The metric system and its lack of adoption in the US

[timmie 988]

I'm sorry to say, but Porter The Moderator is a marvel of self contradiction

 

Well, please explain your position then

[yayaya1 22]

I would really use the metric system because the US measurements are REALLY complicated. 12 inches in a foot. 3 feet in a yard, and 5000 something feet for a mile. 

1700 something yards in a mile. Almost all the numbers have nothing in common! Whereas, the metric system uses a more simple way of 10 units for another, like 10 centimeter in a decimeter.

[Porter 68]

 

I'm sorry to say, but Porter The Moderator is a marvel of self contradiction

 

Well, please explain your position then

 

 

 

Agreed... Kind of unfair nasty_goofy, to attack my position without explaining why you disagree with it. Not only that, I don't see where I have contradicted myself.

 

Instead of just posting a snide and mocking comment (frankly... that was clearly what you intended to come across as), it would be a lot better to actually add to the conversation.

[MandelSoft 2,775]

Each reiteration of the meter has used a different method, as well as become more and more arbitrary and esoteric with the new method. 

 

The first one used a pendulum for a half second swing, then it was a fraction of the earth's meridian, then based off a platinum bar, then the measurement of over a million krypton light wavelengths... now its a fraction of light over a extremely minute fraction.

 

Sorry, but each reiteration makes it harder and harder for the average person to understand a meter.

These definitions are not used in everyday life. In fact, the first definition of the meter I learned was the 10 millionth length from the pole to the equator of the earth. Why one 10 millionth? Because that's workable in everyday use, since one meter is about one yard (10% difference. So if you know what a yard is, you get the idea what a meter is. There, happy now?). Same goes for liter (1/1000 m^2, where one liter is good to fill five glasses of water) kilogram (about 1 liter of water. oddly enough, the only SI unit with a prefix in its base. 1 kg is about two pounds + 10%) and Celsius (Kelvin may be more scientifically accurate, Celsius is more usable on everyday use because it doesn't work with huge numbers in normal situations).

Six of the seven SI units are now based on constants and ratios that don't change and can be verified anywhere in the universe. Only the kilogram is still defined by the kilogram stored in Paris, though very lately there have been effort to even make this unit linked to a unchangeable constant and ratio, namely a sphere with an exact radius of x made of a special kind of silicate. What do you in fact is counting how many atoms of that element go into one kilogram.

I never had problems understanding how long a meter is. Saying that it's very arbitrary to measure meters in strides is just as arbitrary as counting the seconds in your head. Because what's a second based on? One 86400th of a day. But how can you imagine that? How can you check out of the blue how much time that is?

 

Something that is defined purposefully in a way so that people could understand it easily is the very antithesis of arbitrary. And guess what, the average person is going to relate much better to looking at their own foot than they would conceptualizing 1/299792458 of a second of light traveling in a vacuum. And before I get it posted again, there are way too many differences in a stride. and having measured out a meter and trying to put it in my own stride... yeah, that's not exactly easy for anyone under 6 ft. Sorry.... A bed, really? That only works for metric countries. Using one's leg? Again, last I checked humans comes in a massive amount of heights... so.... no... can't really use that. Feet tend to be about the same size across gender and race for adults. Are their outliers? Sure, but guess what, those are a lot less common than height, stride, and beds.

Well, if you are a kid, you foot is smaller. Instead of having one foot = 30.48 cm, it's only 20 cm. Is the feet then more precise than the meter?

FYI, I have the dutch shoe size 44, which is pretty large. Yet, this is only 28 cm long, so it's actually SHORTER than one foot, even though I have pretty big feet. What shoe size comes close to an actual foot? Well, it's the rare shoe size of 47, which is 30.1cm long. In a way, 95% of the "feet" will be smaller than the actual imperial foot.

