Why doesn't the US use the metric system yet?

[Guy Fawkes]

Seriously, why? A system based on the number 10 could be taught to TEXANS for crying out loud! (no offense meant, those few (15) of you intelligent Texans).

[KitchenWitch]

1. People are so resistant to change

If they changed to the metric system, we might have to accept that evolution is possible :rofl:

[H5N1]

4. that was silly but fun

I like it

[KitchenWitch]

9. I tend to be silly

it cannot be helped! :D

[H5N1]

2. excellent question

[bicentennial_baby]

3. Tell me about it...

:cry:

[deadparrot]

5. we tried...and failed. nt

[ThoughtCriminal]

6. Reactionaries too lazy to learn

It's bad when you lose a Mars probe because soemone insisted on calculating an interplanetary flight using furlongs per fortnight (0.000166309524 m / s)

[MisterP]

7. why should they?

and The Onion notes that our youth are becoming familiar: 5 mm, kilos...
We can operate fine on a dual system, so long as everything's labeled (just ask NASA)

[Historic NY]

8. They tried when I was in school.......

we rejected it. The only thing I miss was the old Imperial Gallon, used to be nice to fillup in Canada.

[hippiepunk]

10. FUCK THE metric SYSTEM

:evilgrin:

[Maple]

12. Er...why?

[hippiepunk]

21. Fuck the system

is a common phrase. I can't tell jokes in GD, I forgot.

[Maple]

24. LOL ahhhh

well it's turned into the Saturday Night Fight Club in here, so it's hard to tell when someone is joking! :D

[hippiepunk]

26. No problem

:hi:

[Endangered Specie]

11. Actually the SI system is used in the US (Let me try and answer this...)

First of all, many areas of the US actually DO use the metric system.

For example, many car companies that export cars use the SI system almost entirely, as do many companies that produce products to be sold outside of the US. This is why your imperial measurment tools may not work on newer cars and you gotta go buy a metric set. A good number of firms/government use both side by side,

I know that as a student in engineering, we are taught pretty much how to do things in both systems. Some engr fields use metric more than others. As an example, electical engineering is almost entirely metric, whilst, say, Civil is very resistant to changing. And, of course, all science in this country is in SI.

Changing a measurment system is not easy, and would require several years and a LOT of money. There are so many things that would have to be retooled or reprinted or renamed, and the truth is that it will likely be several decades before its 'okay' to forget the old system.

To all those who say its 'stupid' that we havent changed, I hope Ive highlighted that this goes beyond intelligence level and involves the time money costs of changing such a basic thing.

[Guy Fawkes]

22. I see your point, and it is a good one...

but I still feal that the education system is failing children by not actively teaching them the metric system. In fact, the only time I learned measurements before High School was in a "FACE" class, where we had to learn things like cooking and sewing. While I hated the class and spent most of the time reading Pink Floyd Rock n' Roll comics (the orig.s, thanks to one of the TA's :)) I seem to have taken away enough to tell a gallon from a cup. Or Oz. Or whatever it's called.

[Endangered Specie]

25. I dont know what its like in grade schools anymore...

but in my HS science classes we did metric, and Ive already mentioned college level stuff.

I do agree that we should teach metric and imperial to kids early (elementary school).

[EstimatedProphet]

13. Because dividing by 10 is hard work.

[Brightmore]

14. Damn Stonecutters

[TahitiNut]

15. It'd be tough to change all those documents, like driver's licenses.

Weight: 20 stone
Height: 1 fathom, 1 nail

The cops are too accustomed to the English weights and measures.
:evilgrin:

[Spinzonner]

16. US 'Mericuns don't measure things like those 'rOpeon socialists

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. Originally, every kid in the US was to know the metric system

by 1990. Then they changed it to 2000.

I am assuming that goal was dropped. I have no idea why.

[PurgedVoter]

18. I was there when they tried to teach us the metric system.

I was in grade school at the time. It was the stupidest attempt at teaching you had ever seen.

They had kids memorizing conversions and converting back and forth each time you made a measurement. Lets tell the simple truth here. If someone else made the measurement, I may need to convert. If I made the measurement, the only reason I need to convert is that I used the wrong scale to measure with.

They made it hard by teaching it as a thing to convert to or from. They taught temperature as a conversion. That is so stupid it hurts. Centigrade is easy. 0=freezing, 100=boiling, 23=comfortable, 37 is about body temp. That is all you need to know and is about all most of us have down in fahrenheit. The funny thing is, they actually taught what needed to be taught. But they tested for all the extra conversions, and when kids balked, they decided that they had failed.

[Bozita]

19. Our better idea is to ignore all better ideas

They're just showing off.

[Dagaz]

20. 9mm special?

It would hurt songwriting.

[punpirate]

23. Unfortunately, the US...

... has almost as much difficulty with innumeracy as it does with illiteracy, so changing systems doesn't change the root problem. If one is competent in math and units of measure, going from one system to the other is relatively painless.

What will change the system of measurement, gradually, is America's dependence upon imports. Since the rest of the world uses the metric system, eventually it will not want the expense of calculating, measuring and labelling in two systems. Look, for example, at your average liquor store--most everything (with the possible exception of American beer) is measured in milliliters. Not even American distillers bottle in either quarts or fifths any longer.

