Why the heck does America still use outdated measurement and date units?

[Strider64]

I previously worked as a Shader/Technician in the Quality Control department, where I had to use both measurement systems. Although I comprehend the Metric System, my mind is more attuned to the Imperial System. For instance, if someone says it's 25 degrees outside, I instinctively think it's cold, but if they're referring to Celsius, it actually means pleasant weather (77°F). At sixty years old, it would take some time for me to adjust if the United States were to switch to the metric system, but I wouldn't mind the change. I enjoy learning something new every day.

 

[robertmorris2]

Okay guys, this is probably my angry 1 AM self again posting here, but this is something that has been bothering me for a few weeks now. I am posting it here because I know this is a website primarily of American people, and I don't know who else to rant this about.


Okay, first off, temperature. We all know what the three useful temperature measurements are. Only one is used in daily use, it's Celsius, and across the entire world. It is the most logical of the three, 0° is water's freezing point, 100° is its boiling point, every semi-educated person knows that. Only THREE countries use Fahrenheit exclusively, and surprise surprise, the United States is one of them. Why? Why is that necessary? Why use a system that is absolutely outdated, makes no sense whatsoever (water freezes at 32° and melts at 212°? yeah, totally makes sense), that is used by basically no one else? Even, excuse me for this term, stubborn countries like the United Kingdom now use Celsius exclusively and primarily. Even Canada, and its influence of the country did not force it to keep Fahrenheit. It annoys me because every time someone says "it's 60° outside!" I have to google and convert it because that means nothing for me, and I don't communicate enough with Americans to bother learning it. I could get away with it if it was something that was used interchangeably in multiple countries, but it isn't, it's outdated.

Second, measurement units. On one hand, you have the most logical system on the planet, the metric system. Simple, each unit correlates with each other, and there are basic prefixes which simply divide or multiply the numbers by multiples of 10. And I will be blunt here, the imperial units are more intuitive and are still somewhat logical. However, once you want to do anything slightly more complex, it becomes annoying. You can't do anything with a system like that. You have to learn the massive amount of words and how each of them correspond with each other. Imagine instead of having to use Kilobytes, Megabytes, Gigabytes, Terabytes, you would instead use Floppies, Discs, Drives, and Servers. It seems like the logical option, but they do not work together well at all and you gotta remember all of that crap. Once again, only the United States along with two other small countries exclusively use this system. In fact, when I thought that the United Kingdom was responsible for the same thing, it turns out it's technically the main measurement system of today (even though many people still use the other one), so I've actually gotta give them credit for having the guts to defy a traditional system. Every commonwealth country has adopted the SI, even if some like Canada still offer it occasionally. Seriously, why do this? Sure, I can deal with that, it's not like it's stupid or anything, but NOT when it's officially only used in a SINGLE GODDAMN COUNTRY (I'm excluding minor countries here because they are usually very small and have very little influence on the rest of the world).

Finally, this one pisses me off so much I just want to die. The date system. The entire world uses one or the other, either a DD/MM/YYYY system (common in European countries), either a YYYY/MM/DD system (common in East-Asian countries and some other places). Both are perfectly fine, as they represent a proper level of importance. What is NOT fine is when a single country just comes to troll everybody and bring a MM/DD/YYYY system, which completely messes up the order of the dates. The month, then a small part of the month, and then the year which the month takes place in? WHAT? How does that make any sense? WHY IS THAT NECESSARY? WHY THE ILLOGICALITY? I can bear with a January 1st, 2016 date system because it is closer to being a feature of the language, but not when it's a purely written form! At least use YYYY/MM/DD if you want to keep the M/D part! Seriously!


Okay, I understand that this was a bit blunt. But I can't accept that. I can't accept a country where there are people so lazy to adopt systems that are, by far, much more convenient than whatever is present, especially considering we are in 2016 and no improvement has been made to this date. And not to mention I'm sure there will be some idiots defending this system saying that "we are not sheeple to follow other people like that!". Well, uh, then you're sheeple to your own ****ing community. Any thoughts? Sure, you may call be brainwashed if that's what you believe, but I'd just like to point out that even though I grew up in a 24h system and I completely switched to 12h. And now I'm (partially) back at 24h. During this whole time, I barely spent any time outside. How exactly can you prove this against me if that's your intent? Anyway, any reasonable and non-biased explanations and/or defenses? Thank you.

