Good video about why the U.S. doesn't change to the metric system

[TellicoTurning]

I remember going to Jamaica on my first honeymoon and driving on the left side of the road... we met a truck coming down the road - on the correct side of the road - my new wife forgot we were on the left as supposed to be, but she screamed, grabbed my arm and my instinct was to move immediately to the right.... almost got divorced over that...

Then years later, I made a trip to Trinidad on business and rented a car... again left hand road.... it throws you perspective off just a bit.... the car I rented had curb feelers on the left hand side of the car... more than once I felt/heard the curb feelers against the left side curb until I got used to the feel of the car in the left lane with right side controls.

 

[penicillin]

Yes. Sweden switched lanes in 1967. When they switched, the accident rate dropped for a while, and then slowly rose back to previous levels. Even when they are not going through a transition from one side to the other, accidents and near-accidents happen all the time when people are thrust into driving on the side of the road that they are not used to driving as @TellicoTurning described.
-> Do a web search for "Anne Sacoolas".

Few people will die when the US gets around to switching to metric, but we may crash a Mars probe or two along the way. :-(
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter

 

[maxwell_smart007]

If it makes sense to use metric, use metric. If Imperial is more useful in that situation, use imperial. Would innovation be impacted - heck no. Smart people are still smart in the metric system - they just measure in base 10!

What metric would allow is standardization across the rest of the world. Selling equipment, buying tooling, etc. - it's just easier when everyone uses the same numbers. Would you need to change old designs and drawings? No, you'd just have to buy measuring tapes like we do in Canada - they have imperial on the top, and metric on the bottom. Even our thermometres display both celcius and fahrenheit. Our cars display both miles and kilometres.

I'm curious - if you're buying lunch meat, for example, how do you order it? Eighths of a pound? Or do you use grams for that? What if you want a smidgeon more?

Why isn't a clock base-10? People hate change!

Canada also used imperial in the 50s, 60s, etc, as we were also colonized by Britain. When Canada switched in the 70s, it wasn't well received then either. Our Prime Minister's response was "Canada has to live in the world if it wants to trade with the world" - but then again, we're much smaller than you are!

(And as much as it hurts me to say this (as a Jays fan), Judge is the home run king. There's a reason why the others aren't in the Hall of Fame)

 

[Edgar]

If it makes sense to use metric, use metric. If Imperial is more useful in that situation, use imperial. Would innovation be impacted - heck no. Smart people are still smart in the metric system - they just measure in base 10!

What metric would allow is standardization across the rest of the world. Selling equipment, buying tooling, etc. - it's just easier when everyone uses the same numbers. Would you need to change old designs and drawings? No, you'd just have to buy measuring tapes like we do in Canada - they have imperial on the top, and metric on the bottom. Even our thermometres display both celcius and fahrenheit. Our cars display both miles and kilometres.

I'm curious - if you're buying lunch meat, for example, how do you order it? Eighths of a pound? Or do you use grams for that? What if you want a smidgeon more?

Why isn't a clock base-10? People hate change!

Canada also used imperial in the 50s, 60s, etc, as we were also colonized by Britain. When Canada switched in the 70s, it wasn't well received then either. Our Prime Minister's response was "Canada has to live in the world if it wants to trade with the world" - but then again, we're much smaller than you are!

(And as much as it hurts me to say this (as a Jays fan), Judge is the home run king. There's a reason why the others aren't in the Hall of Fame)

Your first sentence is key. Frankly I see no need for the USA to "change to metric" and don't understand why some are so het up about that idea. We have already metrified virtually everything that needs to be to be able to play well with others on a global market basis. Anything beyond that is a waste of time & money, IMHO.

Just a couple of examples: how many millions of road signs showing distance to a town or speed limits would have to be changed if we were to replace Miles or MPG with metric units, and what good would it accomplish? Also, there are probably about 10 billion cookbooks in American homes written in Imperial units. Good luck with getting everyone to throw them out and buy new ones or telling the country that we must publish all future cookbooks using grams.

 

[Curly]

Respectfully Edgar nobody I know is opening cookbooks more than rarely. They do a search and use a recipe which can be in either or both measurements. The wife wants to toss the shelf full we have as they are never used and nobody wants them. Look how many little bookstores have disappeared because few buy and read books. Even woodworking books that used to occupy a metre/3 feet and a bit of shelf space are almost gone. Same for magazines. If you don't see the logic in change don't. The world won't loose any sleep over it.