 

Also important to note, one form of travel nearly the exact same across the world is air travel.... guess what? They still use the foot for altitude. Why? Because when it matters, the foot gives a small enough measurement without being too small to become hard to comprehend, or too large as to increase the amount of error. Sometimes a specialized form of measurement works better than a common format.

I think this may have to do with culture rather than the usefulness of the imperial system. Most of the aerospace engineering in the early days happened in England and North America, the places where they use imperial systems. It may have grown a custom to use these units on all planes for consistency for communication and for different pilots using the machine. The same is probably true for ships, where they applied the system too for consistency during communication.

Also, one note: distances for planes are measured in nautical miles, not land miles.

---

Just a side note: I think the imperial system could work better in this way:

- 1 (new) inch = 0.024982705m ≈ 0.025m

- 12 inches = 1 (new) foot = 0.299792458m ≈ 0.30m = (10^-9c)

- 3 feet = 1 (new) yard = 0.899377374m ≈ 0.90m

- 12 yards = 1 (new) chain / dolayard = 10.8m

- 12 chains = 1 (new) furlong / grolayard = 129.6m

- 12 furlongs = 1 (new) mile / molayard = 1555.2m

(Dozenal prefixes from here: http://whittenwords.angelfire.com/measure/dozencount.htm The more I think of it, the more I begin to like the Dozenal System)

This makes a mile 1728 yards instead of 1760. Now, as you can see, 1728 is pretty easy divisable: It's actually 12³. This means that this system takes advantage of being a completely base 12 system, and therefore it's much more easy to say how many inches there go in a mile. It would be also much easier for conversion and to teach children this system.

Also, if you don't have to be very precise, you can convert inches to centimeters in this system if you use a multiplication factor of 2.5. The error is just 0.07%

Best,

Maarten

[Odainsaker 2,137]

Considering the costs and needless disruptions, the U.S. is not going to overturn its long-established measuring systems anytime soon.  It would leave most of the citizenry unable to comprehend the simple measurements of their basic physical environment and would leave broad domestic industries paralyzed with confusion, undercutting any potential efficiency gain with outright economic pain.  While such a change would offer conveniences for those outside the U.S., for most of those within the U.S., there is little immediate practical benefit that offsets the staggering price.  Now, if those advocating for the U.S. to undertake such a radical change would be ready to cover the costs themselves on the behalf of the U.S., perhaps then there would be more movement on the issue.  Until then, the U.S. will have to maintain its transitional dual system, with the Imperial system still widely used as the popular norm, and the Metric system slowly establishing in specialized sectors.

 

Yes, the Metric system is much more rationally organized and scalable, but, even I can't visualize the length of 10 meters versus 10 feet, let alone peg where 27°C fits on the Fahrenheit scale or on-the-fly guesstimate kilometers per liter of gasoline at the fuel pump.  That is an issue of usage opportunity and familiarity, much like language, and can be overcome with continuous exposure.  However, imagine the construction contractor trying to explain to his hired laborers that the pre-sized wooden studs once easily spaced 16" on center now all need to be 40.64 cm on center...we don't get to round up or down back to whole numbers without redesigning the project or remanufacturing and retooling all the kit parts, and adding up multiples of 40.64 cm increments is just asking for errors.  Overlapping those 16" spaced studs are 48" (4ft) long panels, which now have to become 121.92 cm (1.2192 m) panels whose increments I might have to add up...talk about ugly and cumbersome numbers!

[jaredh 195]

Imperial will *NEVER* go away in the US.  N-E-V-E-R.

 

Frankly, I hate metric, and I'm an engineer.  Everything in metric is bland and equal-distant ranks of 10.  Blah.  Give me variety.  It makes you have to think more...you have to keep up with the various different transitions rather than just defaulting to 10 all the time.  I'll use it when necessary, but that is rare.  As stated earlier, its only really better than Imperial for volume....all the other metric vs imperial comparisons are matter of preference only.