Why does GB use miles instead of Km? They use the imperial measurement system for everyday use and metric for business and technology. Why do they sell pints of beer instead of .25 liters? Every country has its measurement quirks.

 

[polyphenol]

Why does GB use miles instead of Km? They use the imperial measurement system for everyday use and metric for business and technology. Why do they sell pints of beer instead of .25 liters? Every country has its measurement quirks.

We use miles for one reason above all - the governments which considered changing shrank from the cost and the fact that even if only a small percentage rejected it, they were numerous enough to make an electoral difference. Or that was the fear.

I suspect had we seen a very low cost way of doing it, we might have changed long ago.

 

[timber]

I previously worked as a Shader/Technician in the Quality Control department, where I had to use both measurement systems. Although I comprehend the Metric System, my mind is more attuned to the Imperial System. For instance, if someone says it's 25 degrees outside, I instinctively think it's cold, but if they're referring to Celsius, it actually means pleasant weather (77°F). At sixty years old, it would take some time for me to adjust if the United States were to switch to the metric system, but I wouldn't mind the change. I enjoy learning something new every day.

This year the Euro is 25 years old. Yes, according to some it will end soon, perhaps it will but not today.
Either way I remember thinking I will never be able to think in a new currency, I will always be doing conversions on the back of my mind. This is for kids. The future is theirs.
Well, I was wrong, I did do a lot of mental back flips but that stopped a long time ago.
People adapt and adapt they did.

 

[bousozoku]

I was actively braking for a yellow light the other day, with a car to my right also braking for the yellow. There was no way I would have made it through before it turned red. I'm on a three lane street with the far right lane being a right hand turn lane. Some guy that is about four car lengths behind me floors it and goes into the right hand turn lane, pulls around the guy to my right and blows through the light a full second after it turned red.

It's just nuts around here. People treat the traffic laws and traffic lights/stop signs as if they are suggestions and don't apply to them.

Driving from Florida to California, I found that Florida was not the worst. Texas and Arizona are competing for the worst drivers but California and Florida are right up there.

I'll walk to the store and crossing the street, one person will stop and the person the other way will come within a meter of hitting me, even though they each have a stop sign.

 

[Olivetree_145]

why would people use the most easy-to-use, logical system on the planet, when they can use the most dumb system based on totally random numbers that the other 95% of the world does use?
also, the people who said that it would be hard for americans to transition, i disagree, because literally the only numbers you have to remember are 1, 10, 100 etc
also, i thought americans were proud of being independent from the UK, but too bad they refuse to not use a system that was invented by the UK
EVEN WIKIPEDIA SAYS THAT THE METRIC SYSTEM IS EASIER TO USE, LIKE COME ON
lots of the comments on this post ask why people are judging them for using imperial system and it doesn't affect them, I disagree, because if you have a conversation with an american, and they say, "it's 70 degrees outside today" and you're like, what tf is 70 degrees??!
anyway, I hope that Americans FINALLY realise that the metric system is the better way to go, and FINALLY transition to it

 

[timber]

That kind of pov will only guarantee that the USA will never change.
And that's their prerogative.

 

[Chuckeee]

Driving from Florida to California, I found that Florida was not the worst. Texas and Arizona are competing for the worst drivers but California and Florida are right up there.

I'll walk to the store and crossing the street, one person will stop and the person the other way will come within a meter of hitting me, even though they each have a stop sign.

You didn’t even mention Massachusetts, specifically Boston. Where one way streets are treated as only as advisory, especially if one is only going a few blocks, and lane markers are treated as strictly decorative

 

[drrich2]

why would people use the most easy-to-use, logical system on the planet, when they can use the most dumb system based on totally random numbers that the other 95% of the world does use?

Metric's advantages are useful in converting units, which most people don't do much day-to-day. Outside a classroom, rarely does anyone worry about how many feet are in a mile, etc... So giving weights in pounds or kg works the same.

the people who said that it would be hard for americans to transition, i disagree, because literally the only numbers you have to remember are 1, 10, 100 etc

Again, it's not about conversions. People have a longterm experientially acquired familiarity with the units and system they are raised with. In the U.S., 330 million people are familiar with the Imperial system and it works okay for them.

