your demand is just as illogical to me. Just because other people do it is not justification to demand we do it too. And yes, the US is the richest country in the world. The US has a GDP of $17 trillion a year. China is second with $8 trillion. Qatar just has a higher per capita GDP, meaning they produce a lot of money with a smaller population. But they don't come close to the GDP of the US. 

Well there are different ways of measuring wealth. Personally I think what the average person in the country has access to is far more important than the total amount of money. That way you don't get results like China where a huge part of the population are extremely poor and have terrible lives, and yet the country seems to be very wealthy.

 

We made them that way so they were hard for you Brits to understand. So back in the revolutionary war if you guys captured plans you didn't understand what all the measurement mean. But they are easy to understand if you ask me. Metric makes no sense.

Ehh... No? It was the British that started using it, not the US. That's why it's sometimes called the "British Imperial system". They had far more advanced encryption techniques than "let's make a new unit system" back in the 1824. If they didn't want the enemy to know of their plans they would just encrypt it.

 

 

Also just because they don't all equal 1,000 doesn't mean that they don't make sense.

Can you please explain the logic behind them then? I find it very hard to believe that you think imperial units is a logical and straightforward system while metric doesn't make any sense.

[jmaster299]

No, the only reason you have listed as to why the US should adopt it is because everyone else uses it. It can't be said that its easier to use when it would require decades of retraining hundreds of millions of people to use something different. The government would have to spend billions of dollars on things like education, replacing every single road sign, mile market, speed limit sign, and everything else that lists an imperial measurement.

Businesses would have to spend billions of dollars to change every single consumer product that uses imperial measurements. Everything from a ruler to the dashboard in tens of millions of vehicles on the road. From tiny schools all the way up to the NFl would have change how their sports are run and the facilities they are played in.

Construction of everything from roads to houses would come to a screeching halt, with companies going bankrupt, because they all of a sudden can't complete even the simplest of projects because everything from their tools, to their hardware and blueprints would all become obsolete and unusable.

Lastly, there is only one valid way to measure the wealth of a COUNTRY and that's by the country's GDP. Qatar being full of a bunch of rich individuals does not make Qatar more wealthy than the US.

[Nicolas]

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.

 

Weeeell those examples are kinda extreme....

 

I think thew us should adapt to the metric system because since they are a global power it would be conveniet for everyone to adapt to the same standard, so either us adapt to metric or everybody else adapt to imperial. Maybe not even in terms of what is used by people, but more so in production lines so if the us exports pipes for example the do them in the same standard as eveybody else it'll make everything easier

[dalekphalm]

No, the only reason you have listed as to why the US should adopt it is because everyone else uses it. It can't be said that its easier to use when it would require decades of retraining hundreds of millions of people to use something different. The government would have to spend billions of dollars on things like education, replacing every single road sign, mile market, speed limit sign, and everything else that lists an imperial measurement.

Businesses would have to spend billions of dollars to change every single consumer product that uses imperial measurements. Everything from a ruler to the dashboard in tens of millions of vehicles on the road. From tiny schools all the way up to the NFl would have change how their sports are run and the facilities they are played in.

Construction of everything from roads to houses would come to a screeching halt, with companies going bankrupt, because they all of a sudden can't complete even the simplest of projects because everything from their tools, to their hardware and blueprints would all become obsolete and unusable.

Lastly, there is only one valid way to measure the wealth of a COUNTRY and that's by the country's GDP. Qatar being full of a bunch of rich individuals does not make Qatar more wealthy than the US.

Did you read the other replies about why to use metric? It's logical, and easier to learn, AND easier to use in practice. It's more efficient to use which makes people more productive and faster workers, therefore getting more done.

 

You have not stated a single reason why the Imperial system is better. Can you provide ONE reason why it's better? Even just one reason? And no, it being in use already isn't a valid reason for it being better.

 

Also, the rest of your post is just flat out incorrect, because any modern nation that HAS switched to Metric, didn't do it in a day - or even a year. It's a long process. And part of the reason for being a long process is to allow the transition to be smooth. You don't just replace all the road signs. Instead, when a road sign is due to be replaced anyway, you drop in a metric one.

 

Also, as for cars, In Canada, cars have both metric and imperial on the speedometer (with KM being the standard rating, and MPH listed in smaller letters underneath). This allows Canadians to drive their cars in the USA without killing anyone because they thought 50KM/H was the same as 50 MPH (It's happened *shrugs*). That would be easy to do for all new cars, and they could simply exempt older cars from having to modify the odometer. Alternatively they could make the signs list both MPH and KM/H, at least for some years.

 

And again, businesses will be able to spread out that cost significantly by slowly changing the ratings on their products over time. It's not like the US government would be like "Hey guys we're metric now. Change right now or you're fucked". No. That's not how a metric adoption works. It's a slow and gradual process specifically to counter these claims you're making.

[LAwLz]

No, the only reason you have listed as to why the US should adopt it is because everyone else uses it. It can't be said that its easier to use when it would require decades of retraining hundreds of millions of people to use something different. The government would have to spend billions of dollars on things like education, replacing every single road sign, mile market, speed limit sign, and everything else that lists an imperial measurement.

Businesses would have to spend billions of dollars to change every single consumer product that uses imperial measurements. Everything from a ruler to the dashboard in tens of millions of vehicles on the road. From tiny schools all the way up to the NFl would have change how their sports are run and the facilities they are played in.

Construction of everything from roads to houses would come to a screeching halt, with companies going bankrupt, because they all of a sudden can't complete even the simplest of projects because everything from their tools, to their hardware and blueprints would all become obsolete and unusable.

Lastly, there is only one valid way to measure the wealth of a COUNTRY and that's by the country's GDP. Qatar being full of a bunch of rich individuals does not make Qatar more wealthy than the US.

Obviously you didn't read my post:

 

4) There are good reasons to change. It is easier to learn so your future children won't have as much difficulty. It makes international communication far easier. Less mistakes will be made once people get used to it (do I have to remind you of the Mars Climate Orbiter?). It is already being used for a lot of things even in countries with the imperial system, for example in science and for computers, so why have two systems when you can have one? You need less measuring devices. It is easier to convert into other measurements. There are probably other reason as well but those are the ones I can think of right now.

 

Those are reasons why the metric system is better, and none of them are as simple as "because everyone else uses it".

As for the "companies would go bankrupt! It's terrible bla bla bla" that's complete bullcrap. You don't have to change it overnight either. Just start making new products with both on them, and then slowly phase out the imperial system as people get more used to metric (which will be very fast since it's far more logical). You do realize that all the countries that used to use the imperial system has changed, correct? I wonder how they managed to not go under...

 

 

And no, I don't think GDP is the only way to measure how rich a country is. I think the wealth of each individual is far more important than the total sum. That's why China is still considered to be a poor country by many people, because most people in it are in fact very poor.

[felixbearpig]

this pic explains why

[TheEpicMap]

Looks more like ILLUMINATI confirmed.