Cheers.

[Maple]

27. Maybe there's a reason for that

The good Christian should beware of mathematicians and all those who make empty prophecies. The danger already exists that mathematicians have made a covenant with the devil to darken the spirit and confine man in the bonds of Hell.

¯ Saint Augustine

:7

[wake.up.america]

28. According to Rush Limbaugh. the metric system was designed...

by foreigners in order to bring down the American way of life.

[Maple]

30. Yer kidding me!

How the hell would it do that??

Not changing to it might...since everyone else is on metric...but a simpler measurement system could bring down the American way of life??

Gee, think of the money the USSR could have saved by not building nukes all those years!

[wake.up.america]

51. I was just jesting. But, you never know with Rush.

[Maple]

52. Oh thank goodness

Somebody needs to do the paperwork to put him in a mental institution. He has done enormous harm to the US.

[wake.up.america]

59. I think Rush, like so many of them, knows exactly what he is doing...I

Rush has following of people who feel as if they are somebodies because of their cult-like following of him. The sect-members buy books, magazines, CD, diet guides,etc. sold with his name. Rush's income would plummet if he were to tell the truth.

[Art_from_Ark]

29. There is no compelling reason to change to metric for the average citizen

The cost alone for making a complete conversion would be astronomical. And the benefits received, for the average citizen, would be few to none.

In fact, a complete switchover would invite gouging, as it did in Canada. Gasoline went from 58 cents per Canadian gallon (5 quarts, or 4.7 liters) in 1978 to 58 cents per liter, or 4.7X more expensive, in 1989. The same thing for deli items in stores-- potato salad that was selling for $1.69 per pound was soon selling for $1.00 per 100 grams-- a measly 2/9 of a pound.

People like my parents would be lost with the conversion.

Screw it. If you want to learn the metric system, fine. But making this change just for change's sake isn't worth it.

[Maple]

31. Everyone else has managed it

The costs weren't astronomical...no there wasn't gouging in Canada...and you shouldn't BE 'converting'. Use the system by itself. Forget the old one...you HAVE forgotten most of it.

Do you still measure land in rods? Do you know what a peck is?

It isn't 'change for change's sake'...the rest of the world is on metric....and loosing Mars shots ain't cheap. Either in money...or prestige.

[Art_from_Ark]

33. The hell there wasn't gouging in Canada

I was in Canada in '78 and again in the '80s, I saw it for myself. And I met lots of locals who complained about the gouging. 58 cents for a Canadian gallon in '78, 58 cents for a liter in '89. That's a fact. Same with the deli/bulk food items-- the apparent price was reduced a little, the unit was MUCH smaller than before.

And the conversion isn't necessary *for the average citizen*. NASA is an increasingly international space agency, they should have known better than to mix metric and English systems. But for the average citizen, there is absilutely no compelling reason, and no tangible benefit other than simplified calculations, to make a complete switch.

[Maple]

35. The math ability of other people

is not my problem...I lived through the changeover, and never ran into any gouging. And that was across several provinces.

Many people didn't understand it. Who's fault is that?

Gotta be the simplest system on the planet.

Yes indeed the conversion is necessary for the average citizen.

Refusing to convert got American automakers in trouble in Japan.

American car sales today are dismal...auto workers get laid off.

Buying stuff at the store that's imported from all around the world is impossible if you insist on an outdated system.

There are a thousand other changes coming down the pike...be quick or be dead.

"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." Alvin Toffler

[Art_from_Ark]

38. Are you saying that Detroit's cars are crappy

just because the system is English? That's absurd. You want crappy cars? How about Yugos, Fiats, Treblants, and Deux Cheveaux? All metric, and all crap.

Detroit's problems stem in large part from the fact that it is unwilling to build efficient cars itself, and has all but abandoned the small car market.

[Maple]

39. Yes

and they need to be in metric everywhere...and left hand drive is also required.

The system isn't 'English'. The system is medieval.

GM and Ford are junk bond status. You do the math.

Oh...sorry.

[Art_from_Ark]

43. What's left hand drive got to do with metric?

And once again, GM and Ford's problems have little to do with the measurement system, and a lot to do with the abandonment of the small car market and management's constant fight against efficiency.

By the way, I had a Made in Canada Chevette back in the '80s-- metric-- and it was crap. The engine drank a quart of oil every 200 miles-- make that a liter of oil every 304 kilometers-- and the cam shaft broke in two while I was cruising down the Interstate at the top speed of 60mph-- oops, make that 100kph.

[Maple]

45. Simple 'Adapt or die'

If you want to sell cars today, then you have to sell them in metric, and available in left hand drive, and good on gas...hybrid even. Better yet, fuel cell.

It's this refusal to change....anything...even though the rest of the planet has...that's killing GM and Ford.

A Chevette is an American car...made to American specifications, in American factories. There ARE no Canadian cars.

