When we take over all three branches can we please go metric?

[Goodheart]

I mean, really.

Vacationed in Canada this past month and there are SO many things they laugh at us about.

[Wounded Bear]

1. Everywhere except sports...

[madinmaryland]

41. Nine meters and a cloud of dust!

Short of a first down by three millimeters!

[tymorial]

79. Lol

Does sound ridiculous

[hlthe2b]

2. I did (as has any other medically-trained person) decades ago... I hate the "mixed" system...

but, I must say with cellphone conversion apps, it isn't really a problem much anymore.

[Siwsan]

3. SOCIALIST!!!! (Just kidding)

I completely agree.

[Blues Heron]

4. Fahrenheit is a far better scale - it's calibrated to the human

not the arbitrary physical properties of water. That's just random.

[Goodheart]

5. "I see", said the blind man to the deaf one.

[ret5hd]

15. Yeah!!! wait...what???

[PoliticAverse]

26. Yes, that's one I definately agree with (and one I continue to argue with metric advocates over).

[Poiuyt]

47. Then we should convert to the Kelvin scale

It's based on absolute zero. Nothing arbitrary there!

I used to work as a chemist and had no trouble using Celsius.

[muriel_volestrangler]

69. What's "human" about 0 degrees Fahrenheit?

Why is water 'arbitrary' or 'random'? As precipitation in the environment, its freezing point is very important.

[Blues Heron]

74. 0 is about the about the coldest weather that we generally experience

likewise 100 represents about the hottest weather we will generally experience.

It's a scale that represents the extremes we are likely to experience with regard to weather. So if it's below zero - that really is insanely cold, likewise over 100 is insanely hot. I should have said it's a weather or climate based scale.

[muriel_volestrangler]

80. That depends on where you live

Many places expect temperatures over 100 F every year, but never get down to 0. Some will get down to around 0 often, but never reach 100. But water freezes at 0 Celsius everywhere.

I am surprised by the number in this thread who think Celsius is "wrong" somehow, even while saying they're OK with other metric measurements. It really isn't hard to say "twenty" instead of "seventy". Very few people actually look at a physical thermometer these days; we just have a machine or a person tell us a number, and then we compare that to past numbers we've heard to think about how hot that is.

[Blues Heron]

81. It's a way of dividing up likely weather into 100 degrees

Gives a nice level of precision, with convenient decadal comfort zones - when you hear "and temps in the seventies" you just smile. And then of course "triple digits -aaaaaghh!!" Celsius divides likely weather into far fewer degrees, so it's just plain less precise.

[muriel_volestrangler]

85. Lol. You find one degree Fahrenheit is too small, so you divide it up into tens of them instead

and then say how much you like counting in tens.

[tenderfoot]

6. But the COSTS!!! of converting machines, etc...

It's always the COSTS!!!! How are we going to fund it? Who's going to pay for it?

America should start referring to itself as AmeriCAN'T.


Can't afford universal health care

Can't afford free university

Can't afford a national rail system

Can't afford to keep up the infrastructure


And for such a wealthy country with all those BILLIONAIRES

[Dennis Donovan]

7. Agreed! Gimme Sympathy!

...after all of this is gone:

[Cirque du So-What]

8. I blame the attempt at 'teaching' the metric system

which usually amounts to little more than conversion back and forth. The best way is to actually use the metric system, as done in the scientific world.

[Captain Stern]

72. I think that's a good point.

I also think that if we are ever going to be serious about switching over, we need to start teaching kids the metric system first. Not teach them the English system, and then how to convert to metric.

[icymist]

9. I think we should. It would give the Trumpers something else to do besides hatting others.

Just imagine the fun they could have trying to figure out conversions with temperature, gasoline efficiency, and, most of all, the length of a football field or NASCAR track!

[Goodheart]

10. Here's the deal, though.... within a short time we can forget the conversions.

I buy a liter of Coke. I don't really care how many quarts that converts to.

[gratuitous]

13. Yep

I drive to the state capital, it's 50 miles more or less, which is 80 kilometers, more or less. I don't have any real concept of what 50 miles is, nor, I suspect, do most people. Within six months, I'd have made the mental conversion to 80 kilometers and forget about 50 miles altogether.

