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The Metric System... Why not?

Too many people are arguing what is better, rather than what makes more sense. The metric system increases in degrees of 1000. This makes sense (to have a system that increases in a set amount of degrees, but not necessarily 1000). The imperial system doesn't seem to have (much) rhyme or reason. I think the one and only reason we hold onto it (imperial) is because it has been a part of our lives for so long. I am all for getting rid of it personally, or at least having people learn both systems of measurment.
 
lordofthereef said:
Too many people are arguing what is better, rather than what makes more sense. The metric system increases in degrees of 1000. This makes sense (to have a system that increases in a set amount of degrees, but not necessarily 1000). The imperial system doesn't seem to have (much) rhyme or reason. I think the one and only reason we hold onto it (imperial) is because it has been a part of our lives for so long. I am all for getting rid of it personally, or at least having people learn both systems of measurment.
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HEY-O!! Did you skip every single one of my posts in this thread?
 
well Britain is semi-metric and metric units were only made mandatory to show in 1995. even now they still show pints and a lot of people use the metric system, I don't know why the US doesn't just adopt both
 
adi19956 said:
well Britain is semi-metric and metric units were only made mandatory to show in 1995. even now they still show pints and a lot of people use the metric system, I don't know why the US doesn't just adopt both
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See, the thing is this isn't fragmentation - it's all about choice.

In the 60s, they taught me the metric system and told me that it was right around the corner.

It didn't come. Now, me personally, I don't mind learning things, but most of my friends were pretty unhappy because additional metric homework cut into our baseball time.

I'm afraid you'll just have to wait for my generation to die out before the resentment leaves - and then we'll conform.

Maybe.

Still don't see why we're not on metric time.
 
EarlyMon said:
Still don't see why we're not on metric time.
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I don't really mind this, in everyday usage, I don't really do many calculations with time.

I understand your homework feeling, we still don't use KM apart from in running races for some reason... and roller coasters and trains always have a top speed in km/h
 
millisitre like millilitre but has an S like second? then the thing 10 times bigger would have to be a centisitre then a sitre would be like an hour... thinking about it I don't really like the gaps but I suppose we could have decisitres...

(for you I suppose all the -tre's are -ter's)
 
Yes, but it's off.

Light travels approximately a foot in a nanosecond. If you want to drop the foot, then a nano-new-second ought correspond to a integer unit of some fraction of a meter.

C, aka the speed of light, is really a space to time conversion ratio. Might as well get it right if we're finally declaring we've perfected spatial units.

The present second standard is as wonky as a foot, and being a member of the SI club doesn't redeem it.

Right now, 1 nanosecond is approximately 1/2.9979 meters - messy compared to about a foot.
 
But of course. That was my bad. For whatever reason, I felt like you were condemning the entirety of this thread. Carry on, then.
 
Being from Canada, I'm used to the metric system and I think it works great. I believe it is easier when working with big number ( 5,283 x 10^9) or things like that. I have no problems with the imperial system though and to me this isn't really an issue. One important point: scientists should work with SI units to avoid problems.

However, 60mph is roughly 97km/h, but the speed limit here is 100km/h ! That's a big advantage, isn't it? ;)

Oh, and do you guys really use your hands to count? :p
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, BUt I'm pretty sure that were it matters, the US already largely runs on metric. Most sciences use metric measurements and metric tools for their every day work (they couldn't interact effectively with the rest of the scientific community arund the world otherwise), and these days, if for no other reason that cost controls and cost reduction, most manufacturing for export is producing products that are made to metric standards. Haven't most car manufacturers switched much if not most of their production to metric as well so as to reduce manufacturing redundancies and be able to move production between sites more easily? When was the last time someone here went to a doctor and found anything but maybe the scale in the room to be in imperial measurements?
 
Isthmus said:
Haven't most car manufacturers switched much if not most of their production to metric as well
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That depends, on my 2000 Chevy van, the oil plug is metric, but in my 2007 Dodge car, it's imperial.
 
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