Should the USA go metric?

[Mazon Del]

Nobody outside the USA cares about x inch/y inch => z gallons.

Heck, most of the people INSIDE the USA don't care about it. I am a robotics engineer, most of the engineers I know (except for the ones who have been in the job for like 30-40 years) can't even properly think in imperial when it comes to units and measurements. Whenever any of the older engineers says something like "16 foot-lbs of torque" there is this pause while everybody else recalculates into newton-meters. The company I work for is unfortunately on the imperial standard, but this is quite stupid because all the work is done in metric and THEN converted into the imperial measurements to fill the useless datatables that nobody bothers with. Inside the damn code everything is metric and any time the data is being outputted (be it a log or a UI) there is a function that converts it into imperial measurements. Our international products work ever so slightly better if only because we can cut that section of the code out and save the clock cycles. The only effective difference that being on imperial ends up making for us, is that our nuts, bolts, screws, etc all need to have imperial threads or hex-keys. Given the logistics and the way things work for us, this very clearly forces us to have two sets of hardware. The rest of the planet (IE: Our other customers) all use metric and tend to walk away if you insist on giving them a product in imperial. They don't want to have to have two sets of tooling, so that means WE end up with them.

[damerell]

Never ran into a recipe where the tolerances on ingredient measure were so tight, the the compressability of my flour mattered. Thoguh, I guess I coukd squeeze down my flour real hard and see just how far off I get from normal.

How do you know that if you don't know how compressible flour is?

I don't know how compressible flour (or any other baking ingredient) is either. I don't have to. I can just weigh them.

[Wesreidau]

How do you know that if you don't know how compressible flour is?

I don't know how compressible flour (or any other baking ingredient) is either. I don't have to. I can just weigh them.

And everything comes out chewy because compressed flour creates more gluten bonds. You measure before you sift, we sift before we measure. Neither method is better.

Fun thought experiment: create a system of measurement that naturally follows binary data storage. Metric is so pre-digital-age.

[ZetaX]

Fun thought experiment: create a system of measurement that naturally follows binary data storage. Metric is so pre-digital-age.

Trivial: use the metric base units, but with the binary prefixes.

[Wesreidau]

So 1111101000 meters in a kilometer? That's intuitive...

[Red Iron Crown]

So 1111101000 meters in a kilometer? That's intuitive...

No, 2^10 m is a km.

[ZetaX]

No, 2^10 m is a km.

[Ralathon]

No, 2^10 m is a km.

Wouldn't it be more accurate for the exponent in a kiloX to be some multiple of 2? Kinda tainting the beauty of the binary system with a decimal exponent system.

[VirtualCLD]

More precisely, a Kim (speak: kibimeter).

I rarely say this, but I literally laughed out loud at my desk when I read that. Then I got strange looks from my officemates (who thankfully understand the concept of kibi).

[Justicier]

I would love to see the USA go metric. But I doubt it's going to happen any time in the near future because of the infrastructure currently in place. Every speed limit sign would need modification, every distance marker, every destination distance sign. That's a huge undertaking that will cost a lot of money that I am sure that the government is unwilling to spend just to replace an inferior system... but one that still works. Also I am sure there is resistance for the same reason that fire departments are still using the "Ben Franklin" helmets:

Instead of the more advanced, SAFER, Gallet F1 firefighting helmets that are in use in Europe:

One word: TRADITION.

Edited June 21, 2015 by Justicier

[Camacha]

I would love to see the USA go metric. But I doubt it's going to happen any time in the near future because of the infrastructure currently in place. Every speed limit sign would need modification, every distance marker, every destination distance sign. That's a huge undertaking that will cost a lot of money that I am sure that the government is unwilling to spend just to replace an inferior system... but one that still works.

That is not really an issue. You do not need to spend extra money. Road signs need to be maintained and replaced at regular intervals anyway, so you can just naturally flush them out in the course of 5, 15 or even 25 years. People need to adjust, so there is no need to rush. If some signs survive beyond that, you can replace those in an accelerated fashion. Spreading those costs out over said period will still mean a rather low cost operation.

