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Should the USA adopt the International System of Units (SI)?

Should the USA adopt the International System of Units (SI)?


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Canell

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Howdy,

I was thinking, wouldn't it be better if the USA finally adopted the International System of Units? ;)

Because...

The system has been nearly globally adopted. Only Burma, Liberia and the United States have not adopted SI units as their official system of weights and measures.

So, what do you think?
 
The Imperial system is abhorrent and ridiculous. It needs to go immediately.

SI is rational and makes sense. Go ask a random person on the street how many feet are in a mile, 95% will not be able to tell you. Ask someone from any other country how many meters are in a kilometer. The difference is redonkulous.

Besides, most types of engineers and scientists already have switched to SI.
 
Yeah we should, makes no sense to use the imperial system when everyone else is using SI.
 
Yes, it's a better system all around. Working everything in base ten is just easier for people to do than trying to remember arbitrary numbers to convert between one amount and others. A decimal system works. The only exception, really, is time. A second is about the duration of a heartbeat and heartbeats do not factor into the rotation speed of the Earth (the length of a day) very well.
 
Yes...

The metric system is the best. Dammit, even the British , the ones that invented the imperial system, switched to it.
 
Nah, I'm old skool. I like to see MILES roll along when I am driving. Kilometers sound so prissy. LOL ;)

Yeah, but when you say "I'm driving with 80 mph" or "I'm 6.5 feet high", I have to scratch my head and go looking for a converter.
See how easy it is with units like watts and minutes? We both know what that is. Why can't it be like that for all units?
Besides, decimal system is much easier than dozens and such. ;)
 
Yeah, but when you say "I'm driving with 80 mph" or "I'm 6.5 feet high", I have to scratch my head and go looking for a converter.
See how easy it is with units like MW and minutes? We both know what that is. Why can't it be like that for all units?
Besides, decimal system is much easier that dozens and such. ;)

Well, unless you are sitting in the car with me, who cares? LOL jk. :)
 
The rational part of me says that SI is so much more reasonable than the imperial system, and that we should switch over to it. The irrational part of me likes standing out and hates conforming to the rest of the world just because what they use is better. It just kind of feels unamerican to even suggest it.
 
Yes...

The metric system is the best. Dammit, even the British , the ones that invented the imperial system, switched to it.

You still get the old people:

A) How far is it from here to the local pub (Example)
B) Oh, its about 160 feet
A) ?????????????????????

They still use imperial for some very annoying reason.

We use miles, meters, cm ,mm just to be odd.
1 mile = 1600m
We are so weird. ;)
 
You still get the old people: A) How far is it from here to the local pub (Example)
B) Oh, its about 160 feet
A) ?????????????????????

We still use miles however.

Right. But you stop educating people in the old imperial system and it will gradually change. This isn't an overnight process.
Sure, you start by modifying administrative papers. Instead of describing people as 6feet 20inches you say that they are 1m 80cm tall. Instead of using gallons you use liters at the gas pump. In a short time, people get accustomed to this. The colloquial discussions that people have between them is of no significant importance as long as they use the correct terminology when interracting with services or the govt.
 
A few years a billion dollar mars NASA probe was lost because there was one American who did not use metric... but inches and got critical calculations all wrong. So yes you should switch.
 
A few years a billion dollar mars NASA probe was lost because there was one American who did not use metric... but inches and got critical calculations all wrong. So yes you should switch.

Huh, well perhaps if all the other AMERICANS at NASA had stuck to imperial like they shoulda, this would never have happened. GEEZ! lol :)
 
Huh, well perhaps if all the other AMERICANS at NASA had stuck to imperial like they shoulda, this would never have happened. GEEZ! lol :)

Yes, damn those rocket scientists using the superior/ more accurate unit to do their voodo nerditry.
 
Yes, damn those rocket scientists using the superior/ more accurate unit to do their voodo nerditry.

EGG-Zackly!!! We don't need no stinking accuracy! It's a big planet, we'll crash onto it someplace. ;)
 
Huh, well perhaps if all the other AMERICANS at NASA had stuck to imperial like they shoulda, this would never have happened. GEEZ! lol :)

It was an international probe. Fact is imperial is inaccurate when it comes to science, that is why the world uses metric.
 
Howdy,

I was thinking, wouldn't it be better if the USA finally adopted the International System of Units? ;)

Because...



So, what do you think?
I say no.The US is one of the most prosperous countries in the world.So we do not need to change how we do measurements. I like using feet,inches, yards and so on.
 
This is one of those things I point to when I say the US is a very conservative nation.
 
I say no.The US is one of the most prosperous countries in the world.So we do not need to change how we do measurements. I like using feet,inches, yards and so on.

I say you would be even more successful if you use a rational, sound mind system of units, like SI. ;)
 
This is one of those things I point to when I say the US is a very conservative nation.

Makes you wonder where all those liberals came from. :lol:
 
Absolutely. We should also convert everybody to the same language, the same food, and every circumstance should be similar for everybody. In an oddity though, my foot happens to be a foot long. That measure has some reference to the real world. A meter means nothing. Units? Now that's real descriptive. WTF is "unit". I like the current system, and I'll continue to use it regardless of what convention may dictate.
 
The US uses metric system for most things already. NASA uses metric. Most food labels come with metric. Our firearms (ammo) come in metric. My jewelry comes in metric carats. We use it for drugs (the illegal kind and sometimes the legal kind). We use metric a lot more than we give ourselves credit for.
 
Yes. Im a chemist and we have to use Liters and meters when measuring things. It makes it much easier to convert from ml to L when making solutions.
 
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