Do Americans find metric too difficult?

[Captain Caveman]

Negative.

They're both precise. Yesterday, it was 19.8635c or 67.7543f.

Tell me which one is more precise than the other? I assume you and Concerned American were thick as **** at maths at school, and still are.

 

[Captain Caveman]

Negative.

I believe America uses metric. Apparently they're always using 9mm in schools.

 

[Bob Blaylock]

I believe America uses metric. Apparently they're always using 9mm in schools.

When I was in high school, it wasn't metric. We only used .22 (of an inch) rifles on the on-campus shooting range.

 

[themirrorthief]

When I was in high school, it wasn't metric. We only used .22 (of an inch) rifles on the on-campus shooting range.

metric is for anal retentive people who cant accept the greatness of the USA USA USA

 

[Bob Blaylock]

metric is for anal retentive people who cant accept the greatness of the USA USA USA

Give me back my mirror!

 

[Concerned American]

When I was in high school, it wasn't metric. We only used .22 (of an inch) rifles on the on-campus shooting range.

One degree Celsius is equal to 1.8 degrees fahrenheit. Fahrenheit scale is more accurate than celsius.

 

[Oddball]

I like fives and twenties. I hate twos and fifties. Tens are OK, but pennies are worthless.

Pre-1982 pennies are worth 2.5¢.

Though not much in one unit, how often can you reach into your pocket and pull out something worth over double its face value?

 

[Oddball]

 

[Concerned American]

Pre-1982 pennies are worth 2.5¢.

Though not much in one unit, how often can you reach into your pocket and pull out something worth over double its face value?

Similar to pre 1964 US silver coinage. Pennies today actually cost 1.43 cents to produce and they are just copper plated zinc. Pre-1982 are all copper.

 

[Bob Blaylock]

One degree Celsius is equal to 1.8 degrees fahrenheit [sic]. Fahrenheit scale is more accurate than celsius [sic].

That makes no sense. Nothing to do with accuracy at all.

PRECISION (not the same thing as accuracy) is closer to relevant, but still, not. If you limit yourself to one significant digit of precision, then a degree Fahrenheit represents a finer step than a degree Celsius. But nothing says you have to limit yourself to one digit.

Then, there is the concept of gratuitous precision, an ill to which I am often prone. Oddly, as illogical as it is to express something in gratuitous precision, the hardest related stereotype I have in my head is of the Spock character from Star Trek doing exactly that. Imagine the following hypothetical exchange:

• Captain Kirk: Spock, how far away is that wall?
• Spock: Captain, that wall is six point one seven five six four eight six meters away.

That six meters, about twenty feet in real units, but here is Spock, as he is stereotyped as doing, specifying it down to a much finer precision than he could possibly be able to estimate. Over a good room-sized distance, he's specifying it down to a degree so small that you cannot see it with a light-based microscope. There's no way that Spock can know the distance, can estimate the distance, to that degree of precision.

I'm pretty sure that I faintly remember some sequence in one episode, details of which are forgotten, in which Spock stereotypically express some figure down to an absurd level of precision, with both Kirk and McCoy slowly repeating each digit, effectively mocking him.

 

[Concerned American]

PRECISION

I stand corrected. However using whole units Fahrenheit gives a more precise and accurate measure than say 78F = 26C (actually 78F = 25.55556C)

 

[Zebra]

Do Americans find metric too difficult?​

I think metric is a lot easier than Imperial.

 

[hadit]

One degree Celsius is equal to 1.8 degrees fahrenheit. Fahrenheit scale is more accurate than celsius.

I think the word you're looking for is "precise", not "accurate".

 

[Bob Blaylock]

One degree Celsius is equal to 1.8 degrees fahrenheit [sic]. Fahrenheit scale is more accurate than celsius [sic].

I think the word you're looking for is "precise", not "accurate".

And even then, he's still getting it wrong. He's conflating the side of the units with precision, rather than his own artificial limit imposed by sticking to whole units. You can specify a measurement in either unit, to any level of precision, by using enough digits past the decimal point.

However precise you state a measurement, however, is entirely divorced from whether or not the instrument used to make that measurement is accurate enough to justify that level of precision.

 

[Captain Caveman]

About right, lol -

We used both, mix and match.

 

[Seymour Flops]

I use both imperial and metric. Whatever I'm doing, if metric or imperial works better, I use that. When it comes to Quantity Surveying, I have to use metric because materials are sold in metric units.

Do you, or can you use metric?

Yes, I use metric in my hobby of woodworking.

It is much easier, once I memorized the conversions of measurements like 3.5 and 1.5 inches (real size of a "two by four"). Milimeters are nearly perfect as the smallest length measurement and centimeters are easy to do the math on once you get used to them.

Americans might well have adopted metric if Carter's government had not tried to force it on us.

 

[JohnDB]

I use both imperial and metric. Whatever I'm doing, if metric or imperial works better, I use that. When it comes to Quantity Surveying, I have to use metric because materials are sold in metric units.

Do you, or can you use metric?

Yeah....
Imperial for milli, micro, nano, pico....(machining)

If accuracy doesn't matter, then I use metric.
Also I prefer SAE for a lot of stuff. But if it's automotive grab the metric set....
14mm is just a 9/16 wrench
13mm is ½ wrench.
So a bit of crossover is going to happen.

The metric system is ultimately based upon the circumference of the Earth....supposedly. (unless it's flat)

 

[Captain Caveman]

Yes, I use metric in my hobby of woodworking.

It is much easier, once I memorized the conversions of measurements like 3.5 and 1.5 inches (real size of a "two by four"). Milimeters are nearly perfect as the smallest length measurement and centimeters are easy to do the math on once you get used to them.

Americans might well have adopted metric if Carter's government had not tried to force it on us.

There's a misconception by some on both sides of the pond that Americans solely use imperial and the Brits solely use metric. When I saw that chart, I chuckled because it's bang on right. Metric is based 10, so it's more straight forward.

 

[ShahdagMountains]

I think metric is a lot easier than Imperial.

It’s what one is used to.

Canada is metric, with no problems

 

[hadit]

I wish America had converted to metric when I was growing up in the 70's. It would be a lot more convenient today. That being said, my wife had to learn even more archaic units of measure than cups and ounces when she earned her pharmacy technician certification. Thankfully, medicine is not measured in drams anymore.