Should America go metric?

[Polarthief]

Cough..ahem..

Just a random example.

Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King, a man who defends dog fighting, still wonders whether Obama's birth announcement might have been telegraphed from Kenya, and is suing the Obama Administration for allowing undocumented youth to stay in the country to attend college, has found another soap box to stand on.

Yeah, that's not balls, that's just being a typical American retard. (I'm American! I can be making stereotypes about my own kind!)

[skrump]

The U.S will never convert as our measurement systems are such an integral part of our daily life.

[Al3sinth]

Sitting here looking at my 1lb rubber mallet and realized it's now a 453.59237g rubber mallet.

[Dch48]

Absolutely not, especially for temperature. How can you feel comfortable when the thermometer says 20 when it's really 68 in the sensible Fahrenheit scale?

[Polarthief]

Oh, you're a fellow American. So it's okay if you insult the rest of us.

So do you disagree that the Imperial units system isn't fucking retarded? Please lecture me on how it's at all better than the metric system. It's just because you're used to it. If the US were to swap, you'd get over it and also love the new method that the entire rest of the progressive world uses.

---------- Post added 2012-12-13 at 12:25 AM ----------

Sitting here looking at my 1lb rubber mallet and realized it's now a 453.59237g rubber mallet.

Compare pounds to kilograms. Then it's not that bad.

That would now be a 0.4536kg rubber mallet.

[breadisfunny]

So do you disagree that the Imperial units system isn't fucking retarded? Please lecture me on how it's at all better than the metric system. It's just because you're used to it. If the US were to swap, you'd get over it and also love the new method that the entire rest of the progressive world uses.

no i wouldn't. i refuse to use metric.

[blackblade]

Um.. Decimetre?

Don't see a lot of love for dm (10 cm.)

[obdigore]

Don't see a lot of love for dm (10 cm.)

DM is totally Dungeon Master, which is something else entirely.

[Polarthief]

Absolutely not, especially for temperature. How can you feel comfortable when the thermometer says 20 when it's really 68 in the sensible Fahrenheit scale?

I won't lie, I actually do dislike Celsius. Though the imperial units for measurements, those all need to go.

no i wouldn't. i refuse to use metric.

So you wouldn't disagree, but you'll refuse to use metric?

That's an oxymoron if I ever heard one.

[Frontenac]

Metrication is not something you do over night. It will be a long process and changes will probably be made progressively by the government. So it will cost a lot, but on a long run. It will certainly cost less than invading a country... Canada has started this process in the 1970's and it's not even finished yet. Of course, the fact USA still use the imperial system prevents a better adoption of the metric system in Canada. As an exemple, wood is sold in inches in Canada, since a lot of it comes from or is sold to USA. So construction workers and carpenters have to use the imperial system. Older people are also used to the old system. Anyway, Wikipedia has an interesting article on how metrication was made in Canada.

And really, I fail to see how temperatures are better in Fahrenheit than Celsius. Do we really need that much precision when we only want to know what we should wear before going out?

[vastx]

Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King, a man who defends dog fighting, still wonders whether Obama's birth announcement might have been telegraphed from Kenya, and is suing the Obama Administration for allowing undocumented youth to stay in the country to attend college, has found another soap box to stand on.

Yeah, that's not balls, that's just being a typical American retard. (I'm American! I can be making stereotypes about my own kind!)

I don't care who proposes making English the official language. My point was that some people want government to force switching to the metric, while deploring the idea of establishing an official language. Yes, it's not the same thing (language and a number system) but the mandatory switching is the same idea.

[breadisfunny]

I won't lie, I actually do dislike Celsius. Though the imperial units for measurements, those all need to go.



So you wouldn't disagree, but you'll refuse to use metric?

That's an oxymoron if I ever heard one.

i am too comfortable with the imperial system to switch to the metric system. and no i actually think the imperial system is better. at least in my eyes it is.