 

There are 300 million people here that would resist (and another 500 million that are dead that have already resisted).  It would take an armed take-over to eliminate Imperial here, and that would result in the vast majority of the conquering metric lovers being nuked into oblivion in the process.

 

Some people would argue that Imperial might have the greatest chance of surviving Armageddon because it is based on logical values (length of your foot, width of your thumb etc) than metric, which is completely arbitrary (I know its not...but as far as the vast majority of people here, it is).

 

It's barely worth discussing.  What you are taught as a child is what you will become most familiar and used to...and there is no way the education system here will ever stop teaching Imperial as the primary unit of measure to grade school students. 

[timmie 988]

It's barely worth discussing.  What you are taught as a child is what you will become most familiar and used to...and there is no way the education system here will ever stop teaching Imperial as the primary unit of measure to grade school students. 

 

So, what you say is, in the end, it's just a matter of personal preference. Which is perfectly fine.

The rest of your post might be a bit too strong-worded. We are still talking about systems of measurement, not some sensitive and controversial political issue

[jaredh 195]

 Now, if those advocating for the U.S. to undertake such a radical change would be ready to cover the costs themselves on the behalf of the U.S., perhaps then there would be more movement on the issue.  Until then, the U.S. will have to maintain its transitional dual system, with the Imperial system still widely used as the popular norm, and the Metric system slowly establishing in specialized sectors.

 

Odainsaker makes a good point.  We'd probably switch over for 10 trillion dollars if the metric world wants to pay for it.

 

It would cost well over 2 trillion simply to reprint all the signage (we have enumerated mile markers every mile here, you'd have to pick all of those up, and lay new ones down).  There are probably over 5 million mile markers alone here, and the cost to replace each one with a km marker is probably $500-$1000 each.  That only covers those signs, and not all the informational signs everywhere, for which there are probably 5 for every mile marker.  Then you've got all the measuring devices in people's homes that would have to be replaced, etc etc.

[T Wrecks 10,210]

Yeah, I can totally see why the US won't change so soon. Makes perfect sense from that perspective.

 

But frankly, I don't quite get all the fuss about how a unit of length is put together. For what it's worth, they could have taken all the nuts a squirrel dug up somewhere, laid them in a row and decided to call it a [$UNIT OF LENGTH]. What gives? What matters is that it's useful in as many respects as possible.

 

IMO there are not too many examples where a metre (the unit, not its definition!) is something so esoteric that it's impossible to grasp. As Maarten said, if you really need to determine how big a room is, then by all means use feet, multiply by 3 and get the result in metres. An additional step? Totally. Makes feet more comfortable to work with? Depends on the total package, and I think there are more situations where metric is easier than imperial, even though there may be small particular areas where one or the other system is more convenient even in an environment that was not created based on that very system (if the environment was created based on a particular unit, then it's not a wonder if that unit is more comfortable to use there).

 

I mean, come on... yes, you can find examples. But the one with the room, really... just how often in life do you find yourself in a situation where you need to know the size of a room all of a sudden, without a chance to get anything that would help you? The few times in your life when you move into a new flat and want to make sure the landlords didn't advertise the flat as bigger than it actually is, you might as well bring a folding rule - particularly because in such a situation you want to have an exact number and not an approximation, be it metric or imperial.

 

As for flight, I don't know much about that. Whenever I traveled somewhere by plane, the numbers that were mentioned usually were five-digit, four-digit at the very least. If regular travel height is 10,000 ft, then I don't see why it should be important to measure by a single foot. I could see why someone would feel inclined to use feet when directing a friend who's parking his car in a very narrow gap, but planes need to pass each other at a considerable offset in order to avoid the air turbulences they cause. I have difficulty imagining any situation among airplanes where three feet (1m) would be much too big a step. If I'm missing anything here, then by all means, don't let me die stupid and ignorant. I've learnt a lot through this thread already.

