“Your Measurement System Is Crazy”

Don't say this... #travel #USA #tourism

[enverse]

Yes descriptions we can understand, like “schools shootings per McDonald’s” or “bald Eagle screeches squared”

[chrismusso]

In the US we are actually taught and tested on both systems, which actually can be useful in some situations where the metric system isn't convenient and doesn't really do any harm to know both, it's like knowing more than one language to communicate the same message.

[suzannenixon]

We know what the metric system is and how it works. And it's not like we invented imperial measurements. You can thank Britain for coming up with it and establishing it in the States.

[dscott]

In the UK we use imperial too. Speed and distance is measured in miles, yards and feet. Height measured in feet and weight in stone/lbs. But most of us understand metric too as pretty much everywhere east of here uses metric.

[thearchtect]

The only thing that sucks is in the U.S. we have to buy 2 sets of a lot of our tools!

[SonJouten]

Is this why we cam never find the 10mm?

[pebofatso]

"The size of three football fields"

[joermnyc]

Thomas Jefferson asked for an example of a meter and a kilogram to show them off to Congress. The ship they were on was attacked by pirates and both examples were lost.

[ambertheprotogen]

"descriptions they would understand" include washing machines per sink hole, Browning high power power per grass blade, and moon landings per federal crimes.

I am American.

[FindOrMakeit]

Regardless, look at how much they have accomplished. They also have some of the best architects and engineers in the world.

[enricomadrigal]

Can you tell me how far the train station is?
It is very close, precisely two Football fields three legs, one and a half arm and 5 nails.

Very scientific and professional 😅

[mrsw]

We tried. We really did try. It was a nightmare. We were all so confused. They could probably do it today. But back in the seventies we couldn’t hack it. Sorry.

[jimebbert]

So how many people has Britain put on the moon with their metric system? For that matter, how many rovers has Britain put on Mars using the metric system? Nuf said.

[fatboyrowing]

There are those countries that use the metric system. And then there is the country that put a man on the moon

[JohnCoffins]

Well we won 2 world wars and went to the moon...

[MrJaxparadize]

Stay with imperial. There’s a reason for it.

[alexanderkirkley]

Can somebody tell me why I feel so attacked like it's not our fault. I didn't decide it but I refuse to learn what the f*** a kilometer is

[DewiiEsq]

Imperial measurements are supposed to be more intuitive and human centric though as opposed to the metric system which is scientific

[Uufda]

Imperial is more useful in day-to-day life. We learn the metric system, too, but the imperial system is by and large easier to visualize in daily life.

As one immigrant put it, "Fahrenheit is like percent of hotness", but in terms of human experience, rather than Celsius's water's state of matter.

A foot is around the length of your forearm, a rough six inches is either base of palm to point of middle finger or spreadhanded tip of pinky to tip of thumb (depending on your hand size), so you can say "she's around 5 feet 6 inches tall" and immediately get that mental image, and if you can't, it's easy to visualize.

With pounds, a 250-300 page paperback is a pound or two, you can imagine smaller weights easily by relating it to how much a stack of books would weigh in your arms.

We often use centimeters for measurements of small things as fractions of an inch are kinda annoying.

A yard and a meter are similar measurements, the difference is a meter is 3 inches longer.

In regards to ounces and miles those are a pain in the ass as much as grams and kilometers.

So for daily life, we typically use Imperial, but in science we use metric. Different tools for different jobs.

[jojokeane]

The metric system has already been adopted in any industry that matters: medicine, the military, manufacturing, etc. Maybe the average Gen Z idiot doesn't know the metric system. They don't seem to know much.