I disagree that arrogance is a valid reason.
France created metric because they didn't have any standard. "In France alone, it was estimated at that time that at least 250,000 different units of weights and measures were in use during the Ancien Régime." They also converted to metric during a revolution. This spread through the EU, and it makes sense. There were similar problems in some of those countries. And Europe has highly connected, relatively small countries with a lot of trade and travel. If half the continent uses metric, and there are 10 other countries left that had an actual standard to begin with, they are now the odd man out. When you can ride your horse through 3-4 different measuring systems in a day, that can cause problems.
There is no logical reason for the US to ever change to metric. This is like expecting US to change language to Spanish. It costs money to change to metric. All of the imperial standards are defined and derived from metric, and we have calculators, so there's almost no reason to do that or for anyone in or outside of the US to care.
Road signs. Car odometers. Gas station pumps. Measuring equipment. Mill beds. Lathe gearing for cutting threads. Websites and product descriptions. US is big enough where it doesn't make sense to change all this stuff. Why bother? After you have done all that, what did you achieve that makes you so happy?
Now America is the odd man out
Now America is the odd man out and the world is smaller and more connected by trade than it ever was. Any American industrial manufacturer using American units is at a disadvantage with a competitor using metric units. American companies that want to remain competitive in the world will have to go metric. they are, in fact, already going metric. And this means having two standards and that costs money. Which means being less competitive.
People, companies, countries, become wealthy not by sticking to the past but by adapting to the future.
America is big but it is part of the world and cannot shut itself from the world without suffering serious damage. Believing otherwise is seriously arrogant and seriously ignorant.
^By that argument we should all adopt the Spanish language and use one currency.
America's trade problems have little to nothing to do with units of measurement, IMO.
everywhere it makes sense to switch, USA has switched, or is in the process.
This is like expecting US to change language to Spanish.
It costs money to change to metric.
All of the imperial standards are defined and derived from metric, and we have calculators, so there's almost no reason to do that or for anyone in or outside of the US to care.
Which, come to think of it, how does EU express a car's power? In kW?
What we should be doing is teaching simple math and how to do a basic conversion. When an American buys a product from EU or China that is expressed in metric, some of us have to do a conversion to make sense of it. But if we are shopping for the best price, we will do it. The dummies that can't, well that's their problem.Quoteeverywhere it makes sense to switch, USA has switched, or is in the process.This. People in America use metric when is makes their life easier and/or reduces their costs. They don't pay extra in order to be "compliant" to one standard or another for no other reason other than to make someone on the internet happy. Americans are already fine with grams and liters and mL. But the cost to change over everything by government mandate would be stupidly expensive. And we already teach our kids both systems, not just imperial. We don't do physics in horsepowers and inches.
Which, come to think of it, how does EU express a car's power? In kW?
my fathers shed had.
imperial AF, metric & whitworth spanners
that made under the bonnet work interesting.
and then there is today's television sizes
that started out in Imperial then went metric then back to using imperial.
Never knew that. Per google "cheval vapeur" translates to "horsepower." But 1 cheval vapeur = 0.98592325737265 horsepower. Or 735.2028464127880626 watts. I wonder if this is derived in some way from metric.
I suppose stating power in kW would make your car look 25% weaker compared to horsepower. But when you use CV? Instant 1.4% increase in number of units vs horsepower.
In the 1800's the average person didn't know how to do math or use an abacus. And riding your horse to the nearest guy with a victorian mechanical calculator might take awhile. We don't need to worry about this, anymore.
Now I'm wondering about recipes. In america, we add a half cup of chopped celery, a teaspoon of vinegar, and a pinch of salt. In EU, you would add 100mL of chopped celery, 5mL vinegar, and 2 grams of salt?
Units used in recipes are essentially informal.
But when necessary they are given in metric
As an American abroad, I get shit from everyone: Americans in USA calling me “eurotrash” (I’m not), British people smugly declaring that Americans don’t speak English (we do), locals complaining about foreigners, and everyone ragging on us about metric. (And until Brexit and AfD showed Europeans that xenophobic right wing paranoia is on their doorstep, we also got Europeans attacking us for our dumb politicians that I, like nearly all Americans abroad, decidedly did not vote for.) I’m tired of it, so I call people out on it, mmkay?
Which, come to think of it, how does EU express a car's power? In kW?
Years ago I was visiting a family in California and they were measuring the windows for blinds. The whole family was around the kitchen table trying to solve problems such as: Window width is 4' 11" and 1/16. We want to leave 3/8" clearance on each side. What blind width do we need to order?
Years ago I was visiting a family in California and they were measuring the windows for blinds. The whole family was around the kitchen table trying to solve problems such as: Window width is 4' 11" and 1/16. We want to leave 3/8" clearance on each side. What blind width do we need to order?
It was fun watching the whole family giving their opinions and guesses. And this for a whole set of different windows and measurements.
These are probably a good representation of Americans who do not want to change to metric because "we are already familiar with the American system".
They probably think that if the system they are familiar with is so difficult, just imagine having to learn a new, foreign, system!
Years ago I was visiting a family in California and they were measuring the windows for blinds. The whole family was around the kitchen table trying to solve problems such as: Window width is 4' 11" and 1/16. We want to leave 3/8" clearance on each side. What blind width do we need to order?
It was fun watching the whole family giving their opinions and guesses. And this for a whole set of different windows and measurements.
These are probably a good representation of Americans who do not want to change to metric because "we are already familiar with the American system".
They probably think that if the system they are familiar with is so difficult, just imagine having to learn a new, foreign, system!
4' 11" and 1/16 is exactly 1.5 m. 3/8" is approximately 10 cm. Piece of cake: 1.7 m - wide minimum blind.
They don't understand that each of those units are in a different numeric base and you have to convert from one base to another to make sense of the calculations.
But when necessary they are given in metricSame over here! So the problem has already been solved and we can all stop worrying about it!