 

One more thing about metric that I like is that there is no confusion about American or British metre, land metre or nautic metre. Neither is there confusion about American or British kilogram, long or short kilogram, solid or fluid kilogram, and so on. It's the same everywhere. I hate it whenever I have texts to translate and they don't say which ounce or barrel they are talking about, if they are talking about long ton, short ton, metric ton...

[Odainsaker 2,137]

Hehe, I remember a school project where I had to build a scale model of the ancient Japanese Konpira Shrine.  Japan only partially adopted the Metric system in the early 20th Century, and the measurements of the ancient building naturally did not conform to either Metric or Imperial, but instead to the pre-modern, traditional measuring system imported from ancient China.  Most U.S. hardware stores do not sell scales or rulers set to ancient Tang Dynasty standards, and using modern scales was too cumbersome, so I started notching off my own scale on a blank straight-edge to help me lay out the model using commonly repeated measurements and proportions taken from the existing plans.  It turns out the self-made notched scale was my own amateur reconstruction of Japan's traditional shakkanhou measuring system, and that jury-rigged shaku scale became the supplementary highlight of the project, as it was obvious that once you have the measuring system set, much of the architecture even then was highly standardized and conveniently modular.  I suspect for their own traditional reconstructions that Metric Japan probably keeps this older system alive.

[Alejandro24 575]

 

Here in 'Merica, we have our own ways of doing things.

Is that a way to say that America hears the beat of a different drummer?

 

United States has its own ways to being different, a very peculiar ways to being different. America are using the SI, only United States is not using the SI.

 

Stay backwards then, someday US will be forced to be aligned to the rest of the world.

[LexusInfernus 908]

There are 300 million people here that would resist (and another 500 million that are dead that have already resisted).  It would take an armed take-over to eliminate Imperial here, and that would result in the vast majority of the conquering metric lovers being nuked into oblivion in the process.

Yeah, because the unit of measurement you use is really an issue worth of initiating a nuclear holocaust over :\ 

[Bdub01 201]

Stay backwards then, someday US will be forced to be aligned to the rest of the world.

Care to explain how? I don't see the US changing. I think they tried it once back in the 70's and it didn't work. One thing Americans don't like to be forced to do something. The harder one tries the harder we resist...

[Cockatoo 2,262]

Frankly, I hate metric, and I'm an engineer.  Everything in metric is bland and equal-distant ranks of 10.  Blah.  Give me variety.  It makes you have to think more...you have to keep up with the various different transitions rather than just defaulting to 10 all the time.

 

This. Metric is sooooo boring. Who wants to just move dots around when you could awesome things like multiply by 5280. That makes you smarter!

 

Look how easy it is. Ready. 1x5280 = 5280! (how easy was that!) 2x5280 = uh... um... 10... 4, no 5, 10,5... 10560! 3x5280 = 15... 6 hundred and ... something!

 

There are 300 million people here that would resist (and another 500 million that are dead that have already resisted).  It would take an armed take-over to eliminate Imperial here, and that would result in the vast majority of the conquering metric lovers being nuked into oblivion in the process.

 

Exactly. All commie terrorist Metric lovers hate freedom.

 

---

 

yeah, sorry. couldn't help myself.

[Alejandro24 575]

 

Stay backwards then, someday US will be forced to be aligned to the rest of the world.

Care to explain how? I don't see the US changing. I think they tried it once back in the 70's and it didn't work. One thing Americans don't like to be forced to do something. The harder one tries the harder we resist...

 

Forced to being alignated, then be an ally or an enemy. It is not the way as the foreign politics of United States works? Well, lets the United States taste a little bit of its own medicine.

How? Easy, the transition should happening now, all the world uses the SI, only United States, Liberia and Burma not. Why? Being different, selfishness, obstinacy.... Patriotism? Seriously, this is not about patriotism, is about a correct use of all the meseaures in all the world, between more coordinated, a better job will done.

 

Oh no, wait... Terrorists use the SI!!!!!!

