USA & The Metric System

[Lunatic Goofballs]

Silly is a silly does.

Do you know how?

Strategically placed pastries?

[West Failure]

The US does use the metric system they just don't realise it. The monetary system is decimal, their scientists use SI units, they use 9mm weapons, and the military use metric measurements like kilometres.

[Risottia]

I find myself wondering, why the hell is the U.S. not on the Metric system? The system itself is clearly superior to the U.S. Customary units system. So why the hell can't we just switch over to it like the rest of the world already has?

Because Metric System = Evil Godless European Communist Plot.

Proof:
Take a random quantity... let's say time*magnetic field*electric current*liquid volume*number of atoms of indium.
seconds,Tesla,Ampere,Litres,Indium. sTAlIn !

AIEEE!!!

[Galloism]

The US does use the metric system they just don't realise it. The monetary system is decimal, their scientists use SI units, they use 9mm weapons, and the military use metric measurements like kilometres.

Actually, I think the military mostly uses nautical miles when it comes to large distances.

At least, the air force and the navy do.

Then again, the aviation industry throughout the world (yes, even in oh-so-advanced europe) still uses nautical miles.

[Kry_has_Genital_Herpes]

Actually, I think the military mostly uses nautical miles when it comes to large distances.

At least, the air force and the navy do.

Then again, the aviation industry throughout the world (yes, even in oh-so-advanced europe) still uses nautical miles.

Gall how d'you put up with Nanatsu? I'm guessing with the liberal application of a gag.

[Galloism]

Actually, I think the military mostly uses nautical miles when it comes to large distances.

At least, the air force and the navy do.

Then again, the aviation industry throughout the world (yes, even in oh-so-advanced europe) still uses nautical miles.

Gall how d'you put up with Nanatsu? I'm guessing with the liberal application of a gag.

What?

[Kry_has_Genital_Herpes]

What?

How d'you put up with the pure idiocy that spews from her mouth?

[West Failure]

The US does use the metric system they just don't realise it. The monetary system is decimal, their scientists use SI units, they use 9mm weapons, and the military use metric measurements like kilometres.

Actually, I think the military mostly uses nautical miles when it comes to large distances.

At least, the air force and the navy do.

Then again, the aviation industry throughout the world (yes, even in oh-so-advanced europe) still uses nautical miles.

Is there even an accepted abbreviation or symbol for nautical miles?

[Galloism]

What?

How d'you put up with the pure idiocy that spews from her mouth?

When I see some, I'll let you know.

As it is, this thread is about the metric system.

[Ifreann]

I love that America, the great home of capitalism, continues to piss away money whenever it deals internationally for no good reason other than "Fuck you, our dicks are huge and we have guns. We don't have to change, especially not if the French invented it!".

But wait, what's that I hear rushing down my intertubes? Could it be the sound of a thousand traditionalists trampling each other to tell me about the prohibitive cost of conversion? "Such huge numbers! Millions of dollars! All to save a tiny amount? MADNESS!". Well yes, a tiny amount. A tiny amount hundreds of thousands of times over. The longer you wait to convert, the more money thrown away. A one time payment to permanently remove a long term, regularly occurring cost.

Imagine you run a business, and I come to you selling a perfect machine, one that will never break down or require maintenance, one that only requires you to buy it, install it and turn it on and it will do its thing for all of eternity. This machine would replace one of your workers. Naturally the cost is far higher than the weekly salary of that worker, but you'd have to be a fool not to buy it on that grounds. After all, you have to pay that salary every week. Yet that's exactly what the US does. Pays good money for a job that could be eliminated if they would just change.

[Buffett and Colbert]

Well, to be quite frank, I don't like the gun nuts, the americans, the christians, the supremacists, the imperialists, the customary system, the ignorants, the lobbies, the two party politics, the military obsessioned, the "I'll sue you" kind of people...

For the rest, USA is ok. I wouldn't live there

Because the American measurement system is a conspiracy to promote just that.

Anyways, I'll generally use the metric system. I mean, even though I live in the US, gas, for instance, is measured in litres.

[Dyakovo]

Unless you are using it for mathmatical or scientific purposes the metric system is pretty damn shitty.

