Should America Start Using the Metric system?

[GoodSarmatian]

The only argument against the US using metric is that the US doesn't use it now and people hate change, so I wanted to vote 'yes'.

Does it benefit the EU more by the slight advantage over the US in supplying metric products to the rest of the world compared to the slight disadvantage in supplying products to the US with their old system?

If it helps the EU by putting the US at a disadvantage overall then why am I a traitor for wanting the USA to be less efficient .

After reading this I voted 'no'.

 

[sophie]

It's especially awful when you're baking and the recipe calls for a 8oz of flour. Is that 8oz a measurement of mass, or a measurement of volume??

If it's a measurement of mass and you don't have a scale in the proper range then you need to know the density of your grind of flour. I'm not joking when I say that I spent 45 minutes trying to work through an issue like this once.

But then again, I'm not very comfortable in the kitchen

What the hell kind of a cook book were you using that gave out flour measurements in ozs? That should be measured in cups, which is the superior measurement.

Also I'd take 15 9/16 feet over 4.74345 meters anyday

 

[Luckymoose]

America is #1 and as such we have no reason to degrade ourselves to the standards of a second rate world.

 

[warpus]

It's especially awful when you're baking and the recipe calls for a 8oz of flour. Is that 8oz a measurement of mass, or a measurement of volume??

If it's a measurement of mass and you don't have a scale in the proper range then you need to know the density of your grind of flour. I'm not joking when I say that I spent 45 minutes trying to work through an issue like this once.

But then again, I'm not very comfortable in the kitchen

When I first started cooking I was still getting used to the whole North American experience thing.. Having somewhat recently crossed the atlantic from Europe.

Sooo many phonecalls to my mom from University.. "So.. A teaspoon.. that's like.. one of those small spoons people use to stir tea with? I don't have one! And how does that make sense anyway? Are all teaspoons in the world the same size or something? COOKING IS HARD"

 

[LucyDuke]

It is the penultimate evil.

What's the ultimate evil?

Also, metric system doesn't have comfortable divisions into quarters without using decimals. Lame.

Decimals are superior to fractions anyway.

Heck no, why should we?

Because it's better.

We have a bastard hodgepodge of things. You go to the store and by Coke in cans and bottles measured in ounces, unless it's a big container, in which case it's in liters. For bottled water, a single bottle is in ounces, but if you get a big 24-pack, the bottles are half-liters. I know we should go full metric, but I personally object to temperature because there's no way I'm going to get used to that.

That's... not the way it is here.

Absolutely. My measuring cups and spoons are "bilingual" - both units are marked on them, so it doesn't matter which system is used in whatever recipe book. Just make sure to use the same system consistently. But the metric system is more precise, and I have no problem at all visualizing a liter of some liquid. Ounces have me utterly baffled.

Ounces are awful - are they ounces or fluid ounces? It's really stupid that fluid ounces aren't always specifically labeled fluid ounces since they're completely different.

At least you admit your true motivation and don't hide behind USA #1.

Well USA is #1.

 

[bhsup]

Because it's better.

And a wise, benevolent absolute ruler is 'better' in some ways than a Constitution-based federal republic with strong democratic traditions. But better isn't always preferred, and I'll stick with my Constitution-based federal republic with strong democratic traditions and our good ol' non-metric measurements, thanks

 

[kochman]

Absolutely! Switch!!!

I do prefer Fahrenheit to Celcius though, it is more precise...

 

[Cutlass]

Look at food packaging, where manufacturers place the metric measurements in parentheses after the terrible Imperial units. You have 12 oz. cola cans with (330 mL) tacked on.

Now's the time to switch the order on that listing. Put the metric first. Let that wait for another decade or so, then take off the Imperial ones completely.

That's been happening for a lot of years now. Ever since 2 liter bottles of soda and 5 liter Mustangs (which were the same damn 302cid engines Ford has been building since 1970).

 

[Joecoolyo]

Naw we already have that. It's called American Football.

You see American's like their sports needlessly complicated so they can sound smart without putting much effort into it!

I could never understand American Football. And despite the fact that I own several baseball bats I have no clue how to actually play baseball I could never figure out the rules by just watching the game and too lazy to read it up

Basketball is teh win, though.

What's complex about Football? Take football, get it to the endzone.

Not that hard to understand.

 

[Lillefix]

What's complex about Football? Take football, get it to the endzone.

Not that hard to understand.

But sometimes they kick it between to sticks. To me it's like watching blernsball.

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

What's the ultimate evil?

The metric system, of course.

 

[Leoreth]

I didn't even realize that the whole teaspoon, tablespoon, cup, etc. system was an imperial thing. I really thought it was a world-wide universal cooking convention.

sigh... teaspoons! Who comes up with this stuff..

