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. My guess is that if the USA had gone totally metric, then we would have be further along as well.
Further in what? You make it sound that US customary units gives inaccurate measurements or slows production or innovation. The U.S. has built the best economy in man's history with the most lethal Armed Forces in the planet in the history in technology and innovation by using US customary units. Nobody comes close. Explain why the other countries are really behind?
I do get why you need to learn the metric system in this global economy (that's why we have a converter and easy to use) . It's like learning to speak Spanish (which is a lot more complicated and has more rules and letters in their alphabet and their accent grammar than English) if you are dealing directly with Spanish countries but that doesn't make what has work for the U.S. worthless or inferior.
What's next, having 1 universal language because some want life simplified?
When We fall behind the world in the ladder in production and technology and innovation then We can start a discussion in changing the whole system that has work fine for the U.S.
That's your opinion. I have sat down and listen to many teachers in my life and all of them have an opinion about something. American mechanical engineers, civil engineers, and aerospace engineers tend to use heavily the US customary units not metric. It has work for them and this country. I wouldn't call them living in a cave, or not logical or inefficient. It benefits them and this country and the world for a long time and they are really very smart people that uses the US customary units everyday. American technicians who build and support equipment for the scientists and engineers do most of their work in US customary units. Maybe it doesn't work for you or your class but it sure damn well works for them and they are not switching.
I have use the US customary units all my life and my friends who built things for a living and We never had a problem of the work coming out wrong or late or the communication in the field. I use both system and there is a thing call a CONVERTER which is very easy to use if you want to go back and forth between the 2 systems.
I'm a veteran in the U.S. Navy in Anti-Submarine Warfare field and when I was in Virginia I met many Aerospace engineers and Civil engineers civilians with defense contracts and they all use heavily US customary units. The technicians that works in our radar and sonar and other equipment to search, localize, follow and destroy nuclear submarines in the 5 oceans in the planet use heavily US customary units. The technicians that make the equipment, fixes them and maintains them that make the plane get off ground and land in 1 piece uses US customary units.They are the wizards behind the most lethal force in the history of the world not counting the best economy created by man.
My problem is with your opinion that people that uses the US customary units are some how backwards or still living in the cave or that it doesn't make sense to you. It makes sense to them who actually does the stuff and keeps up the American machine. There is a difference being in a classroom and being in the real world. I respect these people because they made our jobs in the military better and safer and I trust their judgement in why they still use the US customary units and like it.
There is no point in discussing this between us. You have a closed mind and when that happens, there is no hope for a rational or logical discussion.
I NEVER SAID that anyone is backwards or stupid. What I did say is that they are using an inefficient and more difficult system of measurement. That is not an opinion, it is a fact. And I can give you tons of evidence of that, but it wouldn't matter to you because your mind is made up and is not open to any sort of streamlining or improvement in efficiency.
But... I'll say the following anyway for anyone else out there with an open mind:
I can literally summarize the metric system of measurement (distance, weight, and volume) with a quarter page of notebook paper. That is the entire system used in a typical setting. To do the same with the US system, I would need at least a small notebook--and that small notebook would be filled with random numbers that really have no logical grounding as to why they were set up the way they were set up.
Here is another reference to what I mean by having a closed mind and an open mind: I think in Fahrenheit for temperature. I have all my life. I understand how it was originally scaled. I understand that water freezes at 32 and boils at 212. I understand that I wish every day were 65 degrees for a high. However, even though I think in Fahrenheit, that doesn't mean that I see any logic in the scaling system at all. Frankly, I think it is stupid and random, even though I think in that system when it comes to temperature measurement. It makes far more sense to me to scale the temperature as it is done in Celsius--water freezes at 0 and boils at 100. Since water is the most essential element to life on earth, it only makes sense that we may base our system on water. HOWEVER, I do not think in Celsius. It is foreign to me and trips me up. I find myself trying to convert back to Fahrenheit.
BUT... you see, just because I am comfortable with Fahrenheit and think in Fahrenheit, that does not stop me from looking at the Celsius scale and seeing/understanding that it is certainly a more logical and easy to use system of measuring temperature. That is called having an open mind. Because I don't do things a certain way, that does not preclude me from seeing that the other way might well be easier and make more sense than the way I do it.
I've changed the way I teach mathematics in the classroom many times over the years when I've been exposed to an easier or better way of doing the problem or explaining the problem. Open mind. Use your US system, but don't be a damn crusader for it. The metric system is more efficient and easy to use whether you use it or not. That's a fact. And if you want to get into the heavy mathematics of conversions I can clearly show you that it IS an easier to use system. If that were not the case, the scientists wouldn't have devised it in the first place.
I've had similar arguments with people over the years about several similar topics. It always seems to be the case that most people think the way they do things is always the easiest and "right" way of doing it. For instance, I can prove to you that the language of Esperanto is many, many times easier to learn and use than is English. All it takes is to open a couple grammar books. But do you think I can convince an English speaker with a closed mind that this fact is true? No way. And you are in the same camp with systems of measurement--the "my way or the highway" camp. Frankly I don't care what you or anyone else uses. But I KNOW which is the easier system of measurement to use. Anyone who thinks logically can see that.
If you are a male, the next time you go to a public restroom to use the urinal, glance down at the label near the handle. Most likely it will say 3.8L per flush. See how much easier it is to use the metric system.
so you are saying it is easier to say 3.8l than to say 1 gallon
you must think a recipe that takes 3 half hours is shorter and easier than a recipe that takes 1 hour to cook
I prefer metric whenever I really have to do things with it.
