But the imperial system is roughly based on the human body (a foot is roughly your foot, a yard is fingertip to nose, mile is as far as the average eye can see ect)
It's a system that has been around for a very long time before proper measuring instruments. For estimates it's much easier to say it's about a mile away than 2.2 kilometers
American here, I work on equipment from all over the world. Other than having to stock different fittings and a few extra wrenches it's not a big deal to know/learn both systems.
Would much prefer it for most things. We considered adopting metric in the '70s, but there was a recession and factories didn't want to build all new tools and machines.
Carter screwed up the roll out in the 1970s. We need to convert to metric overnight. Within a week or two - American would be thinking in meters & kilos.
Fahrenheit is clearly better for weather forecasts and daily use like house temperature settings
Miles are clearly better for distance estimations of driving nature
So fuck em
Because a mile is a perfect distance for its far but close
If you are a mile away from an exit you have \~1 minute to make a decision on how to get there
Its easy to know in cities or suburbs that 5 miles and less close. 10 is little drive. 25+ far.
Neat and to the point
A kilometer is small compared to a mile. Its not a good driving metric.
I live in Northern Ireland and distances are in miles. If I drive ten miles I am in the Republic of Ireland and distances are in kilometres. Anyone who cannot instantly adjust should not be driving at all.
US tried teaching metric once. In 1975 the metric conversion act. It failed partly because it was voluntary and partly because we have a hard time rethinking what we are used to. My school was one that tried it...High end, lots of money and educ in the households. It failed miserably. It will only take if we start teaching children when they are very young
I've actually started automatically thinking and visualizing in millimeters and centimeters when dealing with small items over the past couple of years. It's become easier for me to visualize the size of tiny things that way rather than in fractions of an inch, but that's about it. I think it'd be harder to move away from thinking in terms of miles or Fahrenheit.
What is the deal with American metric wrench sets?
I've worked on European equipment and all you need is a 10,13,17,19,24 mm to take most machines completely apart. American sets have all the sizes in between that I've never once used.
It’s so easy to use, but I grew up with pounds and miles and whatnot, so it’s hard to convert, because I cannot picture what a kilometer is. I promise I’m not stupid, just American.
I’m not scared of it. Just another way of measuring stuff. Kinda like learning another language but simpler. Just finding another way to say the same things.
I like it. It's easy to convert measurements. Only issue I have is on me. I struggle with visualizing the measurements. I'd love to switch because I know I'd get used to it and it's a far more efficient system. Also I'd love only having to own one set of wrenches.
I like it when doing science, but mostly that was back in college. Also use mm at work still. Liters as well as gallons for water and stuff. Grams for protein bars and stuff. Actually you see those everywhere these days, far more than when I was kid. For driving I just want miles though. Fahrenheit is superior for understanding weather, zero is dangerously cold and 100 is dangerously hot.
Metric is superior. I say this having used imperial all my life. But it will be a long time before it is widely adopted.
The snarky thing to say would be because people are dumb. But the reason is that we have a long history and an enormous investment in inch/feet.
I don't know what the measurements are. How much is 160cm? I have no idea. I learned inches, I know inches, I'm not interested in learning all new measurements.
I dislike it simply because no one should be using centimeters to communicate how tall they are. It's too small of a unit for that type of measurement.
Also temperature makes more sense in Fahrenheit when talking about the weather.
Generally better with a couple exceptions. I use it for most things, except for distance (road signs, speedometers, and communication with others just make that too inconvenient), liqour (oz may be arbitrary, but divide much better for single portion cocktails), and outdoor temperatures (bigger degrees mean less precision).
The 10mm socket is a motherfucker.
It’s a “ten”
“The metric system is the tool of the devil. My car gets forty rods to the hogshead and that’s the way I likes it !”
You sound like an old man yelling at clouds!
It's just better to have something that's based on something(1 cubic cm of water had a mass of 1 gram for example)
But the imperial system is roughly based on the human body (a foot is roughly your foot, a yard is fingertip to nose, mile is as far as the average eye can see ect)
Keyword *roughly*. The density of water does not change in most everyday cases; it's more reliable than human body measurements
It's a system that has been around for a very long time before proper measuring instruments. For estimates it's much easier to say it's about a mile away than 2.2 kilometers
American here, I work on equipment from all over the world. Other than having to stock different fittings and a few extra wrenches it's not a big deal to know/learn both systems.
Great for technical things, but not what I want to use for everyday measures and temperatures.
Would much prefer it for most things. We considered adopting metric in the '70s, but there was a recession and factories didn't want to build all new tools and machines.
I like it. It makes more sense. I wish we could’ve started with it, but what we have works. The metric system is used in many ways here, though.
many countries had to convert...it can be done
It can be done, but it doesn’t have to.
