Metric System and the USA

rob_just_rob

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I have heard that the Imperial system is simple but I have problems conceptualizing miles. Ounces. Pounds. I have also found it a lot wordy than the metric system.

For example: one centimeter = 0.394 inches

20 centimeters= 0.394 inches X 20
20 centimeters= 7.88 inches

You can just say it is twenty centimeters. Instead of seven point eight eight inches.

Fixed that for you. Amazing how so many people find it so hard to think outside their own experiences. :wink:

1 mile = 5280 feet = 63,360 inches
1 kilometer = 1000 meters = 100,000 centimeters

1 ton = 2240 pounds = 35,840 ounces
1 tonne (metric) = 1000 kilograms = 1,000,000 grams.

You tell me which system is easier to memorize.
 

invisibleman

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Fixed that for you. Amazing how so many people find it so hard to think outside their own experiences. :wink:

1 mile = 5280 feet = 63,360 inches
1 kilometer = 1000 meters = 100,000 centimeters

1 ton = 2240 pounds = 35,840 ounces
1 tonne (metric) = 1000 kilograms = 1,000,000 grams.

You tell me which system is easier to memorize.


Yeah, you say it is easy to memorize. It is still harder to conceptualize.

For example. A sheet of 8 1/2 inches X 11 inches sheet of paper converted to metric (in centimeters) would be: 21 1/4 cm X 28 cm.

It is harder to conceptualize the dimensions. Plus it is wordy.

Eight inches. [American Standard]

Twenty one and a quarter centimeters. [*BBC Worldwide/Virgin International :smile:]

The latter is wordy.

*[I like pulling your twenty eight centimeter lengthed leg. Metric way of life. I happen to like BBC News and Virgin International. I own a Virgin home phone. I bought it for the British speaking answering machine. When people call the house...they wonder who in the fuck is this sassy British woman on my answering machine. And I tell them, "It's Britney, bitch!" :smile:]
 

D_Al_K_Celtzah

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Eight inches. [American Standard]

Twenty one and a quarter centimeters. [*BBC Worldwide/Virgin International :smile:]

The latter is wordy.


Correction: not 21 1/4 centimeters but rather 20,32 centimeters :biggrin1: (source: http://www.onlineconversion.com/length_common.htm)

Anyway, you say 8 inches is easier to use than 20,32 centimeters, right? I totally agree. But then again 10 centimeters is easier than 3.93 inches, so I say easiness goes both ways for that matter :smile:.

It's basically a matter of getting used to it and, since no one likes to change their habbits, it tends to get backed off.

PS: earllogjam, thanks for your explanation on the origin of the centimeter :wink:
 

Mem

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Even though we are used to the American system, the metric system is much easier since it is based on a multiple of 10. Once we get used to it we will realize that a centimeter is as easy to conceptualize as an inch.
 

kamikazee_club

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Perhaps you didn't notice the title of this topic, genius. :rolleyes:


My point was clearly too subtle.:rolleyes:


I'm fairly certain I mentioned that the academic and scientific communities adhere to the international standard of SI units, and NASA certainly falls under that purview.


Sigh.... a certain probe....confusion over standards...big crater....ring any bells....??:rolleyes:

Honestly, I think you're just being a pedantic jerkass. Anyone with any sense could tell that I wasn't advocating a lack of standards entirely, but was pointing out the lack of benefit in the forced switching of a nation of 300M+ citizens to an entirely different standard than they currently use.

Well, honestly, I could less than 0.1% of a hoot what you think but IMO your views reflected those of a nation too often narrow and closed minded in outlook, ignorant of the bigger picture and unwilling to see itself with any degree of objectivity. 300+ million, indeed, a mere 5% of the global population.

Your only argument against the metric system appears to be one of cosy familiarity, that fine. But to me, there is no sensible, logical or compelling reason not to adopt it. That applies to the UK et al, I'm not (especially) biased on this but given the thread title I didn't mention them.

The benefits could be enormous, not least financially (after the initial pain).

As for the insults...yawn.
 

kamikazee_club

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Fixed that for you. Amazing how so many people find it so hard to think outside their own experiences. :wink:

1 mile = 5280 feet = 63,360 inches
1 kilometer = 1000 meters = 100,000 centimeters

1 ton = 2240 pounds = 35,840 ounces
1 tonne (metric) = 1000 kilograms = 1,000,000 grams.

