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Back in the 1970s the government tried to force the metric system on people in USA. That lasted about half a year but the resistance was so strong the idea was abandoned. Most Americans are quite comfortable with our system and see no reason to change it. We seldom have the need to utilize metric, but when it happens it is viewed as somewhat of an adventure.
I hope most Americans who feel that way about it understand that such willful retrogression and intellectual diminishment actually isn't anything to be proud of or to boast about. To everybody else in the world it makes the Americans who are proud of being ignorant look like they are stuck in the past, backward and developmentally delayed, uneducated and unable to comprehend and learn new things. Why be proud of that?
A lot of other people in other countries didn't like or want to use metric and still don't (like me for example) but at least they understood the global importance and necessity of learning universal measures.
My middle school Earth Science teacher only allowed metric to be used in his class. He was the first to introduce the term Systeme International (SI) to us youngsters. Using imperial or any other means of measurement (teaspoons etc.) resulted in automatic deduction of points and a humiliating rebuke in class. At the time many of us thought he was an overly demanding old curmudgeon who was out of step with real life but years later we realized how useful the system our teacher taught was and how meaningful the values he instilled in appreciating the metric system of measurement. Strangely enough, I can imagine how the rest of the world can get tripped up by imperial which seems to make no sense. I mean how come 16 ounces equals one pound, 3 feet equal one yard, etc? Similarly with Fahrenheit temperatures, how come 32 degrees is freezing point? Doesn't it make more sense that 0 degrees is freezing point and anything below 0 is below freezing? Sometimes for jest on an early Spring day, I tell my friends something like "it's not that cold today, it's only 10 degrees outside", to which they give me funny looks.
The coke bottle is a good example. Most probably forget that it's metric since they are used to it.
However, the average American when travelling outside the US, has to put more effort into using metric than someone from elsewhere.
Yes. Laughed about the Coke. I've told people that when I was a kid, there was a big to-do how how we were going to be going metric, but all that really changed for the everyday person is that soda (pop to youse guys as well as to certain areas of the USA) started to come in one- or two-liter bottles (but still comes in 12-ounce cans). Of course, as was pointed out, many industries use metric measurements.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Natnasci
Good points.
The coke bottle is a good example. Most probably forget that it's metric since they are used to it.
However, the average American when travelling outside the US, has to put more effort into using metric than someone from elsewhere.
Metric conversion is pretty easy for me to grasp and I've never had difficulty with it. The only part that stumps me is Fahrenheit to Celsius conversion, other than knowing the 32/0 degree freezing point.
Some simple temp points in C.........zero it's freezing, plus 10 C its time for a jacket or sweater, 20C its shorts and t shirts time, plus 30 C its bloody hot, and plus 40 its unbearably hot. The Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan typically endured plus 40 C to plus 50 C, in combat operations there.
Metric conversion is pretty easy for me to grasp and I've never had difficulty with it. The only part that stumps me is Fahrenheit to Celsius conversion, other than knowing the 32/0 degree freezing point.
When Canada started to become metric, people were converting and getting confused.
The best way is not to convert constantly, but just live in metric.
When it's 24C outside, I don't need to convert, because it's 24C and that's all I need to know.
Metric conversion is pretty easy for me to grasp and I've never had difficulty with it. The only part that stumps me is Fahrenheit to Celsius conversion, other than knowing the 32/0 degree freezing point.
It's easy. It is multiply the C temp by 9/5--essentially, 2, if you don't need to be precise. Then add 32. You might need to adjust down a degree or 2 for that fraction.
So, it is 12C outside. Make it 24, add 32, voilá, 56F. Shave off a degree or two, 55 or 54. A quick Google shows it is actually 53.6, but you'll be in the ballpark.
When Canada started to become metric, people were converting and getting confused.
The best way is not to convert constantly, but just live in metric.
When it's 24C outside, I don't need to convert, because it's 24C and that's all I need to know.
Yes, the best way is to learn what 10 or 20 or 30 feels like. I do wish that there was an option on our phones to show both F and C to make that easier to learn, but you have to choose/switch between one or the other.
Yes, the best way is to learn what 10 or 20 or 30 feels like. I do wish that there was an option on our phones to show both F and C to make that easier to learn, but you have to choose/switch between one or the other.
Not sure what type of phone you have, but there are apps that do.
There is one called Franz Fahrenheit (& Celsius).
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