[Bdub01 201]

Stay backwards then, someday US will be forced to be aligned to the rest of the world.

Care to explain how? I don't see the US changing. I think they tried it once back in the 70's and it didn't work. One thing Americans don't like to be forced to do something. The harder one tries the harder we resist...

Forced to being alignated, then be an ally or an enemy. It is not the way as the foreign politics of United States works? Well, lets the United States taste a little bit of its own medicine.

How? Easy, the transition should happening now, all the world uses the SI, only United States, Liberia and Burma not. Why? Being different, selfishness, obstinacy.... Patriotism? Seriously, this is not about patriotism, is about a correct use of all the meseaures in all the world, between more coordinated, a better job will done.

Oh no, wait... Terrorists use the SI!!!!!!

It's not about patriotism or selfishness per se. It's what we grew up with. It's not easy changing 300 million people in just a few years. I'm 40 years old and I would have difficultly changing over to the metric system, as I've said, I've had to use it in nursing and still haven't gotten used to it. That's why if America was going to change it has to start with kindergarten or first grade and work it's way up from there.

It would be like trying to change ones language, it's not easy.

[Duke87 1,070]

. We are still talking about systems of measurement, not some sensitive and controversial political issue

 

Interesting how much action this thread has seen, eh?

 

You would think it wouldn't be an important issue but it just goes to show you that it is. We Americans have a strong emotional attachment to the set of units that the rest of the world calls "backwards", and while referring to the metric system as "Communist" is done in jest, it is considered to be distinctly unamerican. Because, you know, if we started using it it would be purely for the sake of conformity with everyone else, not for our own benefit at all. And you know how America is with international standards... we don't use international standard road signs, either.

 

And then, of course, it becomes an emotional issue for the rest of the world because it's an easy thing to say "oh, you stupid Americans and your backwards ways" about.

[snick25 384]

I have to wonder about some of the comments being made here. Some of you seem to think it's entirely a matter of rationality, or national pride. Those factors do play a role, of course, but as Bdub01 and others have pointed out, it's more a matter of convenience.

 

Imagine Americans started pressuring Europeans, Australians, or whathaveyou to switch to the Imperial system. Would you want to do it? The answer is most likely no. And I bet it's not only a matter of logic, even as many of you see the metric system as far more "sensible", or a matter of "the big bad United States imposing its will".

 

Instead, I imagine most of you wouldn't want to go through the hassle of leaning an entirely new, and, to some of you, completely alien system of measurement, one that is used daily in everything from business to scientific study and research, right down to daily domestic life, such as measuring the area of a floor for carpeting.

 

Imagine the mayhem. Then magnify it, considering many Americans are rather uniformed (yes, its a stereotype but unfortunately it often rings true), and one can clearly see, this thing ain't gonna happen.

 

And anyone saying our resistance to change to metric is "backwards" or "selfish" is completely misinformed. A bit hypocritical too, seeing as forcing hundreds of millions of people to change the way they live just to make it more convenient for foreigners could come off as quite selfish in its own regard.

[Porter 68]

Ok, seriously? The US refuses to use the metric system... because terrorism? Really... I'm just going to pretend you didn't know what you were saying there Alejandro... because if I don't, I think I might get really mean and nasty fast.

 

In reality, the US uses a lot of metric daily. In fact, nearly everywhere I go (and I live in the midwest) we display many things in both metric and imperial. The only thing I don't really see in metric is distances. Everything else, be it volume, temperature, even weight is generally displayed in both values here in a multitude of different areas (retail, medicine, banking even [see temperature signs on most banks]). We also teach our students both systems. I was taught metric, as well as imperial. I tend to only rely on metric for certain things, and prefer imperial for most of my day to day. It works better for me, simple as that.

 

Snick25, I think you put it best there... 

[Ceafus 88 1,929]

I was taught both, but for me the Imperial is way better. It just is much easier to use to me.

