Bill Nye has an incredible theory about why the US isn't on the metric system

The US hasn't fully adopted the metric system but "Unstoppable" author Bill Nye says some of the measurement is "creeping in." Here is his theory on why we haven't made the switch.

Produced by Justin Gmoser. Camera by Graham Flanagan.

--------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------

Business Insider is the fastest growing business news site in the US. Our mission: to tell you all you need to know about the big world around you. The BI Video team focuses on technology, strategy and science with an emphasis on unique storytelling and data that appeals to the next generation of leaders – the digital generation.

[mikety]

The weirdest part is the US likes to talk about its "Freedom" and yet still insists on using the units that its old overlords used.

[snugglyface]

but you didn't explain why the us isn't using the matric system you just gave another reason why they really should

[deday]

to stay influential, why the need to remove solar panels from the white house roofs? !?!?!

[jarahfluxman]

They took the solar system off the white house? Jupiter must have been so difficult to move!

[jonmce]

I was metric officer for a Canadian textile company and worked with the sector head for converting the US textile sector. The textile industry had an amazing number of systems of measurement such as the cotton system as one among many. To be honest I already had a bias having a degree in physics. Anyone wanting to do physics in the imperial system needs therapy. The conversion went really well and hugely simplified calculations and reduced errors and time spent on conversions at our company but the Americans didn't proceed. At the time it felt like an indication of the US in decline. Obviously that was somewhat silly but since then the US has regressed abandoning science and reason politically for an imagined past and a form of primitive religiosity. .

[brianlizotte]

I always thought the Stonecutters kept the metric system down.

[BrianMcGuirkBMG]

The USA is not alone in its reluctance to progress to the metric system. The UK is still using miles and not kilometres. I was taught metric and imperial measurements in school over 50 years ago because we were "about to" switch to metric. But we're still dragging our imperial knuckles along the floor inch by inch.

[killerz]

We need a longer video with more Bill Nye to explain this

[Darkwisdom]

I noticed that a lot of US drinks use both. I buy from a shop in my town that sells US import drinks (Rickey Cans, Cherry Dr. Pepper etc.) and they use both FL.OZ and ML. I think the US still clings to imperial measurements, but most companies are aware that Metric is used by most countries now.

Although, the UK uses a mix of both. Most signs still use Miles instead of Kilometers, but main motorways use both.

[michaelparker]

We use a lot of metric in Britain but really it's a mix of whatever's most accurate or most practical for the task.
Like we use feet and inches to measure a person's height because you don't need to be millimetre perfect and there's still that psychological effect of where you are equivalent to 6ft.
Use MPH for driving speed because again doesn't need to be exact, and the same goes with many other everyday larger measurements where it just isn't that important.
But with temperature and measuring smaller distances or amounts generally metric is used because it's just common sense.

[rogermwilcox]

Airplane pilots may have to use temperatures in degrees Celsius, but they still use altitudes in feet, distances in nautical miles, and air pressure settings in inches of mercury.

[chrisofnottingham]

I didn't really get what the theory was but I can't believe it has anything to do with Iran. Surely the reason is that the USA is so big that most of its trade is internal and therefore it doesn't have to change to fit in with a newer system, designed to unify the many local systems that previously existed in Europe.

[tiuk]

Oh, hey Bill. Nice to see you on this channel. :D

[cinimatics]

Does it involve a superiority complex supported by rampant nationalism?

We need to get with it. The metric system is far superior. Its so simple and easy.

[sanqiangli]

As a merchant, I agree with the last point. American-made items are a tough sell because they have weird measurements.

[zippome]

If you want Americans to embrace the metric system, you need to find a way to keep the 10 and 12 mm sockets from disappearing from your toolbox. Never to be seen again.

[joshuathomas]

I am a former army drone pilot 2008-2014, and the only thing we did in metric was distance. Up and down was and is still done in feet. Temps were and are done in Fahrenheit.

[ushi]

Liberia and Myanmar recognize that the metric system is the way to go.
The US are still using Flintstones, while the rest of the world are using AC.
America first my friends, go ahead!

[christopherjensen]

I've traveled a bit and used both systems, no problems, but I gotta tell ya, if you're going to build a set of stairs, feet and inches are just a whole lot easier to use. The simple truth is that 12 is just a handier number to use than 10, it divides easily by 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12. An American tape measure, marked in inches, feet, and multiples of 16 inches in red, is a wonderful tool!          For distance, a nautical mile is pretty spiffy too, and again, it all comes down to the simple fact that 360 and 60 ( the numbers from which nautical miles/ latitude/ longitude and time zones is based ) are simply a wonderful numbers to work with!        A funny observation: Take an American tape measure, and measure the width of a typical carpenter's thumb at about the base of the thumbnail, and you'll find that it's an inch wide, mostly. We all have a built in measuring device!  The Norwegian word for thumb is also the Norwegian word for inch.         Another: The foot that we use in measurements is actually the length of King James I of England's foot. The measurement used to legally change with every new monarch!

[h.cedric]

Why are you people giving so much credit and attention to some engineer, and actor who used to play a character in those "Speedwalker" TV series?