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why is the US not Metric

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SilverSolder:

--- Quote from: bsfeechannel on December 04, 2019, 12:15:58 am ---
[...] I feel a sympathetic cringe for the US every time I see this map showing the countries that use Fahrenheit [only the USA... pretty much ...]


--- End quote ---

I grew up with Metric, but find myself quite liking Fahrenheit for having about 2x the resolution of the Celsius scale!

There are some elderly people in Britain that still use Fahrenheit as well, whatever the official decision is.

Martin.M:
why is the US not Metric  :)

the question is not exactly, the US is mixed.
Examples:

All old Tek Scopes have a Time Base where you have to select V/cm (not V / 1/2inch).
And all screws inside are UNC.

"imperial" means british? my english is not the best.
When we look for the screws:

There are 3 familys in the word:

the britisch, inch screws,
the american UNC/UNF,
and the metric.

Here in germany it`s not all metric, water pipes are still imperial.
It is a rather old story of marketing, each kitchen chef want the own cake, so also here:

the imperial screws are in inches, with a angle of 55° in the cut.
the metric screws are metric, with a angle of 60° in the cut.
And the american UNC is imperial, but with the 60° cut from the metrics...

So all are lucky bec. the screws from the other side will not be useful in the own market  :-DD
This mix is working since a very long time, it works good and there is no reason to change anything.
So the german kid have to learn in the scool also what is a inch, or a land- or a sea mile, how many mm is a inch, how many inch is a feet and so on,
that`s very good bec. they are stupid.

I am only a little disapointed about the little allen key for knobs, the american size (is that " 50 tou "?) is exactly between our parts in the tools box, the one is to small and the next is to large.

Martin

bsfeechannel:

--- Quote from: tooki on December 04, 2019, 09:38:16 am ---My gripe is with you pretending your personal preference is somehow empirically superior in all situations, which it isn’t.
--- End quote ---

If the fact that the metric system has been adopted by the whole world and that it pervades all science, technology, engineering, etc. (even in the US) cannot convince you about the empirical vast superiority of the metric system, do you think that my personal preferences would?


--- Quote from: KL27x on December 04, 2019, 03:06:15 am ---Are you just trying to win an internet argument?
--- End quote ---

What argument?

KL27x:
^What argument? Your position has been that the common person in America uses imperial because they are ignorant and arrogant. And that is costs a significant amount of money, but you can't seem to even comprehend what this means.

You don't accept that Americans learn metric and use only metric in school. They know everything about metric that you do. Every single American. Knows everything you do about metric. And they also know what a quarter pounder is. The reasons they use imperial is mostly for convenience in places where none of the advantages of metric apply. They know this, because they know the advantages of metric. And they know what their daily lives are. You seem to be stuck on just the advantages of a measuring system with no idea how that relates to your own life.

You would also never accede that history has given the best unit names to imperial. Imperial has the mile, foot, inch, thou, tenth, yard, cup, pint, ounce, ton, quart, grain. Maybe something to do with imperial being evolved from the measuring system used by humans for millennia since at least the beginning of known history and possibly for millennia before known history. (Maybe you prefer the term megayears?) In contrast, most metric units are 3-4 syllables, other than the gram and liter. Like Spanish, it sounds like you're talking faster, but you are saying the same amount of information. Also it happens to kinda suck that centi and centa would be pronounced essentially the same, at least in American english. Hence hecto rather than centa.

Do you wonder why centi seems to only ever be used for centimeters... hecto only ever seems to be used for hectares; all this versatility, and not that much of it actually useful in practice? If you use centiliters or hectograms in your communications, do you think people would thank you for saving them the hassle of a couple zeros? Or would your friends tell you to stop being a dumbass?

Do you ever wonder why metric users use the word "ton" rather than megagram? Re-using "ton" you always have to specify "metric ton," anyway.  :-// Is it because at some point metric prefixes become stupid, outside of specific uses or comparisons? (You know what a zettameter and a petaliter are without looking them up, right? Kinda like how a rod or a perch were only ever used within certain industries, and 99% of imperial user base didn't ever care what those things are but somehow got on with life, anyhow?) Or are the people using metric just dumb?

Do you think China ATC gives planes clearance to ascend from 8 hectometers to 1.5 kilometers? Or do you think they stick with the one unit that makes the most sense for the scale?

BTW, do people in your metric countries say "clicks" or is that completely douchey? Maybe some people say "kay ems," too? Or do common folks just say kilometers to preserve the extra scienceness? "Kilos" seems to be used for weight, already. If americans used metric in daily life, we would probably come up with something better suited to our version of English for km. "Killems?" Maybe in another 30 years that would turn into "kims?" Our military might say "clicks," but maybe I saw that in a movie.

tooki:

--- Quote from: bsfeechannel on December 04, 2019, 05:21:39 pm ---
--- Quote from: tooki on December 04, 2019, 09:38:16 am ---My gripe is with you pretending your personal preference is somehow empirically superior in all situations, which it isn’t.
--- End quote ---

If the fact that the metric system has been adopted by the whole world and that it pervades all science, technology, engineering, etc. (even in the US) cannot convince you about the empirical vast superiority of the metric system, do you think that my personal preferences would?

--- End quote ---
For the umpteenth time, the issue is that switching systems invokes cost and risk. And for no benefit in many situations. How can you not get this through your thick skull?

The situations where it does make sense, they have switched or are in the process. But others it makes no sense because the unit simply doesn’t matter. But costs and risks do, so changing then makes no sense.

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