[Snackshack]

11. I wish.

It would be nice if we did. Addition/ Division/ Subtraction/ Multiplication by 10’s is soooo much easier/quicker. We could have gone with that system originally but that would have been too Englishy... 🙂

[TruckFump]

12. Yuck, no!!!!!!!!

[Skittles]

29. um....believe it or not, old dogs CAN learn new tricks

it's not just about what YOU like, this is something America should have done a long time ago

[Akacia]

32. really is not that important to me one way or the other but...

like I stated there seem to be more important things to worry about than that. Also a little taken aback by the way YOU decided to respond .

[Skittles]

35. it IS important

sorry, I find it ridiculous for people to be saying IT'S JUST TOO HARD...there's ALWAYS "other things" going on

[Akacia]

43. Well it does seem to be important to you.

No skin off my back either way have a good day.

[doc03]

14. I graduated HS in 66, we were talking about

converting to metric even before that. It just don't catch on after all these years I have to convert a cm to inches, a liter to a quart and kg to pounds in my head to understand.

[Goodheart]

16. The conversions are unnecessary.

[doc03]

18. When you are taught gallons, pounds

and miles. If someone says something holds 20 liters I automatically think how many gallons is that.

[Goodheart]

21. That need to think in gallons obviously disappeared pretty quickly for Canadians.

[doc03]

22. They didn't always use the metric system?

[Goodheart]

23. Used the same system as ours until the early 70's.

[doc03]

38. I guess we is dum. nt

[NutmegYankee]

46. Air Canada Flight 143 shows it wasn't always smooth. Nt

[Tommy_Carcetti]

17. Not going to happen anytime soon. Sorry.

To much inertia and logistics involved. We are pretty much set in our ways and we aren’t going to be changing for anyone.

Besides, while certain parts of the metric system make a lot of sense, other parts don’t.

For example, temperature. I was in Europe recently and trying to figure the difference between 15 and 20 degrees was surprisingly challenging.

[Goodheart]

19. How is that more challenging than figuring out the difference between 59 and 68 Fahrenheit?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

30. Fahrenheit is a much more human scale with wider variables

I’m fine on changing on metric distance but Celsius temperature just sucks. Sorry.

[muriel_volestrangler]

70. That's purely what you personally are used to

There's nothing "human" about a degree Fahrenheit. You can't measure it as a difference with your body. 0 degrees Fahrenheit is not a meaningful temperature (most humans won't encounter it in nature in their entire lives, just in a freezer).

[cwydro]

25. The internet will do that for you. Easy conversion.

I was in Europe in the spring, and I really didn’t find temperature to be that challenging at all.

After a week, I found myself knowing what 10, 11, or whatever was.

That being said, I see no reason for the US to have to change. We tried that years ago - it didn’t take.

[Skittles]

36. LOL

I remember hearing that same shit in England in the 70's when they converted their money from base 12

[brush]

24. Nothing against a gradual transition but we'll have enough on our plate...

to fix without adding that immediate complication.

There has to be public education (1 quart = .946 liter) in all the media and schools. Conversion was tried in the 70s but there was so much resistance it was abandoned.

[gopiscrap]

27. sure would simplify things

when I first came to the US I had to re learn all measurements

[PoliticAverse]

28. America tried (back in 1975, I think I still have pamphlets somewhere)...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_Conversion_Act

[TheCowsCameHome]

31. Screw that. Go back to Roman Numerals.

[FakeNoose]

33. This is where we Baby Boomers messed up

When we were young we should have screamed for the metric system. Instead we've fought it our entire lives and now we're in our 60's and 70's - we can't possibly change. It's the young ones, probably our grandchildren, who have to make the change. No group of 20-year-olds will ever have the perspective to understand this.

We get it, but it's too late for us.

[Skittles]

37. we can't possilby change?

PLEASE SPEAK FOR YOURSELF

[USALiberal]

40. lighten up! nt

[Skittles]

44. sorry, it drives me nuts

makes America look like a bunch of nitwits, making decisions based on how old folk will adapt - it's ridiculous

[AncientGeezer]

34. Probably none posting on this place today will see the Metric system become our standard

Old guys like me...a running gag is...we can have 300,000 sockets and the 1 that ALWAYS gets lost....10mm and everything is 10mm

[FakeNoose]

48. Yes we do use metric measurements sometimes

...but it's not the system we grew up with, so most of us aren't comfortable with it.