I am 6'3'', not 1.90500 meters

I have one tablespoon of vanilla, not 14.7867648 milliliters. or 1.47867648 centiliters

There is 10 yards in a first down, not 9.14400 meters

Houses have square footage, not square decimeters.

Why would you write 1.90500, why not 1.905?

Or even 1.9 metres is what you would say

Because he's trying to make it look more difficult/complicated than it really is...

[Intestinal fluids]

The imperial way of measurement is basically a giant FU to the rest of the world and we like the fact that the worlds economy is based on dollars and that we have our own way of measurement that noone else has. A man in America wants to measure his penis in inches not centimeters.

[Kelssek]

Actually, I think the military mostly uses nautical miles when it comes to large distances.

Depends on which military. I'm quite sure most use kilometres, that's where the slang "klicks" comes from if I'm not wrong.

At least, the air force and the navy do.

Then again, the aviation industry throughout the world (yes, even in oh-so-advanced europe) still uses nautical miles.

The nautical mile is used for aviation and maritime navigation because it has an approximate equivalence to one minute of longitude on the equator. It isn't exact, though, because chances are you don't navigate completely along the equator, and in any case, it is currently by international convention defined in terms of the SI unit, metres. 1 nautical mile is exactly 1852 metres.

Feet are also used in altitude everywhere, except in Russia and China. Air pressure is given in the SI unit (hectopascals) in most places. The US insists on using inches of mercury, and most of the other countries in the Americas go along with that.

Besides the use of nautical miles and knots, I'm not sure exactly what the reason is for the strange mix of SI and imperial units in aviation, but the United States used to be the biggest producer of aircraft, and Boeing and McDonnell Douglas would have used imperials in all the measurements.

A man in America wants to measure his penis in inches not centimeters.

I think the average American penis-measurer would prefer cms, since they'll make it sound longer

I am 6'3'', not 1.90500 meters

I have one tablespoon of vanilla, not 14.7867648 milliliters. or 1.47867648 centiliters

There is 10 yards in a first down, not 9.14400 meters

Houses have square footage, not square decimeters.

And I'm 1.84m, supposed to take 10ml of cough syrup, must be mindful of the 22 metre line when playing rugby, and consider how many square metres a particular room might be. If you told me it was 30 degrees outside I'd think it was scorching hot, if you told me 100 degrees I'd think it was hyperbole. It's all what you're used to, as this comic aptly demonstrates.

[Cabra West]

The imperial way of measurement is basically a giant FU to the rest of the world and we like the fact that the worlds economy is based on dollars and that we have our own way of measurement that noone else has. A man in America wants to measure his penis in inches not centimeters.

Cause that way, it'll sound like it's smaller...

[Cabra West]

Feet are also used in altitude everywhere, except in Russia and China. Air pressure is given in the SI unit (hectopascals) in most places. The US insists on using inches of mercury, and most of the other countries in the Americas go along with that.

Er... nope. Nobody in Germany would use feet... it would sound utterly ridiculous.

[Kelssek]

Feet are also used in altitude everywhere, except in Russia and China. Air pressure is given in the SI unit (hectopascals) in most places. The US insists on using inches of mercury, and most of the other countries in the Americas go along with that.

Er... nope. Nobody in Germany would use feet... it would sound utterly ridiculous.

In aviation, I meant; in Germany, aircraft would be told to "climb to 3,000 feet", etc., as opposed to "1000 metres". Of course, in everyday use, if I wanted to know the height of a German mountain, etc., I'd expect it in metres.

[Tiesabre]

I love that America, the great home of capitalism, continues to piss away money whenever it deals internationally for no good reason other than "Fuck you, our dicks are huge and we have guns. We don't have to change, especially not if the French invented it!".

But wait, what's that I hear rushing down my intertubes? Could it be the sound of a thousand traditionalists trampling each other to tell me about the prohibitive cost of conversion? "Such huge numbers! Millions of dollars! All to save a tiny amount? MADNESS!". Well yes, a tiny amount. A tiny amount hundreds of thousands of times over. The longer you wait to convert, the more money thrown away. A one time payment to permanently remove a long term, regularly occurring cost.

Imagine you run a business, and I come to you selling a perfect machine, one that will never break down or require maintenance, one that only requires you to buy it, install it and turn it on and it will do its thing for all of eternity. This machine would replace one of your workers. Naturally the cost is far higher than the weekly salary of that worker, but you'd have to be a fool not to buy it on that grounds. After all, you have to pay that salary every week. Yet that's exactly what the US does. Pays good money for a job that could be eliminated if they would just change.