Wonder how long itll be till the world stops using 40ftx8ft shipping containers though

They don't.

Edited June 21, 2015 by Camacha

[sam.johnson841]

Wait, you guys aren't metric? Well, now I know.

Personally I like the mix the UK has.

- Sam

[Camacha]

Wait, you guys aren't metric? Well, now I know.

Yeah, they never went for the whole nine yards.

[SciMan]

Unfortunately, "because it's what we always used" is often a more compelling argument than "because this works better", even tho status quo has absolutely no bearing on the utility of an object or idea.

There's really only two things I know:

1. Nothing is perfect. That doesn't mean I shouldn't try to think of a way to make something better.

2. I can't know everything. That doesn't mean I shouldn't try to learn as much as I can.

For a "which option better" type problem, the first one means there's ALWAYS a better option. The second one means I might not know what that better way is. Of course, that second one also means that I might not know that in fact there is not a better option with the resources available.

I was born, raised, and currently reside in the United States of America. And yet I think in metric when confronted with almost any science or engineering problem, unless forced to use inch/thou by something I'm trying to fix.

[xcorps]

No.

Meter is defined as the Length of the path traveled by light in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second (17th CGPM); while the second is defined as the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium 133 atom.

Makes much more sense and is far easier to visualize than the distance from the elbow to the thumb.

- - - Updated - - -

Heck, most of the people INSIDE the USA don't care about it. I am a robotics engineer, most of the engineers I know (except for the ones who have been in the job for like 30-40 years) can't even properly think in imperial when it comes to units and measurements. Whenever any of the older engineers says something like "16 foot-lbs of torque" there is this pause while everybody else recalculates into newton-meters. The company I work for is unfortunately on the imperial standard, but this is quite stupid because all the work is done in metric and THEN converted into the imperial measurements to fill the useless datatables that nobody bothers with. Inside the damn code everything is metric and any time the data is being outputted (be it a log or a UI) there is a function that converts it into imperial measurements. Our international products work ever so slightly better if only because we can cut that section of the code out and save the clock cycles. The only effective difference that being on imperial ends up making for us, is that our nuts, bolts, screws, etc all need to have imperial threads or hex-keys. Given the logistics and the way things work for us, this very clearly forces us to have two sets of hardware. The rest of the planet (IE: Our other customers) all use metric and tend to walk away if you insist on giving them a product in imperial. They don't want to have to have two sets of tooling, so that means WE end up with them.

I feel you. Everything on this damn boat is SAE NC, except the 60 or so metric bolts. I have to keep an entire set of wrenches just for them. And the dumbass who relieves me doesn't understand that a hex head cap screw with 8.8 stamped on it is FREAKING METRIC. DON'T REPLACE IT WITH IMPERIAL.

[mrfox]

Once the US was a manufacturing powerhouse, so it could define and maintain its own standards, and everyone else just dealt with it.

Now the world is passing them by, and if the Americans don't try to learn and adapt, they will be left as obsolete and irrelevant - like the UK had.

I mean - has anyone seen an American designed/made car outside North America besides the odd collectors vehicle?

[Senormeens]

I would love it, the metric system does make conversions and such easier. The idea of it sounds great, but it is INSANELY impractical nowadays, there is literally MILLIONS of dollars in infrastructure across the entirety of the US.

Also the generation it happens in would be pretty messed up by it. Imagine living for twenty years using miles and gallons when all of a sudden your entire farm of reference is replaced.

Also i don't think feet should be replaced for measuring height, because yay, I am 1.88 meters tall, it doesn't have the same ring as Six foot 2. And Fahrenheit for everyday temperature. If you think about it in a daily use sense it makes sense. It is a more precise(because of the smaller increments) and it is kind of based around human living conditions, at zero degrees you are in trouble, and at 100 degrees you are in trouble.

And i totally get why metric is so much more useful, i am a science and engineering buff and it is so much easier using centimeters and meters for everything. I am still annoyed that in my Design and Drawing for production class(Technical drawing and such) that we had to use inches, and things like 1/8 of an inch or 1/16 or 1/32 for measuring.

