Poll: I hate the imperial system. America, I'm looking at you! Give it up, metric is simply better!!!!
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For all those who moan about us missing out on the French Revolution, remember that the Republicans tried to extend this more "rational" decimal system to the calendar and clock as well but it never caught on. No one ever said, "Meet me for lunch in two-tenths of an hour."
I'm all in favor of the conveniences of the metric system, but many of its supporters don't realize that the Imperial system is more convenient in certain ways. Just ask any carpenter how easy it is to work with fractions in a base 12 system and you'll understand why. 10 is only evenly divisible by 2 and 5, but 12 is divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6, which makes it a more flexible system when working with the small quantities.
The problem is that the Imperial system has so many different ways to measure the same thing, and converting among them is a nightmare. Trying to square the yards, quarts, ounces, etc. with each other is ridiculous and wouldn't be a problem at all if we switched to the Metric system. We'd just have to endure a generation of constant recalculating as we switched.
I think Grandpa Simpson said it best: "The Metric system is the tool of the Devil. My car gets 40 rods to the hogshead and that's the way I like it!"
I'm all in favor of the conveniences of the metric system, but many of its supporters don't realize that the Imperial system is more convenient in certain ways. Just ask any carpenter how easy it is to work with fractions in a base 12 system and you'll understand why. 10 is only evenly divisible by 2 and 5, but 12 is divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6, which makes it a more flexible system when working with the small quantities.
The problem is that the Imperial system has so many different ways to measure the same thing, and converting among them is a nightmare. Trying to square the yards, quarts, ounces, etc. with each other is ridiculous and wouldn't be a problem at all if we switched to the Metric system. We'd just have to endure a generation of constant recalculating as we switched.
I think Grandpa Simpson said it best: "The Metric system is the tool of the Devil. My car gets 40 rods to the hogshead and that's the way I like it!"
The metric system has no soul!
It works too well, it has no idiosyncrasies! You aren't friends with the metric system, you use the metric system.
What numbers do you think robots use? The metric system, because it's efficient. I don't know about you, but I ain't no goddamn robot!
I! AM! A! MAN!
Also it takes effort to change these things. And we have other things to do with our effort.
It works too well, it has no idiosyncrasies! You aren't friends with the metric system, you use the metric system.
What numbers do you think robots use? The metric system, because it's efficient. I don't know about you, but I ain't no goddamn robot!
I! AM! A! MAN!
Also it takes effort to change these things. And we have other things to do with our effort.
is this really an argument? does anyone besides old, inbred hicks actually oppose the metric system or claim that the imperial system is better? the only real argument i've ever heard for why the US never switched is "it's too much work". and it would be extremely expensive to convert everything to metric...but it still could have been done or at least started the process.
also, i voted for cubits, 'cause damn, who wouldn't wanna use those badboys. i'd be using my forearm to measure every damn thing.
also, i voted for cubits, 'cause damn, who wouldn't wanna use those badboys. i'd be using my forearm to measure every damn thing.
This is one of the reasons everyone in the world hates us, we think we're hot shit and if people aren't doing what we are doing they are obviously evil. Thanks for proving that we are dick heads mate you deserve a medal.Radeonx said:
Private land ownership is a big thing here (at least in the Great Lakes region, I'm not sure about other states) and everything is divided into acres instead of hectares. Switching over all at once would be a paperwork clusterfuck just from trying to figure out who owns what. Acres are cut up as 43,560 square feet and there is no way to make a clean break to hectares (roughly 0.4 hectares per acre, but there is decimal loss) without some people losing bits of their property. It's not that big a deal for someone that owns 1 or 2 acres to lose a few inches, but farms and land owners with 100's of acres would have a lot at stake here. This is ignoring the fact that EVERY SINGLE sign on the highway with miles on it would need to be replaced. Who's going to pay for that? People in other countries who complain about the imperial system even though it has little to no impact on their lives? No, the states and cities would be paying for it and I know that most states do not have the money to be thrown around on things like this. Manufacturing, food measurements (packaging, etc.), text books, maps, would all need to eventually be changed and that is not going to be cheap. Let's focus just on one tiny area of industry, forestry. I have a bit of experience in forestry (and a forester roommate) and the equipment here is set up to work in feet. It would cripple most forestry companies to switch equipment to meters. They just don't have the money to buy all new equipment that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. Lumber mills process based on feet, trees are measured and taken just in feet, and even the most basic of forestry measurements (diameter at breast height) is 4 and a half feet. It doesn't just comes down to a few rednecks that don't like change, it would require a revamping of nearly every area of industry.
