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Either one of TWO reasons:
The US is too stupid to learn metric.
The US wants see if the world is smart enough to understand their [its] standard.
The US wants the world to learn what the US does.
Oh--that is three.
Or four, five, six,...the other reasons called out in this thread such as standards policy inertia.
I recall seeing a film, in elementary school (1970's) about the US making preparations to switch to the metric system. The film was designed to instruct us about the differences. As the years went on (1980's), I could see some attempts to show "dual values" (metric and imperial) on products. I guess it never caught on.
Apparently, Americans are un-able to understand and use the Metric system, or so it would seem.
The USA is the only country in the world that doesn't use it. Talk about being isolated, technology wise.
Just another example of the closed mind attitude that keeps the USA back.
And, about the Celsius temperature scale. The freezing point, in Celsius, is zero, body temp is 37, and boiling point is 100 degrees Celsius.
Measurements in metric are based on units of ten. No fractions, no odd numbers.
Many items in America are all ready in Metric units, but that seems to be lost in the conversation.
A nine millimetre pistol, a two liter bottle of pop, a 5 litre V8 Mustang, a 200 kilo drug bust.
When the average American adult can tell me their height in centimetres, their weight in kilos, and how far they drive to work each day, in kilometres................they will have joined the rest of the world, and the 21st century.
Jim B
Toronto.
yeah I was just thinking about how far behind the US is in terms of science and technology
A foot is 12 inches. Unless it's 16. No, wait, that's 16 ounces in something called a pound. Unless it's 212, which is either a mile, the indication of a febrile state or the boiling point of water. None of it computes.
It's a bunch of arbitrary numbers with no rhyme or reason.
My family lived in Scandinavia during part of my childhood (I was born in the US). While there, we learned the metric system. I returned to the US, still a child, and wondered why the US was not on the metric system- it just made so much more sense to me- everything based on increments of 10. I found it much easier to understand as a child. And now as an adult, I still find myself wishing we were on it.
When the average American adult can tell me their height in centimetres, their weight in kilos, and how far they drive to work each day, in kilometres................they will have joined the rest of the world, and the 21st century.
.
I'm yet to meet a Canadian who has given me their height in centimeters and not feet, or their weight in kilos and not pounds. Maybe I'm talking to the wrong Canucks. I must be . It wasn't terribly long ago that all our cars speedometers were in MPH, and we measured temperature in fahrenheit.
Take a look at your Ontario Provincial drivers licence, and you will see that YOUR height is measured in centimetres. Think about the daily use of Metric in Windsor, Ontario. Every city street is measured in metres, not yards, and the water that you use in your home is measured in cubic litres, on your monthly city water bill. So is the natural gas for your furnace and water heater.
Buy a bottle of beer or a bottle of liquor, its measured in ml or liters.
Jim B
Toronto.
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. It wasn't terribly long ago that all our cars speedometers were in MPH, and we measured temperature in fahrenheit.
