the metric system rocks what is wrong with you people?

[Random]

IE. Lets represent 1 cm (centemeter) by this - . Ok we have established that 1cm is this long -> - . From now on, any other measurments needed use this length - .

 

 

 

1cm -

 

1m (meter) -X100

 

 

 

 

So when someone says "that city" is 12 km west of "this city", we are suppose to go "oh so its 1,200,000 cm to the west." Sorry but that is meaningless. Easier to conceptualize it as about 7 miles and not 1,200,000 cm.

 

 

 

no... you'd be think of it as 12kilometers... just as you wont think the 7miles as 443425inches

[Not]

IE. Lets represent 1 cm (centemeter) by this - . Ok we have established that 1cm is this long -> - . From now on, any other measurments needed use this length - .

 

 

 

1cm -

 

1m (meter) -X100

 

 

 

 

So when someone says "that city" is 12 km west of "this city", we are suppose to go "oh so its 1,200,000 cm to the west." Sorry but that is meaningless. Easier to conceptualize it as about 7 miles and not 1,200,000 cm.

 

 

 

no... you'd be think of it as 12kilometers... just as you wont think the 7miles as 443425inches

 

 

 

Lionheart said that when "we" would learn the metric system for the first time "we" would relate everything back to centimeters because it was the first unit of measurement that "we" would learn. Right now a kilometer does not mean much to the average American other than it is a unit of measurement. A mile has meaning and thus we would relate kilometers to miles and not kilometers to centimeters.

[Bmms]

personally i like feet miles and all that jazz, but ill use metric if i have to or need too

 

 

 

~Bmms

[Mr_Putter]

Oh yeah, drive on the left side of the road. :lol:

Now that is something I just don't get. Why do some countries drive on the right, and some on the less. In theory, there is no better reason to drive one way rather than the other. They just did that to confuse us?

[trebor4312]

superman endorses the metric system! :o

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

now how can you argue with a man who's confident enough to wear his undies on the outside... in public... :shame:

 

 

 

siggeied minus the pik

[Lionheart_0]

IE. Lets represent 1 cm (centemeter) by this - . Ok we have established that 1cm is this long -> - . From now on, any other measurments needed use this length - .

 

 

 

1cm -

 

1m (meter) -X100

 

 

 

 

So when someone says "that city" is 12 km west of "this city", we are suppose to go "oh so its 1,200,000 cm to the west." Sorry but that is meaningless. Easier to conceptualize it as about 7 miles and not 1,200,000 cm.

 

 

 

no... you'd be think of it as 12kilometers... just as you wont think the 7miles as 443425inches

 

 

 

Lionheart said that when "we" would learn the metric system for the first time "we" would relate everything back to centimeters because it was the first unit of measurement that "we" would learn. Right now a kilometer does not mean much to the average American other than it is a unit of measurement. A mile has meaning and thus we would relate kilometers to miles and not kilometers to centimeters.

 

 

 

Ok in that case, if you want to know the approx disance of a meter, all you do is know approx the distance between two places as a km, thats what i do.

[unknownmasterofnothing]

I thought people always blame it on the english system. Imperial system= english system? Metric system is more accurate.

[donutjunkie]

IE. Lets represent 1 cm (centemeter) by this - . Ok we have established that 1cm is this long -> - . From now on, any other measurments needed use this length - .

 

 

 

1cm -

 

1m (meter) -X100

 

 

 

 

So when someone says "that city" is 12 km west of "this city", we are suppose to go "oh so its 1,200,000 cm to the west." Sorry but that is meaningless. Easier to conceptualize it as about 7 miles and not 1,200,000 cm.

 

 

 

no... you'd be think of it as 12kilometers... just as you wont think the 7miles as 443425inches

 

 

 

Lionheart said that when "we" would learn the metric system for the first time "we" would relate everything back to centimeters because it was the first unit of measurement that "we" would learn. Right now a kilometer does not mean much to the average American other than it is a unit of measurement. A mile has meaning and thus we would relate kilometers to miles and not kilometers to centimeters.

 

you idiot ...

 

imperial makes no sense

 

as for those who think it will be hard to learn metric well it's a simple matter of adding 0's to the end of a number and also taking them away...

 

my friend says that in america they have quarts and then go into litres anyway which is frankly stupid

[No_OnE]

You can't just tell us Americans that we are now using the metric system. It would take years. When I see I sign on the highway that says the next exit is in 4 miles, I know roughly how long that distance is. I can't figure out how long 4 miles is in kilometers unless I have a textbook and a calculator and if you just tell me what 4 miles is in kilometers, I'm not gonna know how long it takes to get to the exit... It's best to just leave things be the way they are.

