Should the U.S. move to the metric system.?

[dhinojosa]

Poll question: Should the U.S. move to the metric system.?

Should the U.S. move to the metric system?

[neweurope]

1. Yes, you should, Your influence on the rest of the world is

too big. I certainly don't want your system introduced over here, also. It's already begun. Moreover the metric system makes sense :P

--------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[tanyev]

2. Never happen.

The Stonecutters are too powerful.

Who keeps the metric system down?
We do, we do!

:toast:

[XemaSab]

33. Same reason why the electric car will never

happen on a widespread scale, and why the lounge was taken over by Steve Gutenberg threads the other day.

[tanyev]

37. That song has been in my head ever since

the Steve Guttenberg invasion. I guess it could be worse--it could be "Macarthur Park". :+

[XemaSab]

38. Me too

and the sad part is, I can't get the tune exactly right and I don't remember all the lyrics.

I think it's time to go download it onto my iPod, no?

[XemaSab]

39. Mission Accomplished

n/t

[liberal N proud]

3. I am a manager in Engineering Design and we have been metric

for 5 years.
All new equipment is designed in Metric.
Five years ago, it was difficult sourcing material in the US, but that is changing and shops are no longer shying away from working with the designs.
Metric is so much simpler than the inch system.

[NewJeffCT]

28. How much has our manufacturing been hurt by lack of metrics?

most of the rest of the world uses the metric system, so it would have made things a lot easier for anybody that wanted to export from America, back when we still made things 25 years ago...

[SheepyMcSheepster]

4. when i was in grade school....

in the 80's they told us that we were switching to the metric system that's why we had to learn it.........

i sure wish we had switched, the metric system is so much more intuitive.

[dhinojosa]

5. agree nt

[XemaSab]

34. It is intuitive as far as

remembering what converts to what, but not being raised with it, MAN... in science class they tell you to measure out 3 cc's or 4 grams of something, and you're sitting there going DUH....

Which is why we should go metric, BTW. No wonder we're lagging in science. It's a system that American kids have no familiarity with.

[etherealtruth]

51. "when i was in grade school...."

... in the 1970's, "they" said the same thing; however there was no real effort to change ... just an intro to "what the rest of the world does."

Anyone in a field, even peripherally, related to the sciences does use the metric system (thankfully).

[TheFarseer]

6. We should switch to cubits

They had cubits in the bible. If it's good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for me.

[Bill McBlueState]

7. As a scientist, I say definitely.

But I'd like to hear the arguments of those who want to keep the current system. I'm not clear what the benefit is, although it would take some work to make the switch.

[Greyhound]

43. I'm convinced it was the way they tried to 'convert' in the 70's/80's

It confused the poor 'average' folks. All those numbers 'n math 'n stuff. Makes my head hurt. :banghead:

[terrya]

8. Yes, without a doubt.

This is a no-brainer. We should be in line with the rest of the world.

[rurallib]

9. Why shouldn't the rest of the world change to our system?

Were the big dog on this planet. Every one else should do it our way.

[90-percent]

10. change everything else,

but drag strips should always be a quarter mile and Top Speed should always be MPH. Fastest current speed (piston motor)is 336 MPH in the quarter!

What other countries besides the USA use the inch system?

-85%

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. Britain is stuck half way

Road distances and speeds are still in miles, but petrol is sold in litres. Mileage is measured normally in mpg, but occasionally in the metric l/100km - neither of which you can work out directly from what you buy and what your odometer says.

Most weights and measures are now metric, but there are many people who complain about it, and resist every step of the way. The law makes an exception for a few 'traditional' units - eg pints of beer and milk. I'm sure the quarter mile would remain - in athletics, the mile is still run as a distance, even though it's close to 1500m.

[Telly Savalas]

27. Canada is officially metric...

but we still watch 6 ft. tall baseball pitchers throw 90 MPH fastballs and often pick up a quarter pounder with cheese on the way home from the game.

Imperial cooking measurements are much more intuitive than metric as well.

It certainly wouldn't kill anyone to be familiar with both systems though.