I do auto work--I far prefer metric tools. I have a bolt that needs just a scoche larger wrench than the 12mm in my hand? Why, that would be a 13mm wrench...far easier to learn than going from a 1/2 inch wrench to a 9/16 inch wrench.
Of course, some people using metric do some dumb things too. I can't figure out why they refer to object sizes in centimeters over 100, such as "That table is 250 centimeters long," instead of saying "That table is two and a half meters long."
Driving distances? Google mapts tells me the remaining time it takes to get to my destination...which is all I really wanted to know anyway.
1. Try 12 mm wrench on bolt, too small, pick up 13 mm wrench.
2. Try 1/2 inch wrench on bolt, too small, pick up 9/16 inch wrench.
There is no point in discussing this between us. You have a closed mind and when that happens, there is no hope for a rational or logical discussion.
I NEVER SAID that anyone is backwards or stupid. What I did say is that they are using an inefficient and more difficult system of measurement. That is not an opinion, it is a fact. And I can give you tons of evidence of that, but it wouldn't matter to you because your mind is made up and is not open to any sort of streamlining or improvement in efficiency.
But... I'll say the following anyway for anyone else out there with an open mind:
I can literally summarize the metric system of measurement (distance, weight, and volume) with a quarter page of notebook paper. That is the entire system used in a typical setting. To do the same with the US system, I would need at least a small notebook--and that small notebook would be filled with random numbers that really have no logical grounding as to why they were set up the way they were set up.
Here is another reference to what I mean by having a closed mind and an open mind: I think in Fahrenheit for temperature. I have all my life. I understand how it was originally scaled. I understand that water freezes at 32 and boils at 212. I understand that I wish every day were 65 degrees for a high. However, even though I think in Fahrenheit, that doesn't mean that I see any logic in the scaling system at all. Frankly, I think it is stupid and random, even though I think in that system when it comes to temperature measurement. It makes far more sense to me to scale the temperature as it is done in Celsius--water freezes at 0 and boils at 100. Since water is the most essential element to life on earth, it only makes sense that we may base our system on water. HOWEVER, I do not think in Celsius. It is foreign to me and trips me up. I find myself trying to convert back to Fahrenheit.
BUT... you see, just because I am comfortable with Fahrenheit and think in Fahrenheit, that does not stop me from looking at the Celsius scale and seeing/understanding that it is certainly a more logical and easy to use system of measuring temperature. That is called having an open mind. Because I don't do things a certain way, that does not preclude me from seeing that the other way might well be easier and make more sense than the way I do it.
I've changed the way I teach mathematics in the classroom many times over the years when I've been exposed to an easier or better way of doing the problem or explaining the problem. Open mind. Use your US system, but don't be a damn crusader for it. The metric system is more efficient and easy to use whether you use it or not. That's a fact. And if you want to get into the heavy mathematics of conversions I can clearly show you that it IS an easier to use system. If that were not the case, the scientists wouldn't have devised it in the first place.
I've had similar arguments with people over the years about several similar topics. It always seems to be the case that most people think the way they do things is always the easiest and "right" way of doing it. For instance, I can prove to you that the language of Esperanto is many, many times easier to learn and use than is English. All it takes is to open a couple grammar books. But do you think I can convince an English speaker with a closed mind that this fact is true. No way. And you are in the same camp with systems of measurement--the "my way or the highway" camp. Frankly I don't care what you or anyone else uses. But I KNOW which is the easier system of measurement to use. Anyone who thinks logically can see that.
I know both systems. I'm a Veteran that has traveled all over the world and used high technical equipment everyday to do my job and dealt with technicians,Aerospace engineers and Civil engineers that use heavily US customary units and I find both sides good and I'm not trashing one side over the other but I'm the closed minded, irrational and illogical? Thanks for the laugh.
Most of the smart people in my life in the military were mostly civilians with high degrees in the Department of Defense use US customary units. Like I said, there is a difference being in a classroom with teachers with opinions and being on the field and depend on people that actual makes it work.
There is 2 sides to a coin. Not a right way or wrong way because if you were right, We wouldn't have built the best economy in world's history and the most lethal Armed Forces in the world. Nobody comes close.
They should be switching to our superior system. We don't bow down to other countries.
Especially when the French started it. The only thing I want from the French today is their wine and cheese. If our system is so inferior, why do We have the best economy in the history of the world and the most lethal Armed Forces on the planet? nobody comes close but We are the dumb ones and living in a cave and We have to copy them?
1. Try 12 mm wrench on bolt, too small, pick up 13 mm wrench.
2. Try 1/2 inch wrench on bolt, too small, pick up 9/16 inch wrench.
Wow, thats amazing, so much easier with metric.
Yeah, it is easier. I learned to count whole numbers when I was in the first grade.
With SAE wrenches, it requires learning that they are sized in 1/16 inch increments. So you do the math: 1/2 inch equals 8/16 inch so the next size is 9/16 inch. But if the next size is a reduceable fraction, say 10/16 inch, then the wrench you want is 5/8.
Especially when the French started it. The only thing I want from the French today is their wine and cheese. If our system is so inferior, why do We have the best economy in the history of the world and the most lethal Armed Forces on the planet? nobody comes close but We are the dumb ones and living in a cave and We have to copy them?
Actually, at the same time the US dropped the British monetary system, Thomas Jefferson proposed an American metric system first as something easier to learn. But the government thought it would be too expensive to implement at the time.
Pity. If the US had gone metric then, that system might have won out around the world--because it would have been easy. Even if the French (being contrary as they are wont to be) came up with their own base meter, conversion of all units would have been a simple single equation.
And the US armed forces have been largely metric for about 40 years now, and growing more so every day.
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