why can't i grasp metrics?

[2322]

British Imperial measures differ in many respects from American measures. The split occurred during the Revolution when, among other things, the US kept the standard in use at the time of the Revolution, while the British Imperial standard the UK partially uses today was not standardized until 1824.

 

[hung9mike]

Americans have trouble with measurement, regardless of the system they use to make measurements with.

 

[prepstudinsc]

Yes, that's why 6" now equals 8". LOL

 

[vince]

Absolutely not more precise! Do you know what you're saying? You're saying that a meter is more accurate at measuring 39.37 inches or 1.097 yards than inches or yards are. All three, meter, yards, and inches, equal the same distance (or volume, weight, etc.), therefore neither is more precise or accurate than the other.

The fact is that most Americans are very happily using our system and enjoy it the way it is. If people outside the US don't like it, too bad. We don't tell you how to measure things so why do you feel you have the right to tell us? This entire argument smacks of the frankly tired Old World belief that Americans are backwards and whatever we do somehow just doesn't measure on the culture scale. This is a piece of our culture, it is our language of measurement and not only is it dear to us for its practical usability, it is one that has resisted its own government's attempts to change with declining success since the Carter years.

Europe, in particular, complains about the lack of respect the US shows to foreign cultures and I don't deny that is true. I do find it hypocritical that the moment the tables are turned, we get treated the same way as we are accused of acting.

:lmao: Hang on! The a pill man. No one in this thread started bashing anyone's opinion until YOU did so in post #9 with your comment about the silly French! Then Manly asked, "Why silly?", and you went off on a (humourous) rant about how stupid the French are and eurotrash and whatever.

Then you said something about metric users being lazy.

Come on Jason. Just because someone thinks that 95% of the world uses a better system of measures than the USA does doesn't equate to the "tired Old World belief that Americans are backwards and whatever we do somehow just doesn't measure on the culture scale." Especially when you start the argument. Jeez...

 

[ColonialBoy]

Ahem, the Imperial system is not American! It's a remnant of our (British) Empire. Though your pints, quarts and gallons are a bit different from ours, I think.

The British dont use it anymore. The only country that uses the Imperial system is the USA.

 

[2322]

:lmao: Hang on! The a pill man. No one in this thread started bashing anyone's opinion until YOU did so in post #9 with your comment about the silly French! Then Manly asked, "Why silly?", and you went off on a (humourous) rant about how stupid the French are and eurotrash and whatever.

Then you said something about metric users being lazy.

Come on Jason. Just because someone thinks that 95% of the world uses a better system of measures than the USA does doesn't equate to the "tired Old World belief that Americans are backwards and whatever we do somehow just doesn't measure on the culture scale." Especially when you start the argument. Jeez...

Oh come on, bashing the French is fun. No other country is nearly so rich in targets. It's like shooing fish in a barr-- er, 119.2 liter container.

I tried to write a piece of humor with the intent to address some underlying issues about the whole American/metric debate that I feel frequently go unnoticed.

I confess to not having slept in over 36 hours so perhaps I could have done a better job, but I liked it.

 

[invisibleman]

It's not only about the metric system... I understand that 5/4ths of college graduates don't understand fractions, either!

Fractions are easy. Using your example of five-fourths (5/4) as an example: The five in five-fourths is in the numerator location of the fraction and the four in the five-fourth is in the denominator location.

The four in the denominator tells us the summation of things or its value.
The five in the numerator tells the amount that is focused upon.

Example: 1/4th is one part of four. 2/4 is two parts of four. 3/4 is three parts of four. 4/4 is four parts of four which is one or 1 . 5/4 is five parts of four or 1 1/4. So, if you divided a whole pie in fourths. Each fourth would be 1/4. If you ate two-fourths of the pie...you essentially ate half of the pie. If you ate three-fourths of the pie, you would be Jeff Black. :wink:
If you ate three-fourths of the pie, you have eaten 75 percent of the pie. A PACMAN shaped portion is missing.

 

[vince]

Oh come on, bashing the French is fun. No other country is nearly so rich in targets. It's like shooing fish in a barr-- er, 119.2 liter container.

I tried to write a piece of humor with the intent to address some underlying issues about the whole American/metric debate that I feel frequently go unnoticed.

I confess to not having slept in over 36 hours so perhaps I could have done a better job, but I liked it.

I couldn't agree more. They are my second favourite target after the Germans. Except I mean it with the Germans, :tongue:

I work with lots of French guys and we have a blast throwing insults in each other's "general direction".