Oh, me too. I still wonder why baking recipes don't get messed up all the time because people have spoons of different sizes.

Naw we already have that. It's called American Football.

You see American's like their sports needlessly complicated so they can sound smart without putting much effort into it!

Heh, I have to admit every time I see one of these "team of misfits wins football tournament through the power of friendship and self-confidence" movies I takes me the whole movie to figure out the rules of the frickin' game they play. Not that I remember them the next time ...

America is #1 and as such we have no reason to degrade ourselves to the standards of a second rate world.

I always hear that America is #1. As a mathematician, I must ask: by which metric? *rimshot*

Absolutely! Switch!!!

I do prefer Fahrenheit to Celcius though, it is more precise...

Personally I don't consider Celcius to be part of the metric system, and it's almost as arbitrary as Fahrenheit imo. Its only advantage is that it's much easier to convert to Kelvin, which makes much more sense than both.

 

[Dumanios]

I would like to go to the metric system, but the sheer cost of the matter would make it not worthwhile until we get the economy fixed.

 

[mangxema]

That's... not the way it is here.

Just going by my personal experience. Not sure where you're from.

Ounces are awful - are they ounces or fluid ounces? It's really stupid that fluid ounces aren't always specifically labeled fluid ounces since they're completely different.

Well, it should be fairly obvious in most cases. If you're measuring a fluid, use fluid ounces. Otherwise, don't.

 

[Quackers]

It depends on what the people want, after all they are going to be using them.

 

[CELTICEMPIRE]

I'm currently trying to get myself used to conversions into metric, its so much more scientific and effective than what America has. Does any other country besides USA not use metric?

oh, btw, I lived in the UK for 2 years, might explain my bias towards metric.

 

[woody60707]

Yes, for the most part. But Celsius is just as silly for a scientific measurement as Fahrenheit in the modern day. In the 1700's having the melting and boiling point of water at sea level was the best control they could of done. Now of days that would be terrible. Which is why we don't use that. We use the triple point of VSMOW (artificial water). This also allowed us to fudge the numbers for Celsius to to line up with Kelvin. They did this because Celsius sucks and it would be too hard to have a bunch of scientist and engineers change over (Awww QQ, sound familiarany anyone?).

The metric system (SI) is great because interval and ratio are the same. But wait, that isn't true for Celsius or Fahrenheit. Which is why Celsius isn't part of SI, what everyone calls the metric system.

So the reason scientist and engineers use Celsius is because they been using it forever, is easier to use/understand in real life works for them, and where ratio doesn't matter as long as the interval is the same.

But wait, that's the same argument for Fahrenheit. For %99 of people it's even better and easier to use in real life works where ratio doesn't matter as long as the interval is the same(ie real life). And for people in the US we have been using it forever.

 

[Marla_Singer]

I voted yes but there's something to be said for the diversity of thought that comes with thinking in different systems.

Also, metric system doesn't have comfortable divisions into quarters without using decimals. Lame.

Well, that's not the fault of the metric system, but of the decimal system. If Nature (or God) gave us 12 fingers, we would live in a duodecimal system which would indeed be a lot more convenient for quarters.

Considering that this is not the case and our numeral system is decimal, there's simply no more optimal measuring system than one based on decimals.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

In the 1700's having the melting and boiling point of water at sea level was the best control they could of done. Now of days that would be terrible. Which is why we don't use that. We use the triple point of VSMOW (artificial water). This also allowed us to fudge the numbers for Celsius to to line up with Kelvin. They did this because Celsius sucks and it would be too hard to have a bunch of scientist and engineers change over (Awww QQ, sound familiarany anyone?).

Uh, do you have a source for that? Because I'm pretty sure the change was to increase accuracy. Pretty much the same reason why a metre is now defined as the distance a photon travels in a vacuum in a prescribed fraction of a second instead of the fraction of the distance from the poles to the equator.

 

[LucyDuke]

And a wise, benevolent absolute ruler is 'better' in some ways than a Constitution-based federal republic with strong democratic traditions. But better isn't always preferred, and I'll stick with my Constitution-based federal republic with strong democratic traditions and our good ol' non-metric measurements, thanks

No, absolute rulers suck, and metric measurements are better than inches and crap.

The metric system, of course.

The Metric system is the bane of my existence.

It is the penultimate evil.

"Penultimate" doesn't mean "emphatic ultimate".

I would like to go to the metric system, but the sheer cost of the matter would make it not worthwhile until we get the economy fixed.

What cost?

Just going by my personal experience. Not sure where you're from.

Well, it should be fairly obvious in most cases. If you're measuring a fluid, use fluid ounces. Otherwise, don't.

I'm from America.

It's not as obvious as you might think. Are chopped carrots a fluid? They're frequently measured by volume.