 

Yes, Snick25 said it pretty much how it is...

[Alejandro24 575]

 

It's not about patriotism or selfishness per se. It's what we grew up with. It's not easy changing 300 million people in just a few years. I'm 40 years old and I would have difficultly changing over to the metric system, as I've said, I've had to use it in nursing and still haven't gotten used to it. That's why if America was going to change it has to start with kindergarten or first grade and work it's way up from there.

It would be like trying to change ones language, it's not easy.

 

Some posts back there is a post about an user from NZ commenting about the transition from Imperial System to SI in New Zeland:

im from new zealand, we use metric here, but the "older" generation all used to use imperial, i think it was in the 70s they changed over to imperial, but i will never "get" how to convert to imperial??? its weird! and wrong! i only use ounce from imperial, but thats for naughty things haha

Even Porter is talking about how the SI is starting to being used in US. That's what I'm talking about, is just starting to permeated to the US mesearument system. This is because this country needs an adjustement of its units of mesearument to the global standards, specially being an important economy actor. The change will be slow, that's obviously, nothing happens from the night to the morning (I commented about how an unit of the Spanish System, Solar, is still used as reference while my contry uses the SI since more than a century).

 

Ok, seriously? The US refuses to use the metric system... because terrorism? Really... I'm just going to pretend you didn't know what you were saying there Alejandro... because if I don't, I think I might get really mean and nasty fast.

 

In reality, the US uses a lot of metric daily. In fact, nearly everywhere I go (and I live in the midwest) we display many things in both metric and imperial. The only thing I don't really see in metric is distances. Everything else, be it volume, temperature, even weight is generally displayed in both values here in a multitude of different areas (retail, medicine, banking even [see temperature signs on most banks]). We also teach our students both systems. I was taught metric, as well as imperial. I tend to only rely on metric for certain things, and prefer imperial for most of my day to day. It works better for me, simple as that.

 

Snick25, I think you put it best there... 

Sarcasm Porter, sarcasm! Some posts above were commented about to nuke all that commies that use the SI, I just followed the current...

[Odainsaker 2,137]

I get the sense that a number of countries are actually still running dual systems.  I would be curious as to the experiences of countries, particularly heavily modernized and industrialized ones, that did change from one system to the other...how exactly did they do it?  Was the old system simply outlawed outright and the new system mandated with fines?  Were the changes paid for by the government, or were the costs eaten by individuals?  Was a transitional system put in place, and what were its advancement thresholds?  What sorts of educational campaigns were initiated, and for how long or covering how many generations?  A workable program would probably make more sense than catcalls over whose measuring system is superior.

 

Just think, after cutting the heart out of U.S. measurement standards, we can next stab into American English spelling and punctuation styles!

[Duke87 1,070]

I get the sense that a number of countries are actually still running dual systems.  I would be curious as to the experiences of countries, particularly heavily modernized and industrialized ones, that did change from one system to the other...how exactly did they do it?  Was the old system simply outlawed outright and the new system mandated with fines?  Were the changes paid for by the government, or were the costs eaten by individuals?

 

My understanding is that Canada switched by mandating that every measurement done by or regulated by the government be done exclusively in metric. So, the road signs all changed. And the packaging on all products went into metric only. Use of Imperial was never outlawed (railroads in Canada still use it extensively), but metric was made so pervasive that for day to day life adopting it became more convenient than not adopting it.

[Bdub01 201]

Since it was turning into a separate discussion, from

I bet you NEVER thought this thread would explode the way it has huh? It goes to show, you don't mess with people's measuring systems

[Larks2242 251]

I always found it funny that by definition imperial basically relates to royal or emperor, two things that the US was against and yet one of the only countries to be using the system.

 

I really don't see the issue of using different systems unless you travel a lot, everyone uses different currency, so whats wrong with using different measurements as well?