But no one is more sensitive than the Yanks. We have to be on tippy toes around them.

 

[ManlyBanisters]

The British dont use it anymore. The only country that uses the Imperial system is the USA.

The British use both systems - under EU law they have to have everything PRICED in metric measures - the consumer, Europewide, must know what he/she is paying for goods per gram / litre / metre but in common parlance nearly everyone in the UK still uses the (British) Imperial system for stating weight, volume and distance. For example - you can buy a pint of milk in the store but the measure on the side says 568ml.

Americans have trouble with measurement, regardless of the system they use to make measurements with.

That kind of dumbass comment really doesn't help.

 

[littlebigmaninNC]

This may help:

km hm dam m dm cm mm

It's a decimal moving chart. If you have 758 cm, jump two to the left and you have 7.58 m. If you have 0.3 km, jump three to the right and you have 300 m.

The other thing that would really help is getting a hands-on impression of a base unit of measure. Most can picture a 2 liter bottle. Or the thickness of a large paper clip is about a mm.

 

[Gl3nn]

Absolutely not more precise! Do you know what you're saying? You're saying that a meter is more accurate at measuring 39.37 inches or 1.097 yards than inches or yards are. All three, meter, yards, and inches, equal the same distance (or volume, weight, etc.), therefore neither is more precise or accurate than the other.

The fact is that most Americans are very happily using our system and enjoy it the way it is. If people outside the US don't like it, too bad. We don't tell you how to measure things so why do you feel you have the right to tell us? This entire argument smacks of the frankly tired Old World belief that Americans are backwards and whatever we do somehow just doesn't measure on the culture scale. This is a piece of our culture, it is our language of measurement and not only is it dear to us for its practical usability, it is one that has resisted its own government's attempts to change with declining success since the Carter years.

Europe, in particular, complains about the lack of respect the US shows to foreign cultures and I don't deny that is true. I do find it hypocritical that the moment the tables are turned, we get treated the same way as we are accused of acting.

You misunderstood me. What I meant was: if you have 5cm and you put decimals after it, you make that measurement more precise.

Eg: 5,001 cm (FYI: we use commas and not dots for decimals)

 

[mindseye]

When will the Metric system turn a day into 10 hours and a year into 10 months?

Never.

That's like asking, "When will a yard become ten feet?" It won't happen, because yards and feet aren't metric units. Neither are hours, days, months, or years.

There are units of time in SI: You've probably heard the word millisecond before; kilosecond is rare outside of academic physics journals, because "about 15 minutes" is far more intuitive. (A kilosecond is 16 minutes, 40 seconds.)

 

[2322]

Never.

That's like asking, "When will a yard become ten feet?" It won't happen, because yards and feet aren't metric units. Neither are hours, days, months, or years.

There are units of time in SI: You've probably heard the word millisecond before; kilosecond is rare outside of academic physics journals, because "about 15 minutes" is far more intuitive. (A kilosecond is 16 minutes, 40 seconds.)

Actually the calendar and the clock could use an overhaul. Ours are poor at keeping precise measure of time. I imagine the cost of switching would be horrendous.

 

[Catchoftheday]

This may help:

km hm dam m dm cm mm

It's a decimal moving chart. If you have 758 cm, jump two to the left and you have 7.58 m. If you have 0.3 km, jump three to the right and you have 300 m.

.

Then you bring your knees in tight ?

 

[2322]

I couldn't agree more. They are my second favourite target after the Germans. Except I mean it with the Germans, :tongue:

I work with lots of French guys and we have a blast throwing insults in each other's "general direction".

But no one is more sensitive than the Yanks. We have to be on tippy toes around them.

The reason Yanks are more sensitive is because the insults are not infrequently followed by attempts at physical harm. It's draining to be told by everyone in the world just how horrible you are when many Americans give a great deal of time and effort to making the world a better place:

in 1995 (the most recent year for which data are available), Americans gave, per capita, three and a half times as much to causes and charities as the French, seven times as much as the Germans, and 14 times as much as the Italians. Similarly, in 1998, Americans were 15 percent more likely to volunteer their time than the Dutch, 21 percent more likely than the Swiss, and 32 percent more likely than the Germans. These differences are not attributable to demographic characteristics such as education, income, age, sex, or marital status. On the contrary, if we look at two people who are identical in all these ways except that one is European and the other American, the probability is still far lower that the European will volunteer than the American. -American Enterprise Institute

This is one of the positive side effects of the US being a highly religious and ideological society. When there are disasters, we give aid. Where there is suffering, we try to bring relief even when our government does nothing. Our economy may suck at the moment, but Americans always tell themselves and everyone else how fortunate we are to live in the US and that we have a responsibility to help the less fortunate elsewhere. I do not claim we are perfect in that effort by any means. I do say that it is daunting and discouraging when we are constantly told that our efforts are not enough or we are outright hated merely for being who we are.