You tell me which system is easier to memorize.

I agree. Yet, sadly, the blindingly obvious is lost on so many.:smile:
 

agnslz

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Once again, why are so many outside the U.S. getting their panties in a bunch over us not conforming to their standards? Get over it already, we're not going to change to the metric system.:rolleyes:
 

HazelGod

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But to me, there is no sensible, logical or compelling reason not to adopt it.

Then you're even stupider than I'd originally given you credit for being.

1 ton = 2240 pounds = 35,840 ounces
1 tonne (metric) = 1000 kilograms = 1,000,000 grams.

You tell me which system is easier to memorize.

That's actually a long ton...nobody here uses those. A ton in the USA denotes a short ton:

1 ton = 2000 lbs = 32,000 oz

Easy peasy. :wink:
 

SteveHd

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Let me see if I can escalate confusion by mentioning variations:
  • A "grain" has different weights depending on context, say, medicine v. mechanics. A 325 grain aspirin doesn't weigh the same as 325 grain bullet [if such a bullet exists it would be a biggie].
  • A troy ounce isn't the same as an avoirdupois ounce.
  • A British gallon isn't the same quantity as a USA gallon. Likewise for some other units.
  • Previously discussed: short ton v. long ton.
I'm not really in favor of converting to metric and most of the reasons I've read in this thread aren't good enough to persuade me otherwise but adding in the above could do it.
 

Bajan

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I live in Barbados and we went metric ages ago but penis sizes are still measured in inches :)
 

rob_just_rob

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That's actually a long ton...nobody here uses those. A ton in the USA denotes a short ton:

1 ton = 2000 lbs = 32,000 oz

Easy peasy. :wink:

In this one case. However... how many grains in a short ton?

What temperature (F) does water boil at?

How many drams in a gallon?

:rolleyes:

I understand that the USA isn't going to switch to metric because it's too much work, but don't pretend that the imperial system is easier. That's patently ridiculous.
 

jason_els

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I agree with you. The English measurement system is stupid, clumsy, and just plain illogical.

"the metric system is the tool of the devil!"

So is the EU but you don't see we Americans complaining about what they do over in Europe.

[*]A troy ounce isn't the same as an avoirdupois ounce.

Troy ounces are a standard unit of measure of precious metals for the entire world. Precious metals are not measured in anything other in Troy ounces and oil is still only measured in barrels.
 

rob_just_rob

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Almost as ridiculous, in fact, is the insistence of some that they aren't capable of describing an 8 inch penis as 20.32 cm. Ignoring the fact that the penis in question isn't 8 inches, it's 8.125 inches or 7.875 inches or whatever, but is rounded to 8", the same way 20.32 cm is rounded to 20 cm.
 

Gillette

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I'm not trying to convince anyone that they must convert their system to metric and I understand the difficulty involved in learning a new system. However, just to put the level of difficulty into perspective imagine not just changing a few measurement units but a country's entire character set as some European countries have done.
 

Principessa

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So is the EU but you don't see we Americans complaining about what they do over in Europe.
Actually I was against the euro and still am. My reason has nothing to do with economics and everything to do with aesthetics and ethnocentricity. Most countries have pretty money, as a visitor I used to enjoy bringing foreign currency home with me as a souvenir. Plus you learn who & what, a country values or considers worthy of remembrance by what is depicted on their money. It's a quick history lesson. :smile:
 

Calboner

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This question has certainly brought forth an exemplary outpouring of stupidity and confusion.

I think that Americans feel The Metric System may be too cerebral in picturing it. A mile is a mile. An inch is an inch.

But, A kilometer...A centimeter. How do you picture these? Concepts?

What you say here is that there is something inherently more difficult to "picture" about kilometers or centimeters than there is about miles or inches. Have you no idea what an idiotic statement that is? They are all equally arbitrary measures. What enables someone to "picture" a given measure is his FAMILIARITY with it, and nothing else. Someone who grows up estimating distances in centimeters and weights in kilos will find it just as difficult to make estimates in inches and pounds as you find it difficult to make estimates in his system.