 

[monophoto]

I think we need to be careful about setting false equivalencies.

We are approaching Halloween and Thanksgiving, so everyone is focused on pumpkins. Suppose we buy a pumpkin at the farmer's market. We can weigh that pumpkin on one vendor's scale and get its weight in pounds. Or we could weight it on a different vendor's scale and get its weight in kilograms. But it's still a pumpkin - and while the measured weights would be different, it would be the same pumpkin!

My point is that the discussion about imperial versus metric is not a debate about bigger or better, but rather which scale are we using to do the measurement. And regardless of which scale we use, the THING remains the same. It's a pumpkin, not a zucchini!

My contention is that we really could switch to the metric system any time we want to - and the only argument for or against making switch is whether we want to to make that switch. Switching measurements doesn't impose any changes on the things that are being measured. Pumpkins remain pumpkins.

But suppose the US drove on the left, and Canada on the right. That would create a horrible problem at the border, and the accident rate in the January in Arizona and Florida would increase dramatically when Canadians seek warmer weather. So there could be a serious argument about one or the other switching in order to establish consistent driving practices. That's exactly what happened in Sweden in 1967 when they switched from left-hand driving to right-hand driving to be compatible with their neighbors. But that right hand versus left hand is only a problem when drivers encounter a change in practice in ordinary driving - that is, where there are continuous roads between physically contiguous areas with different practices. We don't have that situation anywhere in the Western Hemisphere.

Likewise, someone said that the US should couple a switch to metric measurements with a change from 60Hz power to 50 Hz power - - -why? Except for a few countries in South America, the entire Western Hemisphere is 60Hz. So unless we are looking to interconnect with systems at a different frequency, there really is no valid argument for making a change. But the fact is that while all of North America is nominally 60Hz, there are actually four distinct and separate grids that behave as though they are different frequencies And that's actually an oversimplification - in addition to those four separate 60Hz grids, here are actually islands of both 40Hz and 25Hz in the US and Canada. And Europe isn't exclusively 50Hz - there are some rail systems that use 16 2/3Hz power. But this all proves that frequency differences are irrelevant because interconnections between asychronous grids and different frequencies are done all the time.

And the fact is that power system frequency measurement is a metric system metric. (Curiously, it's also an imperial measurement.) So introducing power grid frequency into a discussion of metric versus imperial is a complete distraction.

 

[maxwell_smart007]

There's no reason to have to go all-in, Edgar - just change what makes sense to change - or not. Canada's used an unofficial hybrid system for 50 years (mostly to match our close partnership with the USA while also being open to the nature of measurements everywhere else in the world)

 

[Curly]

Louie I read the first posts about changing power and switching the side we drive on as tongue in cheek jokes. Now carve out your pumpkin and paddle it across the lake. Use a metric paddle though.

 

[jttheclockman]

The last 4 posts just make my point even more clear. This is nothing to do about nothing and is debate bait. all it is. Who cares what system you use. They both work and work well. It is whatever you were taught and grew up with. How driving on different sides of the road got into this conversation I have no idea.

But will say yes you can order lunch meats in 1/4 pound and 1/8 pound if you choose. See it all the time. And Judge is the HR king But again debate bait. Have at it.

 

[jrista]

For me, mostly, its that I don't see any reason to endure the pain of the change. IMO, it would be immense pain. And by pain, I mean cost as well. Economically...to switch entirely over to metric, the cost would be INSANE. What would the long term benefits be? Would we make better products? Doubtful. Would it make it easier for us to trade with the rest of the world? We already trade with the rest of the world...and we deal with both metric and imperial just fine with the rest of the world already. Would it improve our lives somehow? Doubtful.

It would just be...pain, money, frustration, and more money. For hundreds of millions of people. For no meaningful reason...

I think there is a legitimate case for imperial being more "natural", but that's definitely a subjective opinion. Mostly, why the heck would we force our entire economy to suffer the pain, frustration and mostly COST of switching? The sheer waste of capital that could, instead, be used to actually produce useful things, would be a travesty. I sincerely hope the US NEVER even tries to move to metric (again)...such an unnecessary waste.

 

[wimkluck]

I think we need to be careful about setting false equivalencies.

We are approaching Halloween and Thanksgiving, so everyone is focused on pumpkins. Suppose we buy a pumpkin at the farmer's market. We can weigh that pumpkin on one vendor's scale and get its weight in pounds. Or we could weight it on a different vendor's scale and get its weight in kilograms. But it's still a pumpkin - and while the measured weights would be different, it would be the same pumpkin!