[Bdub01 201]

This is one time the difference of measuring units backfired...

http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/9909/30/mars.metric/

[mrbisonm 1,622]

Wait a minute....is this thread about the stubborness of the US against the world.....lol....we all know this already.

Just kidding, but hey, this thread is getting more interesting with every post. I would not have believed that such a small thing like imperial and metric measures could raise so much difference not only in actual measures, but also in believes. It is almost like religion.

 

Metric is definitively easier to learn (that is for those who want to learn) than the imperial system.....no doubt.

 

Most people, most nations, have this natural instinct to reject (and/or protect themselves) and become somewhat "scared" when radical changes happen. Afraid of the unknown (makes me think of a Star Trek film??), could it be that?

 

One time or another, if we all want to make profit, keep peace and understand each other, we have to toss over a little to become a part of a whole. The Us will one day become metric, they will have no choice , stubborn or not, and that is a fact also. Remember history......"Every Empire has had its fame, and every Empire will come to an end one day".

 

Canada is getting there slowly, having past the hardest part yet. In Quebec we are already at a point where even illegal drugs are sold in grams, instead of ounces.... lol

 

I'd say, give it another decade or two and the United States will start transforming to the metric system too (and hopefully start recuperation and less polluting also).

 

 

mrb

 

 

 

Since it was turning into a separate discussion, from

I bet you NEVER thought this thread would explode the way it has huh? It goes to show, you don't mess with people's measuring systems

 

 

 

lol.....

[Duke87 1,070]

In Quebec we are already at a point where even illegal drugs are sold in grams, instead of ounces....

 

Marijuana is sold by the gram in New York City as well. Dunno about elsewhere in the US.

 

Still, we've been measuring dosages of legal drugs in milligrams for ages, so it sort of fits.

 

What's funny is how many Americans don't realize that grams are a metric unit.

[Jasoncw 12,060]

Americans here saying that we aren't switching over national identity or pride are speaking for themselves.  The US is a big and diverse place, and even within a single region there are a lot of people with a lot of different opinions, but in my personal experience, Americans would like to switch over, but know that doing so would be difficult and expensive.  I think there has only been one time when someone didn't agree that switching to SI would be better.  It was in architecture school, and the (quirky) professor thought that imperial units had more "character".  Where I'm from and in my circles, we want to switch to SI outside of casual usage.

 

Casual usage is important to distinguish from more technical usage.  In the UK for example, things are measured in meters except for roads which are still miles.  And you still order pints of beer.  In any country that uses SI I'm sure you can find tons of random examples of where the old systems are used.  It doesn't matter what you report your height in.  But it does matter what you measure things as, and I think we should try harder to convert.

 

Right now we're basically using a mixed system where the two systems are used alongside each other.  In almost all scientific contexts, metric is used.  Little kids in elementary school are taught both systems.  Food labeling is done almost entirely in grams.  Right next to me I have something that's 70g (ok) and 2.46oz (huh??) and you can tell the food was originally designed in grams and converted afterwards.  Many areas of manufacturing use metric and some don't.  Swimming is done in metric, american football is done in imperial.  There are two liter bottles of soda/pop ("go pick up a two liter of coke from the store") next to 16 ounce bottles.

 

In other words, I think people are underestimating how much americans already use metric.  Someone might not know how many cm tall they are, but if you ask an american to show you how long a cm, inch, foot, and meter are with their hands, they should be able to do it just fine.

 

And I think the trend will continue and soon we will use metric for almost all technical or practical things, and imperial for casual use, or for certain trades, and stuff like that.

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

As an American living in Japan, this argument is silly and I don't really get why it would be so important that we have to borderline insult each other and then go and doubt the intelligence of the other for using their silly, arbitrary system.  I have to use metric measurements all the time, but I still end up converting them in my head because I grew up with the other system and I can imagine those numbers more easily.  Neither one makes me lose any sleep.  I hope you guys aren't, either!