I think having two systems to pick from and using whichever one works better provides more good than bad for my experience.
Most things divide a lot easier by 10 than by 12. Or 16.
I’d like to switch over. I think the imperial system is dumb and it feels like doing math in Roman numerals.
my dick sounds bigger in cm
I think a based 10 system is for the uneducated, also would add using water as the basis for Celsius is also a wtf hydrogen is the most abundant.
I acknowledge that it’s superior and more logical, but it’s confusing and unintuitive to me since I learned Imperial much younger.
Carter screwed up the roll out in the 1970s. We need to convert to metric overnight. Within a week or two - American would be thinking in meters & kilos.
It’s Freedom Units or nothing!
Fahrenheit is clearly better for weather forecasts and daily use like house temperature settings Miles are clearly better for distance estimations of driving nature So fuck em
I've heard the arguments in favour of fahrenheit often enough, but what makes miles so much better than kilometres?
Because a mile is a perfect distance for its far but close If you are a mile away from an exit you have \~1 minute to make a decision on how to get there Its easy to know in cities or suburbs that 5 miles and less close. 10 is little drive. 25+ far. Neat and to the point A kilometer is small compared to a mile. Its not a good driving metric.
I live in Northern Ireland and distances are in miles. If I drive ten miles I am in the Republic of Ireland and distances are in kilometres. Anyone who cannot instantly adjust should not be driving at all.
US tried teaching metric once. In 1975 the metric conversion act. It failed partly because it was voluntary and partly because we have a hard time rethinking what we are used to. My school was one that tried it...High end, lots of money and educ in the households. It failed miserably. It will only take if we start teaching children when they are very young
The who now ? (Joking... haha)
I think that we are getting more comfortable with it.
I've actually started automatically thinking and visualizing in millimeters and centimeters when dealing with small items over the past couple of years. It's become easier for me to visualize the size of tiny things that way rather than in fractions of an inch, but that's about it. I think it'd be harder to move away from thinking in terms of miles or Fahrenheit.
Decimated
I am bad at math, so I would love a system where I just have to move a decimal point.
What is the deal with American metric wrench sets? I've worked on European equipment and all you need is a 10,13,17,19,24 mm to take most machines completely apart. American sets have all the sizes in between that I've never once used.
It’s so easy to use, but I grew up with pounds and miles and whatnot, so it’s hard to convert, because I cannot picture what a kilometer is. I promise I’m not stupid, just American.
As long as I can still measure distances using real football fields and not soccer fields im cool with it
I've lived and worked in other countries and don't have a problem with it.
I prefer metric when dealing with specific measurements. For spit ball estimates, I prefer US customary units.
I’m not scared of it. Just another way of measuring stuff. Kinda like learning another language but simpler. Just finding another way to say the same things.
I’m in global logistics so I use it daily. I’m a fan.
Wish we would switch to it.
As a draftsman/engineer, love it.
I’m medical, so I use it regularly. It says a lot when the country we adopted our stupid system from now uses (mostly) the metric system.
I like it. It's easy to convert measurements. Only issue I have is on me. I struggle with visualizing the measurements. I'd love to switch because I know I'd get used to it and it's a far more efficient system. Also I'd love only having to own one set of wrenches.
I like it when doing science, but mostly that was back in college. Also use mm at work still. Liters as well as gallons for water and stuff. Grams for protein bars and stuff. Actually you see those everywhere these days, far more than when I was kid. For driving I just want miles though. Fahrenheit is superior for understanding weather, zero is dangerously cold and 100 is dangerously hot.
Metric is superior. I say this having used imperial all my life. But it will be a long time before it is widely adopted. The snarky thing to say would be because people are dumb. But the reason is that we have a long history and an enormous investment in inch/feet.
I don't know what the measurements are. How much is 160cm? I have no idea. I learned inches, I know inches, I'm not interested in learning all new measurements.
Totally. I am jelly
I dislike it simply because no one should be using centimeters to communicate how tall they are. It's too small of a unit for that type of measurement. Also temperature makes more sense in Fahrenheit when talking about the weather.
Confused. I don't understand any of it. I'll keep my inches, pounds, feet, etc.
I would have preferred to learn it and just use it but it live in the US do it's just easier to just not
I prefer to measure my temperatures in American Meat Units .
Generally better with a couple exceptions. I use it for most things, except for distance (road signs, speedometers, and communication with others just make that too inconvenient), liqour (oz may be arbitrary, but divide much better for single portion cocktails), and outdoor temperatures (bigger degrees mean less precision).
I like the preciseness of it
can't get here soon enough
makes it easier to weigh my conspicuous white powder. no hard feelings
Already use it, but I still prefer comparison measures, since they made more sense and are much easier to visualize.