Why Won't America Use The Metric System?

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29 Aug 2017, 4:39 pm

Seriously? Why does America always have to be the special snowflake?

There are exactly 10 millimetres in a centimeter. 0 degrees Celsius is the freezing point of ordinary water. 100 degrees Celsius is the boiling point of ordinary water. Why do you not want that system?

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Sweetleaf
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29 Aug 2017, 4:41 pm

I don't know, but I think it would be a good idea.

It might be a little bit hard getting used to Celsius degrees, but I think it would be worth it.

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Aristophanes
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29 Aug 2017, 4:47 pm

Sounds great and simple, until you understand every profession that uses a tool needs a whole new set of tools done in metric to continue doing their profession. That's a s**t ton of costs, nationwide, that's why we don't use it and probably won't for a long time.

sly279
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29 Aug 2017, 4:52 pm

Aristophanes wrote:

Don't forget changing every street sign in the nation, all the cars that use standard, all the machines that use standard etc. we can't even afford upkeep and you want to wast money changing it all over to metric.

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29 Aug 2017, 4:58 pm

sly279 wrote:

Aristophanes wrote:

As a counter argument: metric is easier to use, easier to teach, and is less prone to 'human errors' (i.e. people not paying attention) than imperial. Over time those savings actually outweigh the initial cost of conversion. The debate is really about when it will occur and not if.

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29 Aug 2017, 5:58 pm

Hmm I did not really think of all those things before....I guess it would take a lot more than just getting used to celsius.

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Meistersinger
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29 Aug 2017, 6:40 pm

I'll spell it out for you: M O N E Y!

Having said that, metric is used in a limited way in the US. Most fluids are now measured in liters, modern automobiles are increasingly using metric, and some weights are measured in grams.

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29 Aug 2017, 6:57 pm

It isn't that easy to buy a cheap metric lathe or milling machine in the USA for light hobby use. I looked at the possibility of getting one so last year. You can buy a pricey little Sherline made in the USA outfitted for metric. The cheap imports are USA customary!

kitesandtrainsandcats
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29 Aug 2017, 7:33 pm

How would metric affect the ease of doing my hobbies?
Which is easier to measure - 1/64 inch or 0.396mm?
Which is easier to measure - 3/16 inch = 1 foot, or 15.62mm = 1 m?

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LoveNotHate
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29 Aug 2017, 7:43 pm

America of many people, many languages, and many measuring systems

kitesandtrainsandcats
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29 Aug 2017, 7:44 pm

Now, as for some documentation,

Quote:

"Appelbaum: So the people blocking adoption of the metric system weren't backward-looking traditionalists, but cutting-edge industrialists?

Mihm: That's correct. While the anti-metric forces included outright cranks, including people who believed that the inch was a God-given unit of measurement, the most sophisticated and powerful opponents of the metric system were anything but cranks. They were engineers who built the industrial infrastructure of the United States. And their concerns, while self-interested, were not entirely off base. Whatever the drawbacks of the English units, the inch was divided in ways that made sense to the mechanics and machinists of the era: it was built around "2s" rather than "10s," with each inch subdivided in half and in half again—and so forth. This permitted various sizes of screw thread to have some logical correspondence to all the other increments. The same was true of the sizes of other small parts that were essential modern machinery."

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/ ... em/395057/

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kraftiekortie
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29 Aug 2017, 7:54 pm

I use the Metric System all the time.

I can convert most measurements from Avoirdupois/Imperial to Metric.

kitesandtrainsandcats
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29 Aug 2017, 7:56 pm

And then there were 18th century politics:

Quote:

The first practical analysis of this provision fell to George Washington's Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, in 1790. Jefferson endorsed a decimal system of measurement but, when presented with the basic principles of the decimal-based metric system, felt reluctant to steer his nation in that direction. He feared that the U.S. wouldn't be able to verify the metric unit of length without sending a costly delegation to France.

Quote:

The evolving political situation didn't help matters. Although France supported the American colonies during the Revolutionary War, it became hostile to the U.S. after Jay's Treaty was ratified in 1795

Quote:

In addition, there was concern among American statesmen that the French commitment to the metric system might falter in the aftermath of Napoleon Bonaparte's ill-fated reign during the early 19th century.

Then came the 19th century;

Quote:

Over time, however, the metric system gained traction. By the time the American Civil War ended in 1865, most of Europe had adopted the decimal-based measuring system, and the U.S. could no longer ignore it. In 1866, an act of Congress, signed into law by President Andrew Johnson, made it "lawful throughout the United States of America to employ the weights and measures of the metric system in all contracts, dealings or court proceedings."

http://science.howstuffworks.com/why-us ... system.htm

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kraftiekortie
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29 Aug 2017, 8:01 pm

Fahrenheit seems to be a very "nationalistic" thing. We don't want to get rid of our "uniqueness."

I believe the only nation other than the United States to use Fahrenheit is Belize.

The UK still uses feet, yards, and miles. And pounds. And they use stone, too (14 lbs). But temperature has been in Celsius for years.

Myanmar uses "furlong" as a unit of distance. So does horse racing. A furlong is 1/8 of a mile.

kitesandtrainsandcats
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29 Aug 2017, 8:02 pm

And then there are the British; http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-16245391
Will British people ever think in metric?
By Jon Kelly BBC News Magazine
21 December 2011
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-16245391

Quote:

But a looming anniversary is a reminder to decimal sceptics and enthusiasts alike that successful resistance to metrication is not always permanent.
In February 1812, some 17 years after France first went metric, Napoleon I introduced a system for small businesses called mesures usuelles - French for customary measurements. These were based on the old, pre-revolutionary system, in response to the unpopularity of the new decimal codes.
Only after Napoleon's departure did France go fully metric in 1840, using the law to enforce metrication.

Quote:

"It goes to the core of who we are. If we are going to change we will do it organically, with the consent of the people. We won't have it imposed."

Despite its popular identification with European bureaucracy, British attempts to scrap imperial measurements stretch back long before the UK came under the jurisdiction of Brussels.

In 1863 the House of Commons voted to mandate the metric system throughout the Empire, and in 1897 a parliamentary select committee recommended compulsory metrication within two years. In 1965 the Confederation of British Industry threw its weight behind the cause and the government set up the UK metrication board in 1969, four years before the UK joined the European Common Market.

Quote:

Japan's traditional shakkanho system was supposed to have been replaced by metric in 1924, but remained popular. It was forbidden in 1966 but is still used in agriculture.

And of course the US continues to weigh and measure in customary units, a system derived from imperial. According to Moran, the similarities between the two codes has served to reinforce UK Atlanticism.

"Our residual attachment to imperial weights and measures is really to do with a resilient fact about our geo-political position: we are an island with one eye on America and an ambivalent attitude to the continent," he says.

"In Britain the metric system has been associated with mainland Europe and also, since Napoleon, with European imperialism. The Americans used a set of weights and measures that was a variant on the imperial - and Americans coming over here in the war probably strengthened the sense that we had this in common."

Switching between imperial and metric, the UK's approach to the issue may mirror the debate about its place in the world. But whichever way you measure it, the Channel isn't getting any larger or smaller.

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kraftiekortie
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29 Aug 2017, 8:54 pm

Anybody ever read Celsius 233?

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