[Tigra00]

You can't just tell us Americans that we are now using the metric system. It would take years. When I see I sign on the highway that says the next exit is in 4 miles, I know roughly how long that distance is. I can't figure out how long 4 miles is in kilometers unless I have a textbook and a calculator and if you just tell me what 4 miles is in kilometers, I'm not gonna know how long it takes to get to the exit... It's best to just leave things be the way they are.

 

 

 

It's multiplied by 2.5 or something like that. If you learn it, you'll know it. The problem is, most people didn't learn it in school (or much of it) and they rejected it. If they begin teaching it along with the current system, equally, a change could come in a few generations.

[donutjunkie]

You can't just tell us Americans that we are now using the metric system. It would take years. When I see I sign on the highway that says the next exit is in 4 miles, I know roughly how long that distance is. I can't figure out how long 4 miles is in kilometers unless I have a textbook and a calculator and if you just tell me what 4 miles is in kilometers, I'm not gonna know how long it takes to get to the exit... It's best to just leave things be the way they are.

 

i dont think it will take years

 

Think about Australia, we were totally in imperial measurement until 1966, and then the government decided that metric is a better system and implemented it, along with decimal currency.

 

It was a shock to people and sure there was a learning curve.

 

Anyway your military uses metric and they are supposed to be the most elite in the world.

[yomom1919]

I dont understand... learning a new system is in no way like learning a new language. For languages, everything has the twin (IE, there is a way to say hi in english and another to say hi in french). But for a new measuring system, all you have to learn is how long one thing is, and relate it to the rest of the system.

 

 

 

And i dont see how a system based on 10's is really hard...

 

 

 

but your not realizing the adaptation factor...

 

when you learn a language, it takes many, many years of using the language for you to actually speak and know, instead of speaking, translating, and then knowing. that is because you are used to another language system.

 

its not the difficulty of learning, its the fact that you will have to translate every measurment because you are already used to another system. it will take years, like a language, to speak and know how much a measurment relatively is.

 

why do you think learning your first language is easy?

 

 

 

But your missing what im saying. Unlike a language where you relate everything back to your first language, the measurment system is where you just relate it to the first thing you learned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

but when your learning a language, most of the time you are relating it to the language you first learned, which is most commonly the one people speak when they grow older.

[thejollyroger]

Oh yeah, drive on the left side of the road. :lol:

Now that is something I just don't get. Why do some countries drive on the right, and some on the less. In theory, there is no better reason to drive one way rather than the other. They just did that to confuse us?

 

 

 

I can tell you why. Early on, the U.S. was looking to differentiate itself from England, so other practices were introduced. Driving on the left side was done so a coachman's gun hand was closer to any highwaymen he had to shoot (while sitting on the right side). But the U.S. associated it with being English, so we began driving on the right side of the road.

 

 

 

Another example is the adoption of Sinterklaas, which was corrupted in English to Santa Claus. I remember a Dutch user saying something to the effect of "well, we have this guy that's just like Santa but his name is Sinterklaas." Same person, although many details are different as the U.S. collected an amalgam of Christmas and Yule traditions in Europe. Anyway, Sinterklaas was not Father Christmas, so there you go.

 

 

 

my friend says that in america they have quarts and then go into litres anyway which is frankly stupid

 

 

 

Correct. I don't remember when the liter (yes, I'm American, that's how we spell it) was introduced, but yes, it's been used quite extensively. I remember when soda came in the 2 liter bottle-- evidently, the soda companies didn't think gallon jugs of soda was marketable or profitable. Gradually, the 1 liter bottle was introduced as a 'bigger' version of the 16 oz. can and the 20 oz. bottle. I could be getting all my facts wrong, but that's how I remember it.

 

 

 

The biggest resistance to metric in my opinion has been food. I know that there are measuring spoons where sizes based on and including the teaspoon and tablespoon have metric equivalents written on them. But so many recipes call for gram measurements, which may not convert directly to cups. Is it possible to use 130g, 96g, 35g, and 32g versions of 1, 3/4, 1/2, and 1/4 cups? I haven't seen any recipes using grams where that seemed like that would work very well.

 

 

 

Yes, there would be a steep learning curve, and realistically, it would have to be done gradually in order to not be financially devastating to the government. Locals resisted last time? I doubt they'd change their stance now...

[indy500fan]

im horrible with measurements in both imperial and metric :lol: . mostly i judge distances by the amount of time it takes me to get there. i use generalities when talking about your body height. ex: im 5'8" to 5'10" (somewhere around there last time i checked). if someone is 4 foot to 5 and a half foot, they are shorter than me. if some one is 6 foot and up, they are taller than me. if they are between 5.5 and 6, they are the same height as me. i wont even go into weight, i probably couldnt tell a kilogram from a pound. :D

[the_blob23]

 

Yes, there would be a steep learning curve, and realistically, it would have to be done gradually in order to not be financially devastating to the government. Locals resisted last time? I doubt they'd change their stance now...