And that's the biggest obstacle; for the average American content with the Imperial system he's always known, the metric system is a solution in search of a problem he doesn't have. I've never lain awake at night lamenting that I don't know how many acres are in a square mile, and how I'd just bet if we used metric it'd be easier to figure out!

i thought americans were proud of being independent from the UK,

Most Americans barely think about the U.K. (no offense to anybody); by our standards, the war for independence is ancient history. The only big remnant is Independence Day, which is often called The 4th of July, and in practice that seems to mostly be about celebrating fireworks.

that the other 95% of the world does use?

Most Americans don't think about what Europeans are doing much, and we'd love it if Putin would stop giving Ukraine crap and China would lay off Taiwan so we cold think about it even less. The average American is not particularly concerned with international conformity.

lots of the comments on this post ask why people are judging them for using imperial system and it doesn't affect them, I disagree, because if you have a conversation with an american, and they say, "it's 70 degrees outside today" and you're like, what tf is 70 degrees??!

Most Americans rarely have conversations with foreigners outside of Internet forums, and most don't even do that. We're not changing to spare you the bother of Googling when he report a temp. in Fahrenheit. Given differences in language, laws and culture, the measurement system thing seems pretty minor.

TLDR: Most of us are content with how we do things now, don't have enough of a problem with it to justify being bothered to transition, have higher priorities competing for our time and attention in life, and don't really care how people in other nations measure things (or consider whether they care how we do it).

 

[bousozoku]

You didn’t even mention Massachusetts, specifically Boston. Where one way streets are treated as only as advisory, especially if one is only going a few blocks, and lane markers are treated as strictly decorative

I haven't been north of Cape Cod, and that was only a small disaster.

If the lane markers are decorative, maybe they used the same designers as Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, where we were the only people following the lanes.

 

[bousozoku]

why would people use the most easy-to-use, logical system on the planet, when they can use the most dumb system based on totally random numbers that the other 95% of the world does use?
also, the people who said that it would be hard for americans to transition, i disagree, because literally the only numbers you have to remember are 1, 10, 100 etc
also, i thought americans were proud of being independent from the UK, but too bad they refuse to not use a system that was invented by the UK
EVEN WIKIPEDIA SAYS THAT THE METRIC SYSTEM IS EASIER TO USE, LIKE COME ON
lots of the comments on this post ask why people are judging them for using imperial system and it doesn't affect them, I disagree, because if you have a conversation with an american, and they say, "it's 70 degrees outside today" and you're like, what tf is 70 degrees??!
anyway, I hope that Americans FINALLY realise that the metric system is the better way to go, and FINALLY transition to it

Several state governments tried and the U.S. federal goverment, as well. The filling stations switched to litres for a while and that only ended up in total confusion.

I've dealt with a lot of tourists on the way to Yosemite and it's always interesting to hear how they've coped with the situation.

I remember someone from England trying to describe their son--"Oh, he's about 9 stone, 170 cm." The American was completely lost.

 

[eyoungren]

why would people use the most easy-to-use, logical system on the planet, when they can use the most dumb system based on totally random numbers that the other 95% of the world does use?
also, the people who said that it would be hard for americans to transition, i disagree, because literally the only numbers you have to remember are 1, 10, 100 etc
also, i thought americans were proud of being independent from the UK, but too bad they refuse to not use a system that was invented by the UK
EVEN WIKIPEDIA SAYS THAT THE METRIC SYSTEM IS EASIER TO USE, LIKE COME ON
lots of the comments on this post ask why people are judging them for using imperial system and it doesn't affect them, I disagree, because if you have a conversation with an american, and they say, "it's 70 degrees outside today" and you're like, what tf is 70 degrees??!
anyway, I hope that Americans FINALLY realise that the metric system is the better way to go, and FINALLY transition to it

You have to understand that a large majority of Americans are concerned solely with their own life in their own immediate surroundings. Many Americans have never been outside their own county, let alone their own state and it's nearly unheard of for most Americans to have ever been outside the country. Heck, many don't even get outside their own city much.

America is huge and when you don't have a car you have to rely on public transportation. Just Texas alone can take 12 hours of driving to get from one side to the other. It can take a week by car to get from Los Angeles to New York and vice versa. The cost of airline tickets are beyond most that are working three jobs just to keep food on the table. And public transportation does not exist outside of major cities. If you have a reason to be traveling between states it's probably a major reason (funeral, legal, etc).

Then, you have the percentage of Americans that abjectly refuse to be told what to do by anyone and government least of all. These people are often willing to die over smaller things than the government telling them to use metric. You can tell them how good it will be for them all you want and how much better it is all you want. They don't care.