My point is that the discussion about imperial versus metric is not a debate about bigger or better, but rather which scale are we using to do the measurement. And regardless of which scale we use, the THING remains the same. It's a pumpkin, not a zucchini!

My contention is that we really could switch to the metric system any time we want to - and the only argument for or against making switch is whether we want to to make that switch. Switching measurements doesn't impose any changes on the things that are being measured. Pumpkins remain pumpkins.

But suppose the US drove on the left, and Canada on the right. That would create a horrible problem at the border, and the accident rate in the January in Arizona and Florida would increase dramatically when Canadians seek warmer weather. So there could be a serious argument about one or the other switching in order to establish consistent driving practices. That's exactly what happened in Sweden in 1967 when they switched from left-hand driving to right-hand driving to be compatible with their neighbors. But that right hand versus left hand is only a problem when drivers encounter a change in practice in ordinary driving - that is, where there are continuous roads between physically contiguous areas with different practices. We don't have that situation anywhere in the Western Hemisphere.

Likewise, someone said that the US should couple a switch to metric measurements with a change from 60Hz power to 50 Hz power - - -why? Except for a few countries in South America, the entire Western Hemisphere is 60Hz. So unless we are looking to interconnect with systems at a different frequency, there really is no valid argument for making a change. But the fact is that while all of North America is nominally 60Hz, there are actually four distinct and separate grids that behave as though they are different frequencies And that's actually an oversimplification - in addition to those four separate 60Hz grids, here are actually islands of both 40Hz and 25Hz in the US and Canada. And Europe isn't exclusively 50Hz - there are some rail systems that use 16 2/3Hz power. But this all proves that frequency differences are irrelevant because interconnections between asychronous grids and different frequencies are done all the time.

And the fact is that power system frequency measurement is a metric system metric. (Curiously, it's also an imperial measurement.) So introducing power grid frequency into a discussion of metric versus imperial is a complete distraction.

the 204V 50 Herz was a rhetorical comment. I also added some emoticons.

 

[MRDucks2]

I find this while thread at least moderately entertaining, but I did realize something… I will switch between imperial and metric without really thinking about it. I most often measure lengths and such using imperial, but diameters using metric. When it comes to weight I tend to switch back and forth for no particular reasons, at times using imperial, other times using metric.

I don't usually mix them, the difference being length vs diameter on the lathe turning a 5 inch blank to 15mm.

I have ordered my meat by the slice, about that thick and even holding up my hand and demonstrating "a big hand full" as well as holding my thumb and forefinger apart and asking for about that much.

Each I am provided just what I want, so it must not matter very much.

 

[Edgar]

Respectfully Edgar nobody I know is opening cookbooks more than rarely. They do a search and use a recipe which can be in either or both measurements. The wife wants to toss the shelf full we have as they are never used and nobody wants them. Look how many little bookstores have disappeared because few buy and read books. Even woodworking books that used to occupy a metre/3 feet and a bit of shelf space are almost gone. Same for magazines. If you don't see the logic in change don't. The world won't loose any sleep over it.

Sorry, but my wife & I use our cookbooks all the time. Yeah, we also look up some recipes on line, but all my searches show up in Imperial units.

Regardless, my points are still valid.

Besides, virtually all new measuring cups are graduated in both Imperial & metric measure. People are free to use whichever they want.

 

[Edgar]

There's no reason to have to go all-in, Edgar - just change what makes sense to change - or not. Canada's used an unofficial hybrid system for 50 years (mostly to match our close partnership with the USA while also being open to the nature of measurements everywhere else in the world)

My point is that we have already done that. It's a myth to think that the USA is solely on the Imperial system. Our system is a hybrid (albeit unofficially) very much like Canada's. The major difference here is that Imperial units are more commonly used for everyday consumer purposes, but people can use whichever they want & almost all tools (thermometers, rain gauges, calipers, measuring cups & spoons etc show both scales. Cars with physical gauges have show MPH & KPh for years. Those with digital displays are user selectable.

Everything that matters insofar as global commerce is already in metric units. There is no point in legislatively declaring that we will henceforth adopt the metric system unless the goal would be to metrify everything. There is absolutely no need for that & I simply pointed out a couple of examples where it would be both costly & absurd.