[One Wheeled Panda]

It is a more precise(because of the smaller increments) and it is kind of based around human living conditions, at zero degrees you are in trouble, and at 100 degrees you are in trouble.

When precision really matters you'd use decimals anyway, so that's kind of moot.

Your other point could be made for Celsius and Kelvin using those same Numbers...

*tongue in cheek*

[Nibb31]

I would love it, the metric system does make conversions and such easier. The idea of it sounds great, but it is INSANELY impractical nowadays, there is literally MILLIONS of dollars in infrastructure across the entirety of the US.

Millions of dollars is peanuts. It's probably more than that, but imagine the cost of all the conversions that US companies have to go through to do business with the rest of the world? And how foreign companies have to rewrite all their catalogs just to do business in the US. The cost disadvantage is detrimental to business. You can't be all about world trade and have stupid cost barriers like this with a single country.

Also the generation it happens in would be pretty messed up by it. Imagine living for twenty years using miles and gallons when all of a sudden your entire farm of reference is replaced.

As it has already been said, this is a non-issue. Other countries have changed currencies, switch driving sides, or switched to metric before... It's a bit of a big deal, but nothing that can't be overcome with a few years of preparation and adaptation. Imagine living for twenty years using the French Franc or the Deutschmark and having it replaced overnight by the Euro. Your entire value system is replaced. I don't think Americans are less capable of adapting than Europeans.

Also i don't think feet should be replaced for measuring height, because yay, I am 1.88 meters tall, it doesn't have the same ring as Six foot 2.

That's silly. It's just a matter of getting used to the values. For a guy, 1.80 is considered tall wherever you go in the world. 1.70 is average and 1.60 is a bit short for a guy.

Six foot two is meaningless for 99% of the world's population. Personally, I have no idea what height it is.

And Fahrenheit for everyday temperature. If you think about it in a daily use sense it makes sense. It is a more precise(because of the smaller increments)

That's why the metric system has decimals. Weather temperatures are often expressed in steps of 0.5°C.

But is that precision important? Can anyone actually feel the difference between 50 and 51?

and it is kind of based around human living conditions, at zero degrees you are in trouble, and at 100 degrees you are in trouble.

Again, it's just a matter of adaptation. In a temperate climate, 20°C is pretty comfortable. 0°C is freezing (literally). 40°C is hot. Some countries go to -20°C or 60°C, but those are extremes. And you can actually feel the difference between 19, 20, or 21°C.

Edited June 22, 2015 by Nibb31

[hirschhornsalz]

I voted no. Keep them stupid :-)

[*Aqua*]

Imagine living for twenty years using the French Franc or the Deutschmark and having it replaced overnight by the Euro. Your entire value system is replaced.

I experienced several currencies: the Mark (currency of the GDR aka East Germany), the Deutsche Mark (currency of the FRG aka Westgermany aka Germany) and now the Euro. And yeah, you get used to it pretty fast. It takes about 1-3 years to get used to such a change. It's weird at the beginning but it's definitely possible to adapt to it.

Imagine living in a country which joins another one (GDR -> FRG). Over night every law, the rules of economy and the ideology you knew became obsolete and you had to start at the beginning again. Switching from imperial to metric is a piece of cake compared to that.

[AngelLestat]

OMG, this discussion is still going? I dont really want to meet that 9% who still thinks the change is bad, something is broken up there, is creepy.

But well, I found these videos (sorry if someone post them before), they have a funny way to make the point.

[jace_francis]

I live in America, and I think we should go metric. Yes, our current system is better for measuring smaller distances like feet, since you can just say "a foot" instead of "30 centimeters", but the entire planet should be on the same system. The hardest part would be getting used to the metric system as the main system.

[Shpaget]

And you can say 1 meter, instead of 3 feet.

What's your point?

[Bill Phil]

I live in America, and I think we should go metric. Yes, our current system is better for measuring smaller distances like feet, since you can just say "a foot" instead of "30 centimeters", but the entire planet should be on the same system. The hardest part would be getting used to the metric system as the main system.

Or you could say 3 decimeters for a foot.