 

[AlaskaMoose]

In the Fahrenheit world, the expression "degrees of frost" is widely used and effectively shifts freezing point to zero (arithmetically).

It is so much easier to start off with freezing point at zero.

And: Why does freezing at 32 make sense?

Because it means that I would be "long dead" if my body temperature was 37º C.

~Just kidding with you 😁

Both F and C meet at -40 degrees. To me 32 degrees is the freezing point, and I know by experience that from 50 to 80 degrees that ambient temperature is quite nice. And yes, I understand that it does not make sense to you.

 

[Chuckeee]

I tried looking this up without success. I thought that someone somewhere used to use bolts, nuts, wrenches and sockets using decimal inches instead of fraction on an inch. For example, 0.7 inches instead of ¾ of an inch, just different enough that you need a 3rd set of wrenches and sockets. Or is this just my imagination?

 

[AlaskaMoose]

I tried looking this up without success. I thought that someone somewhere used to use bolts, nuts, wrenches and sockets using decimal inches instead of fraction on an inch. For example, 0.7 inches instead of ¾ of an inch, just different enough that you need a 3rd set of wrenches and sockets. Or is this just my imagination?

No; you don't need a third set of wrenches. All the sizes are SAE (used in the US) and metric equivalents. SAE uses the Imperial measuring system, which includes ratchet drive numbers 1/4-inch, 3/8-inch, and so on. Socket drive sizes are Imperial numbers used around the world. But you are right about not having tools sized in decimal inches. I have both sets of tools (SAE and metric), but usually can tell by "eye" the socket or wrench size I need, specially from 7mm to 24mm.

As you can see in the table (link below) decimal fractions can have quite a lot of of digits compared to fractions of an inch:

Inches - Fractional vs. Decimal Equivalents

The decimal equivalents of eights, sixteenths, thirty-seconds and sixty-fourths of an inch.

www.engineeringtoolbox.com

The same can be said about measuring minuscule amounts of gunpowder in grains versus grams. I prefer using the Grains scale but one can also use grams, although most ammo reloaders have switched to "grains", at least in the US in recent years. Ammo and powder manufacturers provide reloading tables and instructions-plus ammo weights, in grains:

Account Suspended

 

[Apple fanboy]

No; you don't need a third set of wrenches. All the sizes are SAE (used in the US) and metric equivalents. SAE uses the Imperial measuring system, which includes ratchet drive numbers 1/4-inch, 3/8-inch, and so on. Socket drive sizes are Imperial numbers used around the world. But you are right about not having tools sized in decimal inches. I have both sets of tools (SAE and metric), but usually can tell by "eye" the socket or wrench size I need, specially from 7mm to 24mm.

As you can see in the table (link below) decimal fractions can have quite a lot of of digits compared to fractions of an inch:

Inches - Fractional vs. Decimal Equivalents

The decimal equivalents of eights, sixteenths, thirty-seconds and sixty-fourths of an inch.

www.engineeringtoolbox.com

The same can be said about measuring minuscule amounts of gunpowder in grains versus grams. I prefer using the Grains scale but one can also use grams, although most ammo reloaders have switched to "grains", at least in the US in recent years. Ammo and powder manufacturers provide reloading tables and instructions-plus ammo weights, in grains:

Account Suspended

The one area where the rest of the World and the US don’t have different measurement systems. Gunpowder.
America use whatever.
Rest of the world leave guns and ammunition to the police and army so really don’t care!

 

[timber]

If anyone was measuring powder we would probably use miligrams as in medicines.

 

[polyphenol]

I tried looking this up without success. I thought that someone somewhere used to use bolts, nuts, wrenches and sockets using decimal inches instead of fraction on an inch. For example, 0.7 inches instead of ¾ of an inch, just different enough that you need a 3rd set of wrenches and sockets. Or is this just my imagination?

There have been some other oddities around the world. Such as:

British Morris and MG engines from 1923 to 1955 were built using metric threads with bolt heads and nuts dimensioned for Whitworth spanners and sockets. In 1919, Morris Motors took over the French Hotchkiss engine works which had moved to Coventry during the First World War. The Hotchkiss machine tools were of metric thread but metric spanners were not readily available in Britain at the time, so fasteners were made with metric thread but Whitworth heads.