America is not a tribe. We are not a monolithic culture living in its ancestral homelands since time immemorial. One cannot point to any 10 Americans and claim they all share the same history, culture, ancestry, or even primary language. We are united by an idealism, not any one particular culture even if we are a western democracy. When America is criticized or attacked, we take it not as an attack against us as people so much as our ideals. This is why you hear American politicians saying things like, "They hate us for our freedoms!"

 

[pym]

The reason Yanks are more sensitive is because the insults are not infrequently followed by attempts at physical harm. It's draining to be told by everyone in the world just how horrible you are when many Americans give a great deal of time and effort to making the world a better place:



This is one of the positive side effects of the US being a highly religious and ideological society. When there are disasters, we give aid. Where there is suffering, we try to bring relief even when our government does nothing. Our economy may suck at the moment, but Americans always tell themselves and everyone else how fortunate we are to live in the US and that we have a responsibility to help the less fortunate elsewhere. I do not claim we are perfect in that effort by any means. I do say that it is daunting and discouraging when we are constantly told that our efforts are not enough or we are outright hated merely for being who we are.

America is not a tribe. We are not a monolithic culture living in its ancestral homelands since time immemorial. One cannot point to any 10 Americans and claim they all share the same history, culture, ancestry, or even primary language. We are united by an idealism, not any one particular culture even if we are a western democracy. When America is criticized or attacked, we take it not as an attack against us as people so much as our ideals. This is why you hear American politicians saying things like, "They hate us for our freedoms!"

I agree with quite a bit of this post.....One thing is for sure though.
The quickest way to get non-americans eye's rolling to the back of there heads is to actually DARE to point out that Philanthropy. I have traveled extensively in my life. It's become a habit of mine whilst overseas to listen more speak. I still enjoy to hear others opinions, but when the conversations roll to anti-american sentiments, invariably you are set-up to lose trying to defend the already condemned.
So when in rome.......

 

[Mem]

Never.

I was not being serious.

 

[MarkLondon]

Because it's incredibly stupid and was used in the old days when people didn't know how much a pound weighed.

It's like measuring height with hands.

What baffles me is when people in England don't know how much they weigh in pounds.

Curiously, I use hands for measuring/estimating cock size in photos. e.g. a "double-fister" is 8".

At 5'8 I'm 17 hands. Which is freakishly close to the 17.3 decimeters that coverts to.

I still don't understand why the stone isn't used for weight in the USA. There's been reference to the furlong and rod, pretty obscure lenght measurements, still being used. The reason we in the UK don't know our weight in pounds is we don't know our 14 times table. What's your height in inches? (Mine was easy to calculate, 68.)

BTW, in France "un livre" will be weighed as ½ kilo(gramme) but means "a pound".

 

[2322]

I agree with quite a bit of this post.....One thing is for sure though.
The quickest way to get non-americans eye's rolling to the back of there heads is to actually DARE to point out that Philanthropy. I have traveled extensively in my life. It's become a habit of mine whilst overseas to listen more speak. I still enjoy to hear others opinions, but when the conversations roll to anti-american sentiments, invariably you are set-up to lose trying to defend the already condemned.
So when in rome.......

Why not? If they throw it in your face then throw it right back. I don't do the when in Rome thing where it concerns my country. I will admit our mistakes, missteps, and outright crimes but I won't condemn unfairly and will defend the good things. I've been in some unenviable positions in Ireland (of all places) defending the US against some people who heard I was an American and decided it was open season.

 

[kalipygian]

Ahem, the Imperial system is not American! It's a remnant of our (British) Empire. Though your pints, quarts and gallons are a bit different from ours, I think.

The thing that puzzles me the most, though, is why Americans don't use the stone for body weight.

Agreed that it is not correct to use the term imperial for customary measurement in the US.

A US liquid gallon is 231 cubic inches, 3.785 liters, the Imperial gallon is 277.42 cubic inches, 4.546 liters.

Britain and the empire used to use the gallon we still use, it was increased in size in the 19th c to make a pint of water weigh a pound avourdupois.

All US measures are defined by international metric standards, since the 19thc.

(and this is the third time I recall this discussion here, the discussion will only be over when people in the US give up using the customary measure)