I'm starting to get that concept now and it's really not all that hard to grasp once you realize metric is more precise than American Standard.
How is it more "precise" to measure something in the metric system than in the old English system? If someone says that this rock weighs about a kilogram and I say that it weighs 2 pounds and 4.0 ounces, then my measurement is more precise than his. It doesn't matter one fuck whether you use the one system or the other. What is precise or imprecise is not the system of measurement, but the use that is made of it.

Now if I measure distances in, say, paces, then that is a system of measurement that is less precise than one in, say, meters -- or, for that matter, feet. This is because the pace, unlike the meter and the foot, is not a fixed measure.
SI units are great for the science geek crowd, as the base-10 hierarchy provides virtually limitless precision. It's great for calculations on paper, but a royal PITA for application to everyday real-world usage where people already know how far a mile looks, how big an acre plot looks, how heavy a 5 pound bag of sugar is, and how much room a gallon jug takes up in the fridge.
Congratulations, you have combined the idiocies of both of the first two posters: that the metric system is more precise than the English system, and that the metric system is somehow inherently -- and not merely in relation to the degree of a given practitioner's familiarity with it -- less applicable to estimates by eye and by feeling.

I find it really depressing that people can be so fucking stupid.
 

earllogjam

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I've noticed most consumer goods are labeled with both weights and volumes in both systems. If we are indeed going to make a switch it will need to come as an edict from the federal government. The advantages would be that we as a world would share a common system of measurements. The disadvantages are that all standard measurements of all materials in the imperial system will no longer make sense and the cost associated into resizing them into measurements that make sense in the metric system. Case in point - all building materials from 2x4, 12"x12" floor tiles to the standard size sheets of plywood and drywall would all need to be adjusted and all the equipment needed to manufacture those items would need to be retooled (many of our tools are sized to the imperial system) and the whole manufacturing process would need to be adjusted.

Even things like a simple sheet of 8.5x11 paper would not make sense in a metric world and would need to eventually change as with everything derived from that dimension of paper, filing cabinets, hanging files, library shelving...etc. Have you ever gotten a paper report from another country - the paper size is different and it doesn't fit well into your binders. All standard building and fire codes using inches, feet, gallons per minute requirements would need to be changed to conform also.

In a nutshell it would be a headache and a huge cost burden to change exclusively to the metric system for us. Something not to be taken lightly. So much so that no politian has the balls or the gumption to even suggest that we change, not for 30 years has it even been brought up.
 

Gillette

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I've noticed most consumer goods are labeled with both weights and volumes in both systems. If we are indeed going to make a switch it will need to come as an edict from the federal government. The advantages would be that we as a world would share a common system of measurements. The disadvantages are that all standard measurements of all materials in the imperial system will no longer make sense and the cost associated into resizing them into measurements that make sense in the metric system. Case in point - all building materials from 2x4, 12"x12" floor tiles to the standard size sheets of plywood and drywall would all need to be adjusted and all the equipment needed to manufacture those items would need to be retooled (many of our tools are sized to the imperial system) and the whole manufacturing process would need to be adjusted.

Even things like a simple sheet of 8.5x11 paper would not make sense in a metric world and would need to eventually change as with everything derived from that dimension of paper, filing cabinets, hanging files, library shelving...etc. Have you ever gotten a paper report from another country - the paper size is different and it doesn't fit well into your binders. All standard building and fire codes using inches, feet, gallons per minute requirements would need to be changed to conform also.

In a nutshell it would be a headache and a huge cost burden to change exclusively to the metric system for us. Something not to be taken lightly. So much so that no politian has the balls or the gumption to even suggest that we change, not for 30 years has it even been brought up.


Sorry, Earl, this makes no sense. A sheet of paper in Metric using Canada is the same size as it is in Imperial using U.S.A.. The only difference is that we use a different set of units to describe it.

Take the colour Red, for example. The colour itself doesn't change in order for a French speaker to call it rouge, an Italian speaker to call it rosso nor vermelho in Portuguese. It is what it is. No physical item would have to change size.

Making sense has rarely proved to be a priority in this world. I say this as I take a sip from my 591mL bottle of Coca-Cola.