[Art_from_Ark]

57. Acadian in Oshawa, Ontario manufactured GM cars in the '80s

There was a Canadian model and a US model of the Chevette. The model sold in Canada was called a Pontiac Acadian; the model sold in the US was the Chevette. My Chevette said "Made in Canada". At least some parts were metric, but maybe not all.

[Maple]

58. All Canadians drive foreign cars

I'm sorry to break it to you, but there it is.

There is no such thing as a Canadian car.

We build American, Japanese, Korean cars here...in American, Japanese and Korean auto plants....to American, Japanese and Korean standards. But there is no such thing as a Canadian car.

There was many years ago...but that was then, and this is now.

And we could call a car sold in Canada a 'Polar Bear' if we wanted to...but that wouldn't make it a Canadian car.

[Art_from_Ark]

60. DId I say a Canadian designed car?

No, I said Made in Canada. Not, Designed in Canada.

And at least some parts were metric. The first (of many) mechanics I took it to said he couldn't do the work because he didn't have the metric tools. And whether or not the cam shaft was metric, was irrelevant. If it had been metric, would it not have broken as well? Or does being metric add strength to poorly fabricated metal?

[Violet_Crumble]

61. There's very few American cars over here...

Probably has a lot to do with the fact that they're generally crap, chew up petrol, and are left-hand drive. Give me my European Holden Astra (that's Vauxhall for the poms) any day!

Australia has gone through two big switches - from the pound to decimal back in 1965, and then sometime in the 70's (I think), we switched from weird, outdated system to metric. My parents are the sort of folk who resist any change, yet they coped well with it....

Violet...

[tocqueville]

32. they did it in Australia, Canada, UK

their economies didn't go under. It takes one generation to teach it. Then it's over.

[Mr_Spock]

34. 'Cause even engineers don't like change!!

Though one system based on base 10 would be nice - oh, well.

[Maple]

36. When did humans stop liking change?

[Mr_Spock]

37. Since it is work!!

And the damned vendors aren't helping any!! COnverting from one to another has become rather routine though...

[Maple]

40. It's not work..it's easy

and the rule 'adapt or die' remains.

Stop converting. Just switch.

[Mr_Spock]

41. lol - said from a non-engineer!!

I love idealism - I had it when I left school 19 years ago and only knew the metric system - boy was it difficult to adapt the the arcane British units USED IN THE REAL WORLD!!! :D

[Maple]

42. Well the real world

has long since switched over...so life should be much easier for you now.

Victorians loved to have the 'latest thing'

People in the 50's went nuts over TVs...hard as they were to use.

Suddenly somewhere along the way, baby boomers fell behind.

VCRs were beyond them. Computers 'scared them'.

And now, even the old 'Celsius' system we all learned in school is 'too difficult'.

What the hell happened to those human beings?

[Mr_Spock]

44. Lol - someone's on a idealism roll!

Some of us are merely humans - not obcessed with how we measure things & unwilling to fight people constantly to convert.

[Maple]

46. Um...if the rest of the world

is adapting to the 21st century, then it has nothing to do with 'idealism'. It's on-the-ground reality.

Engineers should know that accurate measurement is vital...this isn't some social movement, or fashion fad ya know.

Losing a Mars shot should have driven that home.

[Mr_Spock]

48. "accurate measurement is vital."

You are totally missing the point - the units are not even relevant to the accuracy of them or the function of the product designed - ALL drawings are dual dimensioned. Many force & power units were invented in the British system and don't have any intuitive feel for scientists and engineers in the metric system. You idealism is entertaining though :D I was just like you when I got out of school - then I was bitch slapped. I chose to concentrate on more important issues!

[Maple]

49. Metric IS an important issue

and without it, you'll continue to have repetitions of the lost Mars shot.

Not a good thing in your line of work.

I can't believe an engineer could be so casual about this.

[Mr_Spock]

62. You're living in a make believe world.

Once again, you're idealism is "cute", but decisions concerning systems of measurement are rarely placed before me. I can no more change the system of units our vendors use as I can fire the President who I hate :shrug:

[Richard Steele]

53. About 3 million years ago...

...when some smartass little Australopithecus GEEK first figured
out how to make a sharp edge on a rock...

and the local ruling-class JOCK showed him how a blunt rock
crushed skulls just fine.

We are PRIMATES. We FEAR change!

I remember the metric system...CARTER tried to begin the switch.
If you travel around rural PA where I grew up,
you occasionally find rusting road-signs from 1979
that list distances in miles AND kilometers.

[Maple]

55. Primates never feared change

And that's a good thing.

Otherwise you'd just be swinging around in trees, eating bananas, and going Ook Ook! :7

[wli]

47. cultivation of innumeracy and shielding deceptive quantification

If the system is harder to understand (e.g. imperial) quantification can no longer be done so easily, so the barrier makes it easier to exploit the lower classes.

As usual, Bushitler (and his predecessors) are using even this as a tool to commit genocide against the left and the lower classes.

[Maple]

50. I think you're tripping over politics on this

Bush didn't ban metric.

Nor did Clinton encourage it.

And 'genocide' isn't involved in this at all.

[allalone]

54. cuz we don't want to, so there

[Maple]

56. LOL