British Standard Whitworth - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[AlaskaMoose]

The one area where the rest of the World and the US don’t have different measurement systems. Gunpowder.
America use whatever.
Rest of the world leave guns and ammunition to the police and army so really don’t care!

Perhaps you aren't aware that the rest of the world produces ammunition, and that this ammunition is sold in the US? I have 22LR ammo from England and Germany that I use with a classic Hammerli Olympic target pistol (yes, the former blue color pistol used in the Olympics). There is a global gunpowder and ammunition market where Asia dominates the production of gunpowder. Both grams and grains are used. While "grains" if the most common in the US in recent years in the civilian market, one can also measure gunpowder in grams. I am assuming that in England there are public shows-by civilians-where blackpowder muskets, rifles, and cannons are used (?) Don't you have fireworks displays?

Uses for gunpowder: mining operations, the military, fireworks displays, shooting sports, theatrical productions, and so on.

https://dataintelo.com/report/global-gun-powder-market/

 

[SalisburySam]

If anyone was measuring powder we would probably use miligrams as in medicines.

Nope, its grains.

 

[SalisburySam]

So after 73 pages and getting close to 2,000 posts, this thread whines on about temperatures, distances, tools, weights, currency, and left vs. right side of road driving. Each and every one of those is determined by tradition and human decision. So let’s get to the real problem, one that cannot be solved by edict. That is, of course, that the water in a Northern Hemisphere toilet circulates counter-clockwise, and oppositely in the Southern Hemisphere. How is everyone dealing with this explainable yet horrific disparity? We Northerners know to a certainty the anti-clockwise direction is the only one true rotation, Southerners are just wedded to ancient practice and we in the right are incredulous at Southerners reluctance to change. Southern Hemispherians likely feel the same way about their Northern neighbors despite being appallingly wrong.

Now THIS is a topic worthy of much discourse, amiright? Fuggedabowdit for all the temp, distance, weight, etc., stuffage.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

Don't give up your day job

 

[AlaskaMoose]

So after 73 pages and getting close to 2,000 posts, this thread whines on about temperatures, distances, tools, weights, currency, and left vs. right side of road driving. Each and every one of those is determined by tradition and human decision. So let’s get to the real problem, one that cannot be solved by edict. That is, of course, that the water in a Northern Hemisphere toilet circulates counter-clockwise, and oppositely in the Southern Hemisphere. How is everyone dealing with this explainable yet horrific disparity? We Northerners know to a certainty the anti-clockwise direction is the only one true rotation, Southerners are just wedded to ancient practice and we in the right are incredulous at Southerners reluctance to change. Southern Hemispherians likely feel the same way about their Northern neighbors despite being appallingly wrong.

Now THIS is a topic worthy of much discourse, amiright? Fuggedabowdit for all the temp, distance, weight, etc., stuffage.

Darn northernly flowing rivers in the US; they just refuse to flow South like the rest 😅

 

[Chuckeee]

Darn northernly flowing rivers in the US; they just refuse to flow South like the rest 😅

Someone should pass a law. 😜

 

[Micky Do]

Better not visit this one then.

Swindon's 'iconic' Magic Roundabout turns 40

A roundabout enthusiast describes a well-known Swindon landmark, which opened 40 years ago, as "iconic".

www.bbc.com

Off topic, I know, but.........

First time I went through this was in a large van with a fairly large trailer...... Tickled my boss's sense of humour when he sent us off for the day. "Look out, I'm coming through!"..... With a bit of help navigating from workmates (also their first time), and the patience of British drivers, we made it through and on to the correct route.

Went back on my motorcycle the next wet day to check out how it worked, and it all made sense after that. Bear in mind that folks commuting the same route every day would soon get used to it, and could allow for the odd bunch of Antipodean sheep shearers negotiating it for the first time.

On the same job we had several white vans of different makes, some set up with Euro style controls and some with UK and other parts controls. That meant the lighting and wiper controls were on different sides of the steering wheel. I never knew which one I was in until I came to indicate for the first corner of the day. After that the adjustment was made for the day.

Travelled to Europe on my motorcycle several times, and found it easy enough to adapt to riding on different sides of the road upon crossing the channel.

Relevant to this thread, is that the human brain is quite adaptable, and the American brain should have little difficulty in adapting to the almost universally adopted metric system of weights and measures....... that the arcane US Customary Units are standardised upon. Sheer pig headedness that they don't.