In the kitchen I can usually guess-timate 8 ounces of water, but I could never guess 250 ml of water. Turns out, they're almost the same.

[elocs]

39. I'll be honest...I don't care if we go metric or not.

Being laughed at because we don't use the metric system ranks pretty low on things to be concerned about.

[Skittles]

45. it makes us look idiotic

sorry, it does

[AncientGeezer]

64. Why....conversions are easy.

Do you call Brits idiotic for saying someone weighs 14 stone instead of 200lbs or 90+kg?

[Skittles]

65. conversions are easy

so let's convert to Metric

[AncientGeezer]

67. Ain't happening....but I did find out I weigh 12 stone

[Skittles]

71. I was a teenager when the money changed in England

I remember my grandma and her friends, wailing about how hard it would be, how they didn't understand, wouldn't be able to adapt - even then I knew it was utter nonsense.....they did fine.

[ProudLib72]

42. So I'm going to have to convert hands to cubits, cubits to yards, and now yards to

meters?!

Crap, I just found this converter: Convert Hands to Meters http://www.kylesconverter.com/length/hands-to-meters

I don't have any excuses now.

On a more serious note, whose brilliant idea was it to come up with how we measure car tires? Tread width in millimeters, sidewall height as a fraction of tread width, and wheel diameter always in inches. I mean seriously, who the fuck came up with that idea? (Note: this is why I have stuck with 33 X 12.50 X 15 for so long.)

[keithbvadu2]

49. Gov't wanted to go metric back in the 60s.

Gov't wanted to go metric back in the 60s.

Great resistance.

Socialist, communist, satanic and lots of fear.... It's 'new'.

Too bad. Metric is easier and more logical.

The Army has no problem with metric.

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/how-far-is-a-klick-in-the-military-3357005

[keithbvadu2]

50. What is a mile? There are different types of miles.

Learn About Nautical Miles vs. Statute Miles

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/nautical-miles-vs-statute-miles-282937

[Ilsa]

51. Trump wouldn't be able to wrap his head around

his girlfriends' figures of 100-65-90.

[applegrove]

52. I am in canada and i still know height and distance in feet, inches and

miles. I don't know it in metric.

[TheRealNorth]

53. I have trolled a few Deplorables in my day

When I have suggested we should adopt Arabic numerals.

[Tanuki]

54. World map of Fahrenheit vs. Celsius

Link to tweet

[stevil]

55. I grew up in Canada and the US

I'm bimeasurement. New word. Can't get the hang or Celcius though.

[mitch96]

87. This little ditty helped me out...

0 is freezing, 10 is not... 20 is comfortable and 30 is hot!!
Quick and dirty... 10c=50f, 22c=72f. I stink at math well and that 5/9th stuff drives me nuts
I take the c and double it, subtract the first digit and add 32.. If I need more than just an estimations

22C x2=44. 4-44=40 40+32= 72F

M

[House of Roberts]

56. I get Boeing prints all the time in metric.

The programming for the CNC Mills is done in inch, the machines run them in inch, we have to use inch measuring tools, as we convert metric to inch to check the parts, but the quality people have to use inch measuring tools, then write the quality reports in metric to match the prints.

[LAS14]

57. Whenever I see someone's height in centimeters and weight in kilograms...

... I am glad we didn't go metric.

[Polybius]

58. I'm not entirely convinced that it's a left-right issue

Also, some parts of Canada still don't use it.

[jberryhill]

59. Tell Republicans it will make their dicks 2.54x longer

And we’ll have metric tomorrow.

[lordsummerisle]

60. I remember the liquor industry converted to metric

practically overnight back in the '70s. Anyone remember when you could buy a fifth? Strangely enough though 1 alcoholic drink is still 1.5 ounces...

