The metric system

[whitehall]

One of president Jimmie Carter's many failures. I always thought the U.S. Military's use of the metric system began when NATO was organized. Apparently it goes back at least to WW2. I have a U.S. made (inert) anti-tank shell marked "37mm MK3A2" Lot 8099-7 FA 1941.

 

[Pete7469]

I actually think it's time to convert, the system we're using is archaic and complicates things.

 

[Dogmaphobe]

I kinda like it.

One thing of mine that used to measure out at just a little over 6 inches is now a whopping 160 millimeters!

 

[rightwinger]

Carter was right

The country lacked the guts

 

[toobfreak]

I actually think it's time to convert, the system we're using is archaic and complicates things.

The metric system is simply a number system created around Base 10. Denary. It is great for a lot of things, not as much or as necessary for others. We have already converted in a sense, adopted its use, still, nothing wrong with the US Customary / British Imperial system. It isn't archaic, it has been around for a very long time for good reason. Since it was here first, it complicates nothing, the complication comes from metric competing with it. It's actually rather easy to convert between the two in most cases if you simply remember a few simple conversion factors.

 

[whitehall]

Apparently the U.S. adopted European weapons after WW1 without converting them to the U.S. measurement system that American industry understood at the time. The U.S. adapted to some of the weapons but the M-1 Garand rifle (General Patton considered the greatest infantry weapon in history) used the .30-06 nomenclature rather than the European MM. The strange thing is that the metric system that Americans refused to acknowledge back when the Peanut Man was president, has remained today as another left wing issue.

 

[Blackrook]

I wrote a science fiction series and stuck exclusively to the metric system and it created a lot of problems for me.

 

[fncceo]

What's wrong with using both?

Aviation in most countries uses feet for altitude and nautical miles for distance / speed.

The British use miles and MPH on their highways.

Going back and forth is pretty straightforward.

 

[toobfreak]

I wrote a science fiction series and stuck exclusively to the metric system and it created a lot of problems for me.

The metric system is logical and simple and has great apps for the science industry, but I have no desire to live in a world of newtons, liters, and pascals. Taken to its logical extension, there should be 10 hours in a day, and 100 days in a year.

 

[Blackrook]

I wrote a science fiction series and stuck exclusively to the metric system and it created a lot of problems for me.

The metric system is logical and simple and has great apps for the science industry, but I have no desire to live in a world of newtons, liters, and pascals. Taken to its logical extension, there should be 10 hours in a day, and 100 days in a year.

My problem was describing how tall people are.

I would say someone was 1.6 meters tall.

No one knows what that is.

 

[toobfreak]

I wrote a science fiction series and stuck exclusively to the metric system and it created a lot of problems for me.

The metric system is logical and simple and has great apps for the science industry, but I have no desire to live in a world of newtons, liters, and pascals. Taken to its logical extension, there should be 10 hours in a day, and 100 days in a year.

My problem was describing how tall people are.

I would say someone was 1.6 meters tall.

No one knows what that is.

Neither do I. First I would take 1.6 X 39.37 = 63 inches = 5 1/4 feet or 5 feet and ~3 inches. Just off the top of my head.

Now I know how tall they are.

There are overlapping units everywhere: meters, hertz, microns, angstroms, kelvin, centigrade, Fahrenheit-- -- -- I don't know why people feel we need to abolish one in favor of another EXCLUSIVELY. Each system has its uses and advantages. Why don't we then abolish all currencies and languages and use only one of each? Or one government system? One government? We are heading toward a slippery slope.

Whatever happened to DIVERSITY being as GOOD thing?

 

[Blackrook]

I would describe temperature in Celsius and no one knows what the hell that is either.

 

[Blackrook]

I even got rid of the concept of a dozen, but how the hell do you pack eggs?

 

[toobfreak]

I would describe temperature in Celsius and no one knows what the hell that is either.

Celsius, centigrade, pretty basic. Freezing is 0°C not 32°F. And boiling (water at sea level) is 100°C not 212°F. So 50°C is really hot, around 105°F. Divide that by 5 and you have a rough guess where each 10°C lies (roughly 20°F). Ballpark conversions. Or you can do EXACT conversion with a very simple calculation.

Try dealing with light years and parsecs!

 

[whitehall]

Americans still rely on the inch and the foot and the mile for basic measurements while they have to deal with metric stuff in tools. Is that a political issue for the radical left?

 

[Silver Cat]

I wrote a science fiction series and stuck exclusively to the metric system and it created a lot of problems for me.

The metric system is logical and simple and has great apps for the science industry, but I have no desire to live in a world of newtons, liters, and pascals. Taken to its logical extension, there should be 10 hours in a day, and 100 days in a year.

Vernor Vinge in his "A Deepness in the Sky" described a time system based on seconds, kiloseconds and megaseconds. Pretty thing.

 

[Slade3200]

One of president Jimmie Carter's many failures. I always thought the U.S. Military's use of the metric system began when NATO was organized. Apparently it goes back at least to WW2. I have a U.S. made (inert) anti-tank shell marked "37mm MK3A2" Lot 8099-7 FA 1941.

I’ve never understood why the metric system isn’t just used by everybody. It’s what most of the world uses... right?

 

[Captain Caveman]

I’ve never understood why the metric system isn’t just used by everybody. It’s what most of the world uses... right?

I use both. They both have pros and cons but I weigh more over to imperial being the better system. When I fit a curtain pole, I often need to fit a centre bracket. If the window is 60.5 inches wide, I just find it mentally quicker to divide that by 2, rather than divide 153.6cm or 1536mm by 2.

We still ask for a quarter of sweets, the shopkeeper weighs out the metric equivalent. For a UK pint of beer, we ask for a pint, not 568 millilitres.

 

[Slade3200]

I’ve never understood why the metric system isn’t just used by everybody. It’s what most of the world uses... right?

I use both. They both have pros and cons but I weigh more over to imperial being the better system. When I fit a curtain pole, I often need to fit a centre bracket. If the window is 60.5 inches wide, I just find it mentally quicker to divide that by 2, rather than divide 153.6cm or 1536mm by 2.

We still ask for a quarter of sweets, the shopkeeper weighs out the metric equivalent. For a UK pint of beer, we ask for a pint, not 568 millilitres.

Good point. I’m sure more is better than less in the area... onward and upward

 

[whitehall]

Jimmie Carter tried to convert MPH to KPH and some vehicles those days (even today) show MPH and Km speed which is confusing except maybe if you are traveling to Canada. U.S. traffic signs showed metric but people didn't like it. Personally I appreciate it when my temperature stays at 98.6 F instead of whatever a celsius (remember when it was (centigrade?) thermometer indicates. Yeah we can convert metric but why should we?