Posted on 09/19/2017 4:01:46 PM PDT by BBell
Because it is a stupid system.
A 12 or 16 base system is much more logical then ten base.
Sadly the french kept coming up with moronic things like ten day weeks, ten hour days and 100 minute hours in an attempt to wipe out history and nature.
Even they chucked those after 18 years.
Sadly they keep on pushing the totally random "metric" system on the world and every little bit some one tries to push it on the US.
Happily we still resist and use instead the system that is based on the real world.
FWIW, the Metric system is just not very practical.
The math works great and it’s super easy to convert the numbers but, in real life, things aren’t always that convenient.
XEHRpa nailed it.
It’s the number of Factors that count. It’s the flexibility for the most potential ways to divide the Base unit of measurement.
3 is the magic number here.
Look at his post #69.
All divisible by 2 and 3.
But, some will say “Fractions are hard”.
Let’s make things “Seem easier”.
I say, tough. learn the fractions and every single one of them can converted to decimals to whatever extent you need to be more precise.
Where did you get that nonsense??
The weak-minded are easily swayed by political notions of European superiority and US inferiority, therefore anything the US differs upon must be bad and anyone who supports maintaining that difference must be somehow backward, old-fashioned or ignorant. If there was anything to be gained by forced conversion to metric, as has been attempted in several instances, there never would have been sufficient resistance to require the attempted force. As it stands, the only argument in favor of the metric system is worldwide standardization, assumption being that it’s somehow beneficial to trade, although I see little evidence of trade having been hampered. The system is functionally arbitrary in order to force a superficial, visual sense of order upon any resultant numbers generated. It’s Fractions For Dummies™ masquerading as some sort of technical advance. So much waste and upheaval only for the sake of neat decimals, it’s sort of sad really.
The Articles of Confederation was the immediate source that gave the central government "the sole and exclusive right and power of...fixing the Standard of Weights and Measures throughout the United States." Article IX, Section 4....During their respective tenures as Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams, as well as a House Committee, produced extensive studies calling for congressional adoption of uniform standards. The reports by the House and Adams rejected adopting the metric system of France and proposed no federal enforcement mechanism, leaving the application of the standards to the executives of the several states. Nonetheless, Congress did not adopt any systems of weights or measures, although the Treasury Department established standards for the pound, yard, gallon, and bushel for customs purposes.
Congress has acquiesced in (though never authorized) the use of the traditional English system of weights and measures in nonbusiness activities. In 1866, Congress authorized, but did not mandate, the use of the metric system and, since 1975, the metric system has been the "preferred system" for trade and commerce. The National Institute of Standards and Technology of the Department of Commerce periodically publishes standards for English and metric weights and measures.
1 ton (water) = 1.01832416000 cubic meter...
I remember learning that 45 years ago in grade school , but his post reminded me of that little factoid...
Google a conversion table to see for yourself...
Bingo!! It is always the “elite” pushing it on the “ignorant peons.” Well if the French are so erudite, why did they need our help overcoming the Nazis?
And a few generations before that they were measuring in Rods and Chains.
Now you have gone that silly MM too far. Soccer Best game Ever since 1850 or so.
Another one that comes in handy is eye-height. Years ago I took a field mapping course and we measured our eye-height by staring eye level at a wall then measuring that distance to the ground.
Mine is 5’3”. Comes in handy having to rough guess small elevation changes.
Just to make something simple like popovers you are using all sorts of weird numbers.
Imperial.
Two cups of flour, two cups of milk, two eggs, 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bake at 400 degrees for thirty minutes
Metric
272 grams of flour, .4732 liters of milk, two eggs, four grams of salt, bake at 204.44 degrees for 30 minutes.
“Congress did not adopt any systems of weights or measures, although the Treasury Department established standards for the pound, yard, gallon, and bushel for customs purposes. “
Our always pragmatic Founders.
The Constitution, to me, isn’t filled with grand ideals but with keen commonsense.
Thank you computers for quick conversation tools.
I would thank google but, they're EVIL!
Old dudes, we're all going the way of the flat blade screwdriver.
(We will always make good punches and pry bars though)
Fun article, but ridiculous proposition. Jefferson could never have imposed the metric system on American (Franklin couldn’t) and Washington’s concept of standardization had nothing to do with it.
I’m glad someone read the article. Most commenter’s just wanted to talk about the metric system.
1 Meghan McCain butt cheek = 19 Stone without Klingons.
Back in the day I could: adjust the valves on my Bug with feeler gauges, set the dwell turning the distributor and using the strobe timing gun—remember the purple marks?—new rotor, new Bosch points and condensor (which could be a bear), new plugs, bath air filter that could be cleaned, one belt, turn the engine with the tool you described that the nice folks at Wolfsburg were nice to provide in that little gray vinyl kit. (I still have the pliers and socket you describe). Everything was right there. An hour or so, after you do it once or twice.
Today, I have to jack the driver’s side, maybe remove the wheel and unbolt a section of the steering shaft on my GM product in order to get to the #3 plug. That shouldn’t take more than an hour or two.
Back to the topic, metric’s here to stay: the young bucks describing their benises on Tinder to college skanks sound a lot more impressive using centimeters. They just throw out a number, I suppose. Keep paying into that SS kiddos.
Multiples of 12 work well if you are used to them. They’d work even better if we used a base-12 numbering system.
We went awry when people forgot that elegant system and could only count on their fingers instead of doing real maths.
One mis-step begat another.
(I grew up with both systems and traverse back and forth interchangeably).
They would, however, then have to alter other rules to keep the offenses moving.
About the only thing left of the French timekeeping system is Lobster Thermidor.
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