[Hoyt]

61. Get insecure trump to buy into metric system by using terms like 6 centimeters.

[saidsimplesimon]

62. Let's join the world.

[Blue_Tires]

63. But that Celsius thermometer is a bunch of godless bullshit...

The rest I guess I can sort of get used to... Although renaming everything (Indianapolis 500, anyone?) is going to be a monumental pain in the ass..

[tirebiter]

66. I'm 500 kilometers away from home

Just sucks as a folksong

[Blues Heron]

77. LOL

totally agree. "Gonna give you every 2.4 centimeters of mah love" doesn't exactly roll off the tongue either

[royable]

68. Much of the land in the US settled after the days of the 13 colonies is surveyed in mile grids.

The plains are mostly surveyed in square mile grids--you can see it easily as you fly over. Many cities in the West have major streets along the boundaries of the square mile grids. Northern New England is all in square mile grids. Town and townships and counties in many places are all integer numbers of miles on a side. Western public and state-owned lands have their boundaries follow these grids, in some places creating a checkerboard of land ownership. In short, much of the country's road system, land ownership, civic and municipal boundaries, are structured on the mile. The mile may be supplanted by the kilometer but it's not going away entirely any time soon.

[Mc Mike]

73. OK

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

75. Yes. There should be 100 minutes to the hour, 1000 days in a year.

A week should be 10 days long.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And kilometers to go before I sleep,
And kilometers to go before I sleep.

[Blues Heron]

76. Sometimes measuring by fractions makes more sense than decimals

You keep splitting the difference until you get the necessary precision. Decimals can be less helpful.

I think the metric system suffers from a cutesy attempt to tie everything together around water and base 10

A cubic liter of water is 1000 grams, and is 10 centimeters on a side. Wow that's really impressive.

[Goodheart]

78. ?????? Sorry, that makes no sense.

[Blues Heron]

88. some things are better as fractions rather than decimals

ie 1/2 1/4 1/8 1/16 1/32 etc can be more useful than ".064823"

[Goodheart]

90. Sure... when you want to slice a piece of pie...

But certainly not on engineering or construction projects.

[Blues Heron]

91. lets do the fractions in decimal

1/2 = .5 ok cool thats not too bad 5 is half of ten
1/3 = .33333333333333333333333333333 ok that's a little weird
1/4 = .25 ok cool i can handle that
1/5 = .2 right
1/6 = fuck no idea
1/7 no clue
1/8 .125 not bad
1/9 .111111111 ?? is that right?
1/10 = .1 there it is - awesome system!

[onenote]

82. In terms of priorities, I would put this as close to the bottom as I could.

There is no public demand for it. Making it a priority would be a slap in the face of the voters.

[Goodheart]

83. A slap in the face? Overly dramatic, are we?

Remember when just a few years ago the stock market switched TO THE METRIC SYSTEM from a system of fourths and eighths and sixteenths?

Was that a slap in the face to investors?

Our money is already on the metric system. Length and volume measurements would be similarly easy FOR EVERYBODY and FOR ALL TIME.

[onenote]

84. Overly dramatic? Not at all.

Trying to go metric was a bust with the public when it was tried before. There is no demand for it. And if we get control of the government we'll have a long list of very important things to do that have public support. Making a priority of something that doesn't have support would be an extraordinary stupid idea. Fortunately, the folks that will have control over the agenda know that so this is a silly discussion of something that isn't going to happen.

[Goodheart]

86. Who said it would be "a priority"?

And it wouldn't entail that much legislation nor much social upheaval in the first place.

For example, with any new infrastructure bill clauses such as "speed limit signs on Federal highways must display speeds in both mph and kmph" could be included.

How is that difficult? Would you be slapped in the face?

Furthermore, according to your thinking we should be saddled with an inefficient system of weights and measurements for all time because you want to avoid drama.

[MicaelS]

89. No.

We have a lot of issues that are much more important than this. We should not waste political capital on this issue.

[Sapient Donkey]

92. Doubt it would have much luck just trying to push it through as law

Didn't attempts fails during the 70's? I think it would require a gradual shift in which there is a concerted to slowly implement metric into everyday life until the general public is able to use both systems second nature. At that point it would probably be much easier, but I don't think there is much of an interest for that to happen.

[JCMach1]

93. Ummm nah