Yes, metric is an easier system to follow and use, but it isn't what is established in this country and switching over would take a lot of time and a lot of money. I'm an American in the scientific community who uses both and has no problem with the imperial system or the metric system, but I really have never understood why people from other countries need to complain about the American system. It's such a petty thing, especially on a gaming website where not a single person posting here has the power to change the entire country over to metric. Why complain here? Take it to the President if it chaps your ass so bad.
Yes, metric is an easier system to follow and use, but it isn't what is established in this country and switching over would take a lot of time and a lot of money. I'm an American in the scientific community who uses both and has no problem with the imperial system or the metric system, but I really have never understood why people from other countries need to complain about the American system. It's such a petty thing, especially on a gaming website where not a single person posting here has the power to change the entire country over to metric. Why complain here? Take it to the President if it chaps your ass so bad.
EXACTLY! We the people of the United States of America realized a looming threat. Machines taking over. Therefore we continue to use the Imperial system so that we can confuse the machines by making them do extra calculations. Taking up their precious processing cycles, so that we can drain their power source and cause them to hesitate, thereby giving us more time to launch our attack.Ironic Pirate said:
We are helping the world by planning for an inevitable attack. The world will thank the U.S. some day for continuing to support the Standard system. (Yeah, standard, deal with it like you do Soccer.)
When Skynet takes over, look not to John Connor, but to Imperial units! We will not give the enemy A SINGLE INCH!Suicideking said:
Really? Grams go into...kilograms. (key is in the name)emeraldrafael said:
1000 grams = a kilogram
1 gram also equals a cubic ml so a litre of water (ie 1000ml) weighs exactly the same as a kilogram.
Want to bake a cake? Don't mess about with measuring jugs, you can measure out liquids by the same scales you use to measure out flour, 500 ml of milk you say? Just weigh out 500 grams of milk and its the same.
The system is so incredibly simple I dont see how anyone can not appreciate it. eg
how many meters in 273 kilometers = 273,000 (2 seconds of mental work)
compared to
how many feet in 273 miles.....(ok let me get my calculator and pad of paper)
I live in the US and grew up with imperial, but work in a science field, so I'm pretty used to working with metric, and love it! I still default to imperial when I'm talking to people because I've found that it simplifies the conversation and makes repeats unnecessary. I used to be pretty militant about metric and refused to give anything in imperial, but looking back on that now I realize it was kind of a dick move. Ah, well!
That being said, however, I think it is embarrassing that the US still clings to imperial, simply because the people here are too lazy and xenophobic to make the effort to change. It takes a few months of practice, but you can easily develop an intuitive sense of metric measurements, just like most US citizens have with imperial measurements. But they always try to make it seem like a metric conversion would be such a huge project (make new equipment in metric, change the labels on old equipment--what's so hard about that?). Or they cling to a weird sort of idiot pride, taking pleasure in the refusal to grow up and get with the rest of the world, like a person who's proud of the fact that they're 18 years old and still wear diapers.
That being said, however, I think it is embarrassing that the US still clings to imperial, simply because the people here are too lazy and xenophobic to make the effort to change. It takes a few months of practice, but you can easily develop an intuitive sense of metric measurements, just like most US citizens have with imperial measurements. But they always try to make it seem like a metric conversion would be such a huge project (make new equipment in metric, change the labels on old equipment--what's so hard about that?). Or they cling to a weird sort of idiot pride, taking pleasure in the refusal to grow up and get with the rest of the world, like a person who's proud of the fact that they're 18 years old and still wear diapers.
As a physics major in what fellow forum roamers seem to consider a cesspool of pure stupidity and across-the-board inferiority (the USA), I have but this to say.
In 'Merica, when it comes to choosing between imperial and metric measurement, we choose both.
Suck it.
In 'Merica, when it comes to choosing between imperial and metric measurement, we choose both.
Suck it.
RE penis measurement: Really, would you rather have 8 inches, or 200 mm? One of the good things about metric, you use the scale that suits you, and it doesn't take a conversion caluclation to do it...David Bray said:
Hey there, I don't know how they teach physics where you are, but when I learned we calculated mass in the base unit of grams and weight as force, in newtons. Which was rarely covered, I admit.gmaverick019 said:
haha okay (well where i am from, i had an amazing physics teacher so thats my strongest subject by far)ApeShapeDeity said:
personally i would prefer newtons, as i could apply it so much easier to so many things, but ah well.
the manufacturing sector in the US pretty much is entirely on the metric/ssi systems, and officially we switched over in like the 70's, its just the avg joe who won't switch.
Though for temp both celsius and farenheit can go suck it, kelvin baby, where 0 means 0.
Though for temp both celsius and farenheit can go suck it, kelvin baby, where 0 means 0.