[Dch48]

So do you disagree that the Imperial units system isn't fucking retarded? Please lecture me on how it's at all better than the metric system. It's just because you're used to it. If the US were to swap, you'd get over it and also love the new method that the entire rest of the progressive world uses.

In most cases I would hardly consider the rest of the world's stances on anything as progressive. Much more like regressive and sliding back into the dark ages.
The metric system is boring and the Centigrade scale in particular is ridiculous. Kilometers instead of miles is also bad.

[vastx]

So do you disagree that the Imperial units system isn't fucking retarded? Please lecture me on how it's at all better than the metric system. It's just because you're used to it. If the US were to swap, you'd get over it and also love the new method that the entire rest of the progressive world uses.

---------- Post added 2012-12-13 at 12:25 AM ----------



Compare pounds to kilograms. Then it's not that bad.

That would now be a 0.4536kg rubber mallet.

The foundation of the system we use is archaic...but it works, it's infallible in it's end, regardless of it's roots. It's a makeup of my life. I don't want it to change. If you somehow feel embarrassed that you live in a country that doesn't use the metric system..well, your priorities are fucked.

[igualitarist]

Ill type everything again to make things clearer, i think i failed to express myself in previous posts

I don't think U.S.A should switch, what i think is that the metric system should be taught in schools too.
Almost every non-english speaking country of the world study english, to use in an international context, this does not mean their mother language are not taught.

So americans should learn the metric system to use when talking to someone from another country that uses the metric system (international system), just like everyone in this world should learn english (international language). It's just to make communications easier.
When i am in my country, i speak my mother language. When i am in an international ambient i speak english, a poor english, but i try. So an american could use the imperial system when not in an international ambient, but should use the metric system in an international ambient.

What's the problem on it ?? All the world learns another language to communicate with America, why americans can't do this for the sake of communication ?

[vastx]

Ill type everything again to make things clearer, i think i failed to express myself in previous posts

I don't think U.S.A should switch, what i think is that the metric system should be taught in schools too.
Almost every non-english speaking country of the world study english, to use in an international context, this does not mean their mother language are not taught.

So americans should learn the metric system to use when talking to someone from another country that uses the metric system (international system), just like everyone in this world should learn english (international language). It's just to make communications easier.
When i am in my country, i speak my mother language. When i am in an international ambient i speak english, a poor english, but i try. So an american could use the imperial system when not in an international ambient, but should use the metric system in an international ambient.

What's the problem on it ?? All the world learns another language to communicate with America, why americans can't do this for the sake of communication ?

We are taught the metric system. But then, a lot of us never use it in daily life. I use it to some degree.

[Frontenac]

Sitting here looking at my 1lb rubber mallet and realized it's now a 453.59237g rubber mallet.

It's the decimals that irks you? Well, if USA converts to metric, you would probably buy a 500 g mallet instead. Problem solved.

[MintJam]

I don't think it'd be of any benefit, mostly because it's been around for so long. Making all of America change their system would be too much effort for so little pay off. It doesn't hurt to teach it to people though. Thing is, we already use the metric system where it matters. The general American public would not be harmed by not using the metric system.

I work in the science/medical field though and I use the metric system on a daily basis anyways, so it doesn't matter for me.

[igualitarist]

We are taught the metric system. But then, a lot of us never use it in daily life. I use it to some degree.

I don't use english in daily life, but i do use when i am in an international ambient. Its the same thing.
But i have to say is nice to know americans are taught about this system, but americans should do an effort to use it when talking to someone from another country, since this person did the effort to learn another language to talk to you.

[Skollvaldr]

Lastly the date thing...i vote everyone should go month/day/year...I dont know how its done else where but when i ask someone the date they say "December 12th, 2012"
the say month then the day then the year...makes more sense to me to write it the same way.

You realize that you only say "December 12th, 2012" because it's written that way? Not the other way around.

Do you say "he finished 2nd place, overall" or "he finished place 2nd, overall?"


In genereal SI > Imperial.