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Should Americans switch to the metric system?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Nathan Miller on -
I wrote a post on this once, and it received quite a bit of feedback (more than I'm used to).
This could be because I argued against the Metric system, but not from the vantage of laziness or "I'm used to 'x'" but rather because the customary system, apart from the usually-stated issue of Base 10, is much more intuitive than the metric system.
The example I gave (after a short intro) was about Celsius v Fahrenheit, and the fact that the way the system is advertised makes a huge difference. Celsius is usually advertised as better because 0 = freezing point of water and 100 = boiling point of water. However, outside of the lab, who cares about these numbers? Fahrenheit also has a 0 and a 100, but both are more practical: 0 = the lowest temperature at which salt can make a difference in freezing point (so if it's below 0 outside, don't waste your time salting your sidewalks - won't work) and 100 = (approximately) human body temperature (if you're higher than 100 you have a fever.)
The difference in ease of using the systems is much further than that, but I stopped there in the post. Perhaps I should offer a follow up for meters v feet or kg vs lb sometime.
If anyone's interested, the post and (some virulent) comments are at: http://www.nathan-miller.com/why-the-metric-system-sucks/
-Nathan
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Permalink Reply by Brian M on -
I'm going to say this
I went to school (7 years and 2 degrees) for engineering. Being able to handle unit conversions seamlessly is quite possibly the most important skill I learned.
If you're just doing rough calculations in your head, then accuracy isn't important, is it? The airplane is at 25,000 feet -Well, it's less than 5 miles up, but about that.
Being able to go between English and metric makes you a more intelligent person. It's like learning 2 languages as a child - did it ever hurt anybody?
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Permalink Reply by Chloé FH McIntosh on -
yes. yes they should.
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Permalink Reply by Nic Lake on -
The "standard" system is just America's way of saying "fuck you" to the rest of the world. Any industry that works globally, or in any sort of scientific field utilizes metric. It's stupid easy... everything is units of 10. I have to look up how many oz there are in a gallon or other dumb shit like that all the time.
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Permalink Reply by Susanna Menyez Bautista on -
Of course! It's so much easier converting millimeters to decimeters than it is miles to inches.
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