Posted on 08/22/2013 6:49:03 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
I’ve met a lot of people and learned a lot while traveling Europe the past several weeks. Of all the things I have had to explain to fellow travels as not only an American – but a Texan – by far the most frustrating thing is our stubborn refusal to embrace the metric system. I can confidently argue the finer points of how the use of y’all and the plural form all y’all are descriptive and have a place in the American lexicon. I take pleasure in explaining the intricacies of chicken fried foods.
But the metric system is another matter. “I don’t understand why y’all don’t use the metric system” is something I’ve heard too often. I don’t argue with them because there is no technical argument for why we haven’t adopted the Système Internationale – our refusal is based on emotion and familiarity.
Our choice of unit system is perhaps more important now than in recent years. Science is conducted using the language of SI units. If we want to have a scientifically literate populace, we should make sure that scientists and non-scientists speak the same language. In terms of national competitiveness, Americans are competing on a global market of information now more than ever. We are at a disadvantage by not speaking the international language of science at a time when we are struggling with truly global issues like climate change and resource depletion.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology, the government arm that sets standards and measurements to support American competitiveness, concludes that “the current effort toward national metrification is based on the conclusion that industrial and commercial productivity, mathematics and science education, and the competitiveness of American products and services in world markets, will be enhanced by completing the change to the metric system of units. Failure to complete the change will increasingly handicap the Nation’s industry and economy.”
CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE REST...
Who cares? How many kilograms of hamburger do you buy?
What is the acreage on the deed to your home?
I refuse to use it just because it annoys Europeans. I’m not giving them the satisfaction.
It is not just the decimal place that bothers me but the small variance of range between levels of daily heat.
Not to mention that magnitude of 26.7 degrees does not really seem correct when your sweating outside.
For non scientific daily use degrees F are great.
Not every metric number works well for all applications of life. Personally I think Temperature for daily use is one where it doesn’t.
Yeah...just more sh!t that you have to remember.
I can see someone going into a lumber yard and saying...I need a 2x4 and getting an answer of “We only carry Metric lumber anymore!”
Nothing will fit his house!
Shucks! I’ve never figured out Rods or Knots, and an electrician will play hell trying to figure out the electrical load in Joules.
A rod is a unit of length....please tell me how that would relate to the metric system on a car?
The articles are not written by the same people, and most articles are not written by the editorial staff. The articles that interest me are written by people who are authorities in their field, and should I need anything more than the watered down explanation for the general reading, they usually have a few external references.
Nope. Didn't say that. What I said was that people that push for adoption of the metric system in the U.S. are nerds.
I do think America is great, though. Despite the nerds.
On the last leg of a European trip my wife and I were on a bus from Dover, England, to London. Thinking the Brits had already adopted the metric system, I mentioned to her "It's probably just a few klicks to the city."
A haughty male English voice from behind us somewhere butted in to inform me the the Brits are still using their traditional measurements. Trying to be friendly and having just been to Europe, I told him keeping up with all the national policies could be a little confusing. In his best "hate stupid Americans" voice he informed me it was all "just a matter of basic intelligence." I let it pass.
Then I remembered renting a car in England and mentioned to my wife how expensive an Imperial gallon of gas had been. The same haughty voice butted in again: "We sell gas by liters, not gallons." What are you gonna' do? The bus was too crowded for a decent fist-fight.
Ask any Canadian my age or older how far a kilometer really is. He’ll have no clue.
Ditto.
I agree with you.
America first.
You don’t have that confusion here...you won’t, unless some dipsh!t forces the metric system on us.
“We should have kicked his stupid measurements out at the same time.”
Stupidly, you are advocating replacing those units with units made by the French and English monarchy and politicians. Going through life stupid and ignorant. Congratulations. You believe in science by political committee .
And human body temp is 37C instead of 98.6F (it was originally expressed in C, and in converting to F got an extra decimal place tacked on, leading generations of moms to panic if the kid's temperature is 98.7).
I'm neither for or against metric. I prefer standard. However, I've been working on cars as a hobby since I was 12. Everything I've worked on from the 80s forward has had metric bolts/nuts. Some in a mix of metric/standard, some all metric.
Congratulations, you hate Jefferson.
You stupidly believe a person must agree 100% with someone or else they hate them. That is such a brainwashed liberal public school position, never to disagree with anyone otherwise it is “hate”.
How many drams does your apple pie weigh? How many grains in a scruple?
ROFLMAO! The majority of them also think liberalism is grand.
Socialists! Give 'em an inch...... and they'll take a mile.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.