You make it seem like a country of 300 million plus could just convert their entire system of living to the metric system overnight.

Yeah, metric is better. But jeeze, how 'bout you make sure the American people actually know how to fucking use it first?

[The Orion Federation (Ancient)]

ok, ok, ok, sorry about the comment about Darwin and Hawking being American. Jeez. It was like 4 AM, and I had just gotten home kinda shit-faced, and thinking the USA was the greatest nation in the world, if ya know what I mean.

(I still claim Einstein to be American. In fact, he is the face of what it is to be American. People being forced to leave their homeland because of oppression, slavery, and genocide in order to make a better life for themselves and their families here. In fact, we have traditionally been the most cosmopolitan nation on the planet throughout most of the 20th century because of it. My grandfather came off the boat from Sicily after he fought in WW2. Einstein, like my grandfather, immigrated here, and earned their citizenship. They ARE/WERE considered Americans after they got it. And Einstein did all of his greatest works AS an American. sooo...)

However, when it comes to SOCCER, like I said, ou soccer team makes it into the world cup every year. eerr....every tournament.

From Wiki: (sorry, I;m not a big fan of citing wiki articles, but it is quick, and easy to do so.)

"Traditional powers dominate

Despite early success by Australia, Ecuador and Ghana, the tournament marked a return to dominance of the traditional football powers. Four years after a 2002 tournament in which teams from North America (United States), Africa (Senegal), and Asia (South Korea) made it deep into the knockout stages and Turkey finished third, all eight seeded teams progressed to the knockout stages, and none of the quarter-finalists were from outside Europe or South America. Six former champions took part in the quarter-final round, with Ukraine and Euro 2004 runners-up Portugal as the only relative outsiders.[17] Argentina and Brazil were eliminated in the quarter-finals, leaving an all-European final four for only the fourth time (after the 1934, 1966 and 1982 tournaments).

I don't know how correct this article is, because I remember Germany making it to the final, or maybe it was the semis? I just know this statement is false.

So, in 2002 the US beat Portugal, and played South Korea, to a draw, and getting beat by Poland in round 1. Still earned a place into the second round.(wiki) We beat Mexico in the second round, making it to the quarter finals, where our run finally ended. I hardly say that the US is weak in soccer if we can make it to the tournament every 4 years, and drive deep into it each time (except 2006, but we STILL played DAMN well.)

For the 2008 medal count:

Sure, the US has an enormous population, however, it does not mean we spend an undue amount of money on the thing. If you want to compare the US to the EU nations, I would be much obliged. In this regard, the EU has a HUGE advantage, for they not only have a comparable population to the US, but can also field many times more teams in every sport than the US can. 1 team per nation in the EU, compared to 1 team for the US. I really don;t feel like doing here. I already did it once before in a similar argument in another forum. It came out to something like 300 medals for the Europeans to 110 for the Americans. Despite having something like 8 times as many teams, you only won something like 3 times as many medals.

'Sides, we still beat China in the medal count, with a population of 2 billion, and a regime bent on beating the US, and being on their home turf. Was 110 - 100.

And yes, in sports, we do use the metric system, and in our everyday lives, we use the Imperial system. Why? Because it doesn;t matter to us really what system we use. To us, they are quite interchangeable. Most other nations' people are not nearly as good at converting in their own heads from Imperial to metric and back. There really is no point in the US switching over. We can still build some of the greatest skyscrapers in the world, the greatest theme parks in the world, and so forth. We also have one of the best infrastructures in the world. Despite this country's enormous size, we can still maintain, and upgrade the enormous infrastructure this country requires to stay on top lol.

Also, someone lol'ed when I mentioned computers. Yes, our military developed their own computers, and the first network before CERN did. (After all, Al Gore invented the internet while working at the Pentagon ) Tim Berners-Lee developed HTML at CERN. But that wasn't until the 1980s.

In 2006, we were able to tie Italy in our game against them. And Italy is the team that went on to win the friggin thing. (funny how sports are sometimes lol)

Look at women soccer. Our woman's national team is a parennial powerhouse on the world stage year after year.

