[Split Infinity]

Metric is surely the most efficient; the values are all based on the number ten and a lot of them can be figured out just by looking at their name.

[Platinum Sun]

I prefer Imperial because I was raised on it and I have a sense of what the measurements mean. Plus, if you go to a McDonald's and order a 3 Decagram hamburger someone will probably punch you.

[Split Infinity]

Well yeah, there are some things that just weren't meant to be metric. Like time. Gawd, if someone wanted to switch to metric time it would stuff up the entire calendar.

[Platinum Sun]

Metric time isn't even possible. To be useful, time has to be based on 365.267 days a year. Which, stunningly, is not divisible by 10.

[Aquamarine]

Metric rules! But only because I don't really know how to use Imperial measurements...

[Split Infinity]

Platinum Sun, on Jun 23 2006, 01:00 AM, said:

Metric time isn't even possible. To be useful, time has to be based on 365.267 days a year. Which, stunningly, is not divisible by 10.

It's perfectly possible, it would just take a lot of careful planning and consideration.

[Platinum Sun]

I know how to use metric, but only because the system is stunningly simple. I just don't know how hot 27 centigrade is or how heavy 80 Kg is without converting it to imperial.

[Mars Djinni]

I'm Canadian. Metric is the standardized measurement system here. It's more mathematical and easy to work with to get measurements strikingly precise.

[Someone Else]

If you're born in the U.S. you use Imperial.

Anywhere else, you're in the Metric.

your just got struck by captian obvious

[Mindpatch]

Metric is more practical, thou being an alto, Imperial is a must. ^_^

[Eugine]

It would be much easier if America switched to the metric system for the world. Science has removed the imperial system from caluations because of the useless time taken in calulations.

The metric system is more useful since EVERY unit can be converted into another. So we can find out how many force is needed to produce a specific pressure, how many volt produces what power, with a specific formula.
I'm not sure if the imperial can do this.

[Someone Else]

Nobody said we weren't trying. The only thing holding us back are the ***, old, and stubborn white guys in the government.

[Platinum Sun]

I wouldn't say that. How about if I asked you to switch to standard? Other than inefficiency, you wouldn't want to switch because you've been raised on metric. There actually is a government comittee dedicated to getting america to switch to metric. And you know what? people laugh at them.
And as for the government being made up of stodgy, old white m*t*e*-f*k**rs... Spot on!

[Mars Djinni]

It's not that hard a change from Imperial to Metric. The only number you have to memorize is 10. Not hard to get used to.

I could recognise that some things are hard to comprehend without Imperial measurements, such as Height and weight. That's probably the only Imperial uints I use.

Oh and I see time as neither Imperial nor Metric. It's just a universal system that is logical to use due to the earth's orbit.

[Split Infinity]

Metric users still use imperial on occasion, namely feet and pounds.

[Platinum Sun]

I believe I've said this already. It's not a practicallity issue. It's not that imperial is an easy system. (Base 5280? WDFX up with that!) It's that we have a feel for it. It's that we trust it. It's that no one knows what the heck you're talking about when you use metric. We're comfortable with imperial.
As a matter of fact, I don't like calling it "imperial" very much. That's what everyone else calls it. In America, it's called "standard measurement" as if everyone that uses anything else is some kind of deviant. I suppose that tells you how willing we'll be to change.

[Eugine]

I guess the government envy's the french for discovering the metric system rather than an American born man.
That's why they're not changing.

[Platinum Sun]

Way to totally ignore me and make a joke. Now I know how everyone I talk to feels...

[Eugine]

HUH? Elaborate?

[Platinum Sun]

Platinum Sun, on Jun 22 2006, 09:16 PM, said:

I wouldn't say that. How about if I asked you to switch to standard? Other than inefficiency, you wouldn't want to switch because you've been raised on metric. There actually is a government comittee dedicated to getting america to switch to metric. And you know what? people laugh at them.

You apparently missed where I said this wasn't a government problem. Switching to metric would save the government a lot of time, effort, and money. (Have you ever seen our Bureau of Weights and Measures? It's a disaster area!) It's the public that scoffs at the idea of metric measurements. And our government is based on the whole John Locke "Power from the people" philosophy, so the masses have spoken. Standard stays.

[Someone Else]

Yes, I'm pretty comfortable saying that I'm 6 foot and 2 inches tall at approximately 150 pounds, thankyaverymuch.

But at the same time, I'd love it if we'd switch to the Metric system so that I can understand WTF it is that every one else on other countries are talking about. Using Celsius wouldn't hurt either.

[Sea of Time]

I use imperial for my height and weight, but measurement is so much easier with metric, which is our native system in Canada.

[Platinum Sun]

Maybe that's why we don't use it. Too "Canadian"

[FlamingDuck]

I use Imperial, just cause I'm American and grew up on it. And no one here except for scientists use metric. That probably helps. I wouldn't really mind switching to metric, it certainly makes more sense than our very random numbers (5280 feet in a mile? Where did that come from?) which are apparently based off body parts. Switching to metric would probably be nicer, cause then I could undertand what al those people are saying about the weather and stuff.

[Golden Legacy]

I live in the United States, and I'll still concede that the metric system is far more useful, efficient, and all that.

And for the record, time is neither standard American or metric. For experiments and such, the second is the "metric" unit, but it's obviously impractical for talking about years and age and whatnot. If anything, time is mostly based on a base 60 system (60 seconds in a minute, 60 in an hour, 360+ days in a year).

Anyway.

The one thing that I can't get comfortable using the metric system for is height. Saying something like 1.83 meters, or 183 cm, doesn't seem as fluid as saying 5' 11' (or whatever that turns out to be).

[Toasty]

I find metric easier, but I still prefer standard because I was born on it. And it definately sounds better saying 5' 2" instead of whatever it is in metric, and I'm too used to say 72 degrees is the perfect temperature.

[Golden Legacy]

I agree, using feet and inches feels more natural than the metric system.

But to be fair, I try to use both interchangeably.

[Toasty]

I only use metric in science. It makes calculating in your head a lot easier.

[Golden Legacy]

For science, of course, metric is the way to go. But for example, when I'm talking about the weather, with my friends I'll just use the imperial and use Farheneit (however that's spelled), but with my parents, I'll go with Celsius.

[Elliott]

Metric.

It's just easier and simpler to use. Everything is based around the number 10 and the different multiplications of it. Whereas the imperial system is all fractions of fractions of other **** and just confuses me. Fair enough if that's how you were raised but it doesn't take a genius to figure out which is easier to learn.