 

 

 

Actually, all official US government documents are required to contain metric measurements as per 15 USC 205a et seq, which is more commonly known as the Metric Conversion Act (1975). This act encouraged voluntary conversion to SI units over a decade, but the board that was in charge of overseeing the conversions was closed in 1982. In 1988, a spending bill amended the Metric Conversion Act and required that all government documents use only metric units by 1992.

 

 

 

All government agencies and the US armed forces now use metric. The only places where it has not been adopted are in the private sector and straggling public displays, such as road signs.

 

 

 

It would be best if the US just finished the conversion already.

[No_OnE]

Please explain why we should convert? I mean really, there is absolutely no point... We are taught one way and you are taught another... Just because our way doesn't make sense, we know it and it's simple for us... It really isn't that big of a deal...

[Ultralord]

Please explain why we should convert? I mean really, there is absolutely no point... We are taught one way and you are taught another... Just because our way doesn't make sense, we know it and it's simple for us... It really isn't that big of a deal...

 

 

 

good point... but we should make the next generation of people switch to the metric system... it just owns that much \

[Thaulsis]

Please explain why we should convert? I mean really, there is absolutely no point... We are taught one way and you are taught another... Just because our way doesn't make sense, we know it and it's simple for us... It really isn't that big of a deal...

 

 

 

In day to day life there is really no point in changing to metric.

 

 

 

However, considering that the rest of the world (with one exception) uses metric then it creates a slight hassle for international businesses. Most measurements of materials have to be converted whenever they are exported (or imported) with the US. Off the top of my head the only major thing that isn't normally converted is lumber and material for houses.

 

 

 

I guess a similar analogy could be a conversation with a translator between two languages. The Meaning of certain words are always slightly off due to not every word matching up perfect to its counterpart. And of course if a sub-par translator (a lazy conversion) is used the meaning could be completely off.

 

 

 

And when this is applied specifically rocket science, the conversion adds an unnecessary degree of inaccuracy to something that must be precise.

 

 

 

^ If the above makes no sense, it's the wee hours of the morning so cut me some slack.

[donutjunkie]

my topic is about me wondering why people dont like it, not why america hasnt converted yet.

[Tigra00]

my topic is about me wondering why people dont like it, not why america hasnt converted yet.

 

 

 

The entire world, save for the USA and Yemin are metric system oriented. How can you say people don't like it?

[Fadfdfd]

Isn't America like one of the 4 or something countries that still use the imperial system?

 

 

 

Hey United States, the 1800s called, they want their system back!

 

 

 

I believe it's just us and Yemin. I have no idea where Yemin even is, so...Yea. Awesome.

 

 

 

Middle-East below Oman I believe?

 

 

 

Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

 

 

In SS we had a Middle-East unit this year :wall:

[unknownmasterofnothing]

well for everyday stuff like buying milk or traveling, i don't think its nesscary to change to metric. Only scientific things would make metric be better.

[donutjunkie]

my topic is about me wondering why people dont like it, not why america hasnt converted yet.

 

 

 

The entire world, save for the USA and Yemin are metric system oriented. How can you say people don't like it?

 

dude how many people live in the USA again?

[Aznhuskarl]

oh god.... that metric system.

 

 

 

That kept knocking me off in my physic, math, analog electronics and calculus classes. I hate converting all my calculations from my French school to the English schools by creating more mistakes with the Imperial and internation metric systems.

 

 

 

I learned the meter and centimeter systems since I live in montreal and French never use the Imperial system at all. Learning multiples of 10 sounds easier to remember the names and lengths.

 

When I first learned my math classes in english, I have screwed all my calucations and failed several tests in a row {in which is not normal for a straight A Math nerd}

 

I kept sdcrewing up the simplest calculations such as using 98.2 meter instead of 3.6 feet for the gravity factor, building my electronics equipment the wrong size with the wrong programs equations.

 

 

 

Gosh, that was a painful thing to do. It's worse than translating one language to another.

[yomom1919]

my topic is about me wondering why people dont like it, not why america hasnt converted yet.

 

 

 

The entire world, save for the USA and Yemin are metric system oriented. How can you say people don't like it?

 

dude how many people live in the USA again?

 

 

 

299 mill.

 

there are around 6 bill people in this world.

 

 

 

but there is one factor you need to understand. much of the world's population lies on the continents of africa and asia. these continents have many third world countries, and therefore much of the population of these countries dont even use math at all, save even knowing about measurments other than "10 foot lengths" or "1 arm length".