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Make the Metric system the standard in the United States

petitions.whitehouse.gov

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Re: Make the Metric system the standard in the United States

#31

Post by rplnt »

oneandoneis2 wrote: post #22
SideburnsOfDoom wrote: post #14

Before we start with the standard junk about "imperial measures are better because they are easier to understand / better suited to human scale / etc." can I say nope . The only advantage that imperial measures have (for some) is that they are familiar. That's the sum total of it. People where were raised metric find these apologies for imperial measures to be pure gibberish.

Actually, I think metric could be improved with a few imperial equivalents - A "metric foot" as 30cm, for instance - because they are convenient measurements. e.g. If somebody asks me "How tall is that person?" it's easier to say "About five foot" rather than "I dunno, about 155cm?" (I'm British, btw)

Then you would end up: "Not about, how exactly tall he is?", "Oh, five foot and 5 cm."

The 30cm unit would improve absolutely nothing, it would only complicate things. If you want to use approximate measurement, just round it to tens of centimeters. Or you can use meters with one decimal place, whatever comes more natural.

Re: Make the Metric system the standard in the United States

#32

Post by davidw »

rplnt wrote: post #24
davidw wrote: post #18

The way I explain this one to my European friends is: Do you remember the transition to the Euro? How you had to mentally convert prices at first? And how old people had more difficulties with it in some cases? Now, imagine that, not just for one unit, but weights, lengths, temperatures and volumes, all at the same time.

Well, you don't have to be so drastic. Just teaching metrics in all schools and requiring their use in higher education would be enough for the next decade or two. Only then you can start thinking about something as the petition asks.

Teaching it academically is different from 'living' it. See my other answer above/below:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4996402

Re: Make the Metric system the standard in the United States

#33

Post by jamesjguthrie »

jamesjguthrie wrote: post #3

I look forward to everywhere using metric. I'm in the UK, 27 and still struggle at times to comprehend lbs, ounces, stone, feet, inches, yards, miles etc., when everything I was taught in school was in metres, litres, newtons and kilogrammes.

We ask for a footlong, a quarter pounder etc when we go out for fast food.

Our fat friends are 16 stone, 17 stone.

We live miles away from each other.

Penalties in football are taken in the 18 yard box.

We use cup measures for flour, sugar etc in cooking.

The average penis is ~6 inches when fully erect.

I've got two 4 pint cartons of milk in my fridge.

I could go on. Imperial units are absolute muck and I cannot wait for a entirely metric world.

Re: Make the Metric system the standard in the United States

#34

Post by sirn »

oneandoneis2 wrote: post #22
SideburnsOfDoom wrote: post #14

Before we start with the standard junk about "imperial measures are better because they are easier to understand / better suited to human scale / etc." can I say nope . The only advantage that imperial measures have (for some) is that they are familiar. That's the sum total of it. People where were raised metric find these apologies for imperial measures to be pure gibberish.

Actually, I think metric could be improved with a few imperial equivalents - A "metric foot" as 30cm, for instance - because they are convenient measurements. e.g. If somebody asks me "How tall is that person?" it's easier to say "About five foot" rather than "I dunno, about 155cm?" (I'm British, btw)

I only live in Metric-using country and I have no slightest idea how tall is five foot, whereas 155cm instantly comes to my mind as, ah, at around my eye level. It's all about familiarity.

Re: Make the Metric system the standard in the United States

#35

Post by davidw »

czzarr wrote: post #27
davidw wrote: post #18

The way I explain this one to my European friends is: Do you remember the transition to the Euro? How you had to mentally convert prices at first? And how old people had more difficulties with it in some cases? Now, imagine that, not just for one unit, but weights, lengths, temperatures and volumes, all at the same time.

quite frankly this is deceitful, a lot of Americans already use the International System daily for their work, and I would bet that a very large number of Americans have some knowledge of it. Whereas the Euro was completely new, the International units have been here for years.

> deceitful

I'm telling it like I see it, please do not ascribe malice to what I'm writing. I wish we had the metric system in the US, but the units just aren't as meaningful as familiar degrees F, pounds, inches, feet, miles, and so on. That's true for me even after having spent a lot of time living here in Italy, to varying degrees, depending on how much I use a given unit.

Re: Make the Metric system the standard in the United States

#36

Post by flaie »

oneandoneis2 wrote: post #22
SideburnsOfDoom wrote: post #14

Before we start with the standard junk about "imperial measures are better because they are easier to understand / better suited to human scale / etc." can I say nope . The only advantage that imperial measures have (for some) is that they are familiar. That's the sum total of it. People where were raised metric find these apologies for imperial measures to be pure gibberish.

Actually, I think metric could be improved with a few imperial equivalents - A "metric foot" as 30cm, for instance - because they are convenient measurements. e.g. If somebody asks me "How tall is that person?" it's easier to say "About five foot" rather than "I dunno, about 155cm?" (I'm British, btw)

This is only because you're british and because of the way you learned how to measure things when you were young.

I'm totally unable to represent in my head how really tall "about five foot" is whereas 1,50m is totally understandable for me, easy to visualize.

Re: Make the Metric system the standard in the United States

#37

Post by dfxm12 »

jcfrei wrote: post #16

related question to people from the US: did you actually learn the metric system in primary school? did you learn it besides the imperial units? I believe as Tloewald pointed out that the adoption really depends on whether people are learning it and not what politicians declare to be the standard.

I can't remember if it was primary school or high school, but I learned it. It was not beside the imperial units. Those were learned first (and very early) while metric was taught as a part of science classes.

Re: Make the Metric system the standard in the United States

#38

Post by RBerenguel »

davidw wrote: post #18

The way I explain this one to my European friends is: Do you remember the transition to the Euro? How you had to mentally convert prices at first? And how old people had more difficulties with it in some cases? Now, imagine that, not just for one unit, but weights, lengths, temperatures and volumes, all at the same time.

Everyone managed after around 2 years, with the Euro. Even older people.

Re: Make the Metric system the standard in the United States

#39

Post by SideburnsOfDoom »

oneandoneis2 wrote: post #22
SideburnsOfDoom wrote: post #14

Before we start with the standard junk about "imperial measures are better because they are easier to understand / better suited to human scale / etc." can I say nope . The only advantage that imperial measures have (for some) is that they are familiar. That's the sum total of it. People where were raised metric find these apologies for imperial measures to be pure gibberish.

Actually, I think metric could be improved with a few imperial equivalents - A "metric foot" as 30cm, for instance - because they are convenient measurements. e.g. If somebody asks me "How tall is that person?" it's easier to say "About five foot" rather than "I dunno, about 155cm?" (I'm British, btw)

I'm in England, and I view 500ml as a "metric pint"

Re: Make the Metric system the standard in the United States

#40

Post by macca321 »

jamesjguthrie wrote: post #33
jamesjguthrie wrote: post #3

I look forward to everywhere using metric. I'm in the UK, 27 and still struggle at times to comprehend lbs, ounces, stone, feet, inches, yards, miles etc., when everything I was taught in school was in metres, litres, newtons and kilogrammes.

We ask for a footlong, a quarter pounder etc when we go out for fast food. Our fat friends are 16 stone, 17 stone. We live miles away from each other. Penalties in football are taken in the 18 yard box. We use cup measures for flour, sugar etc in cooking. The average penis is ~6 inches when fully erect. I've got two 4 pint cartons of milk in my fridge. I could go on. Imperial units are absolute muck and I cannot wait…

a gallon of milk, eh? you must drink a lot of it
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