[dhinojosa]

15. Cause it's not our system really, it was the King of England...

and now England doesn't use it. Wait are you telling me, you thought we made it up? Whooooeeey! :)

[Bridget Burke]

11. US science already uses the metric system.

And many of the friends of my misspent youth often referred to the "kilo."

[Ready4Change]

12. Yes. Don't want all that training in grade school to be wasted. nt

[kedrys]

13. Yes, but it'll never happen, simply because nobody wants to hear

"third down and 1.3245 meters to go". :P

[dhinojosa]

16. Huh? Sports staticians and trivia buffs would LOVE IT!!!! nt

[kedrys]

17. The math would be easier to deal with, for sure

But somehow I don't think the great unwashed masses would go for it.

(Disclaimer: My early school years were spent in Canada, where the metric system was a de facto topic. I'm also a football fan - the U.S. variety.)

[Darranar]

18. Yes. Unlike ours, it actually makes sense with our system of numbers. n/t

[wake.up.america]

19. I am 1 meter 68 and weigh 68 kilograms.

[Waistdeep]

20. But, but it's French!

Don't forget that it was the French who introduced it.

Maybe if we just called the meter a "Freedom Unit" ...

Or perhaps a "Jumbo Yard"

[livinginphotographs]

22. Or we could name it after Reagan.

n/t

[Tin Man]

50. bahahaha! One jumbo yard

with fries, and supersize it!

[demgurl]

21. I thought we already started moving toward the metric system.....

After all, we already have a half liter in the White House!!!!

:rofl:

[wli]

23. imperial units are gibberish

The metric system is better, though it sort of loses the connection to fundamental constants in a few areas.

[Goldmund]

24. Of course -- is there any real question here?

[SmokingJacket]

25. Didn't we have this discussion back in 1978?

I learned all about hectares and decagrams, for what?

I guess I should be happy when I drink a liter of gatorade during a 5K race...

[Fescue4u]

26. Already tried

Didnt work.

No sense spending another $100 million on something will be rejected.

I've nothing against the metric system, theres bigger fish to fry and no support.

[Kelvin Mace]

29. You just have to "frame" the issue so the

"angry white men" buy into it.

Explain to them that under the metric system, they will have a WHOPPING 15 centimeters of dangling maleness.

They'll DEMAND the metric system then.

[spindoctor]

36. Hahahaha

:rofl:

[Sgent]

30. It will slowly happen

the metric system is already in use in scientific and medical applications almost exclusively. Manufacturing is moving there slowly, and the general public will be the last.

[tibbir]

31. It seems to me that it's happening already to an extent

[Redstone]

32. No.

If you give these metric people 25.4 millimeters, they'll take 1609.344 meters.

Redstone

[dhinojosa]

35. Ohhhhhhohoh, nice

:)

[Redstone]

40. Well, we'd have to change all of our folk sayings and songs:

A miss is as good as 160,934.4 centimeters.

Every man should have 16.1874257 hectares and a mule.

Walk 16,093.44 decimeters in my shoes.

I looked all over Hell's .20234 hectare, but I couldn't find him.

You load 14.5149558 metric tons, and what do you get? Another day older, and deeper in debt.

I wouldn't touch that one with a 304.8-centimeter pole.

He's dead and buried. Yes, he's 1.8288 meters under the ground.

What's next, are we going to have 100-second minutes, and 100-minute hours?

Redstone

[Igel]

41. The government shouldn't tell people what measurement system

to use.

If some sections of the economy switch over, great. If others don't, whatever. I personally like 'foot', it's a handy unit that can express fairly common measurements in low numbers, and nobody uses decimeters. What's weird is to read a recipe that still uses *cups* (even though the metric system's used elsewhere).

If some units switch, and others don't, not a problem. Decimal time-keeping didn't work out all that well, now did it? No, we still use the Babylonian system.

The only good thing about the metric system is that you convert from large to small units by powers of 10, not arbitrary numbers. (And, believe it or not, I've known people that had problems converting from grams to decas or kilos.)

At least nobody's making the claim that somehow the metric system is "rooted in nature" or "science based" (which is what I used to hear back in the '70s).