And someone said noone outside our country plays any of the sports I listed. Funny, because baseball is quite popular outside the USA. In fact, after soccer, I do beleieve that baseball is the second most popular sport. Asians and Hispanics LOVE the game. My hometown is where Little League Baseball was invented, and where the LLWS is held each year. In fact, the LLWS shoud be on TV now, so you can see all the kids from all around the world playing the game in the largest tournament outside of the Olympics and World Cup. It is on ESPN, in the little town of Williamsport, PA.

Basketball is also another game that is quite popular outside the US. It is HUGE in Russia and China, quite big in Africa, and South America, and Eastern Europe.

[Gioanni]

BY THE WAY I TOTTAY AGREE WITH MOST SANE PEOPLE THAT THE US SHOULD SWITCH TO THE METRIC SYSTEM

[Galloism]

Feet are also used in altitude everywhere, except in Russia and China. Air pressure is given in the SI unit (hectopascals) in most places. The US insists on using inches of mercury, and most of the other countries in the Americas go along with that.

Er... nope. Nobody in Germany would use feet... it would sound utterly ridiculous.

In aviation, I meant; in Germany, aircraft would be told to "climb to 3,000 feet", etc., as opposed to "1000 metres". Of course, in everyday use, if I wanted to know the height of a German mountain, etc., I'd expect it in metres.

Well, except when you get above 18,000 feet, after which it's given in flight levels. However, those are a throwback to feet anyway, it's just in pressure altitude as opposed to the closest approximation to true altitude.

FL190 = 19,000ft pressure altitude.
FL220 = 22,000ft pressure altitude.

etc.

[The Orion Federation (Ancient)]

lol, sorry about the change of subjects like that. I dont feel like going back to edit it again. I went up to talk about computers, and didnt realize i was in between talking about soccer/sports.

1 more thing about computers: We are the largest producer of the things. In fact, we are the only nation that MASTERED producing computers. Everything runs on either Microsoft or Macintosh. Two of the largest coprorations in the world that is not named Wal-Mart. (which also happens to be an American corporation as well lol.)

[Ifreann]

I love that America, the great home of capitalism, continues to piss away money whenever it deals internationally for no good reason other than "Fuck you, our dicks are huge and we have guns. We don't have to change, especially not if the French invented it!".

But wait, what's that I hear rushing down my intertubes? Could it be the sound of a thousand traditionalists trampling each other to tell me about the prohibitive cost of conversion? "Such huge numbers! Millions of dollars! All to save a tiny amount? MADNESS!". Well yes, a tiny amount. A tiny amount hundreds of thousands of times over. The longer you wait to convert, the more money thrown away. A one time payment to permanently remove a long term, regularly occurring cost.

Imagine you run a business, and I come to you selling a perfect machine, one that will never break down or require maintenance, one that only requires you to buy it, install it and turn it on and it will do its thing for all of eternity. This machine would replace one of your workers. Naturally the cost is far higher than the weekly salary of that worker, but you'd have to be a fool not to buy it on that grounds. After all, you have to pay that salary every week. Yet that's exactly what the US does. Pays good money for a job that could be eliminated if they would just change.

You make it seem like a country of 300 million plus could just convert their entire system of living to the metric system overnight.

Yeah, metric is better. But jeeze, how 'bout you make sure the American people actually know how to fucking use it first?

I certainly never intended to make it seem easy. I'm not even sure where you think I did.

[The Orion Federation (Ancient)]

BY THE WAY I TOTTAY AGREE WITH MOST SANE PEOPLE THAT THE US SHOULD SWITCH TO THE METRIC SYSTEM

And are you American? Really, someone earlier said this poll should say:

Americans: yes
Americans: no
Europe: yes
Europe: no
World: yes
World: no.

That way we kind of get an idea of where we are. If it is 80% of Americans saying we should not switch over, and 80% of Europeans say we should, well, sorry but the Europeans would lose because this is OUR country, NOT yours lol. You should trust us when we say "IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER." Besides, I don;t know why people outside the US should really care either way. You don;t live here, unless you're planning on moving here. Which means that there is SOMETHING about this country you do like, or else you wouldn't be moving here lol.

[The Future Kingdom]

i will not switch over metric is alot harder to use US better not switch to that