[Sgent]

42. It's a little more complex than that

For instance, the density of water is 1gm/cm^3. 1cm^3=1mL. Molar and atomic wieghts are easy to calculate since 1 mol weighs in grams the same as the AMU of the underlying molecule.

If it were merely a matter of a different method of calculating distance, there would be no reason to change, but there are a lot of advantages in the scientific and medical arena. For others, they are less apparent, but are still migrating overtime. I agree that forcing it was never going to happen -- see the UK.

[rinsd]

44. "Is it necessary for the US to change to thr metric system?"

is probably a more important question vs. whether one would like to change.

[trackfan]

45. I read, years ago, that the metric system is the only legal system

of weights and measures in the US; we just don't use it. I don't know if that's true, but I do remember reading it.

[pitohui]

47. i may assure you that is untrue

i know people in weights and measures and they sell a great many legal for trade systems that can weigh in ounces or tons

either system can be used in a legal for trade scale

[dhinojosa]

48. gwbsamoron is right....

Wow, that sounded weird. hehe.

In 1968, Congress authorized a three-year study of systems of measurement in the U.S., with particular emphasis on the feasibility of adopting SI. The detailed U.S. Metric Study was conducted by the Department of Commerce. A 45-member advisory panel consulted with and took testimony from hundreds of consumers, business organizations, labor groups, manufacturers, and state and local officials.

The final report of the study, "A Metric America: A Decision Whose Time Has Come," concluded that the U.S. would eventually join the rest of the world in the use of the metric system of measurement. The study found that measurement in the United States was already based on metric units in many areas and that it was becoming more so every day. The majority of study participants believed that conversion to the metric system was in the best interests of the nation, particularly in view of the importance of foreign trade and the increasing influence of technology in American life.

The study recommended that the United States implement a carefully planned transition to predominant use of the metric system over a ten-year period. Congress passed the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 "to coordinate and plan the increasing use of the metric system in the United States." The Act, however, did not require a ten-year conversion period. A process of voluntary conversion was initiated, and the U.S. Metric Board was established. The Board was charged with "devising and carrying out a broad program of planning, coordination, and public education, consistent with other national policy and interests, with the aim of implementing the policy set forth in this Act." The efforts of the Metric Board were largely ignored by the American public, and in 1981, the Board reported to Congress that it lacked the clear Congressional mandate necessary to bring about national conversion. Due to this apparent ineffectiveness, and in a Reagan effort to reduce federal spending, the Metric Board was disestablished in the fall of 1982.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_system_in_the_United_States

[pitohui]

49. not right at all

i assure you that federal bureau of investigations repeatedly and aggressively investigates violations of weights and measures law

you can have no trade if you can't trust your weights and measures

i can walk you over to a scale right now, legal for trade, certified under state and federal law, that measures weight in tons

i am confident that tons is not metric!

you can find such a scale yourself at any truck stop in the land

the metric system may have been "studied" but it is not the only legal weights and measures system in the usa

gwbsamoron is not right, the post made actually completely contrary to easily verified fact that you can check out for yourself

[pitohui]

46. no we have like computer s now

movement to go metric lost its steam when cheap calculators and computers come online

it is just as easy to stick with what we have because math is easy now

[wuushew]

52. People still can and do make math mistakes

recently my friend dug out a foundation for a rear patio. He wondered what the weight of the soil was. I had a general idea what the density was in grams/cubic centimeter.

If he had measured the area of the patio in meters the problem would have been trivial. Converting cubic feet or yards to the relevant metric units is a multi-step process. He got the wrong number twice and that was with using a calculator! Certainly mental math with three or four digital numbers is not easy for me at least.

Its not just average Americans who make mistakes, several years ago NASA lost an expensive Mars probe because the orbit calucaltions were in the wrong measurement system.

Our system is utter shit. If it was consistent maybe I would not a problem, but 1/4, 1/16 and 1/3s all seem to be thrown about with abandon. Finally the most successful metric system we use has been with us since the beginning...our money system. I don't hear anybody clamoring for a return to 1/32 quotations in the stock market.