Dear America...Don't Be Afraid of the Metric System | Luc Rébillout | TEDxUniversityofMississippi

[@mercomania]

Forget all the science, Metric is just easier to use.

[@sergegordeev9426]

Yes, I think Americans are too afraid of the scientific and nerdy sounding names with "kilo-", "centi-", "milli-", etc. prefixes.

[@stevelangstroth5833]

@@sergegordeev9426 Americans know that the unit of weight in the Metric system is the 'Newton'. It is NOT the "kilo". The kilogram ("kilo") is a unit of mass. The Newton is a unit of force. An object weighs its mass x g. In Metric, g is: 9.8 m/s (acceleration due to the Earth's gravity at sea level).

[@salacious8crumb]

@@stevelangstroth5833 now hold on. Newtons change depending on where you are on Earth. Where I live (Stockholm), it's 9.82 m/s ;)

[@stevelangstroth5833]

@@salacious8crumb The Newton is still a unit of weight, however. A weightlifter in Stockholm has lifted more (weight) than one lifting the same (mass) while on the top of Mt. Everest. ;-)

[@zgliu8018]

@@stevelangstroth5833 Yet you want any stuff to be measured in mass than weight tho. You don't want to buy the same chicken with different price at different places just because they weigh differently. Regardless of the point Newton is used or known, in US it is most likely labeled in lbs, which is still a mass unit that should be corrected into gram or kilogram

[@denelson83]

Start shaming Americans for using non-metric units.

[@ivan7453]

Perhaps if you used metric units, no one would shame you.

[@JC130676]

Oh some do use metrics, they carry a 9mm and buy their drugs by the gram.

[@Stefan_Van_pellicom]

It’s all I do on KZbin all day long. 😂

[@eno88]

Shame.

[@franciscoborquezk.155]

Well, it is kind of shameful, isn't it?

[@astranger448]

In 1984 I worked in the US as an exchange student in a machinist/engineering outfit. The machinists were using imperial on imperial machines. The engineers would convert imperial to metric, do the calculations, then convert back to imperial. Much quicker and much less prone to error according to them.

[@RogerWKnight]

When I worked as an engineer, I just did everything in inches. No need to convert. And human factors? Finger width, 3/4 inch. Thumb width, inch. Hand breadth, 4 inches or a hand. How far can you reach with your arm without bending over, 1 yard. Right smack in the middle at 50th percentile according to MIL-STD-1472. Your full arm span or a man's height, 1 fathom. Covid-19 social distancing is the Magic Fathom of Air that will protect us all. If you are using 12 inch tiles on the floor, just count the tiles for distance in feet. If you are looking down on most of the US west of the Pennsylvania-Ohio border, or the Prairie Provinces, or parts of British Columbia, just count the square mile sections for distances in miles. And the Number 1 reason we Americans continue to use our own English units: It annoys all of the right people!

[@MyReligionIs2DoGood]

@@RogerWKnight You're being sarcastic, right? This is a joke?

[@frankfahrenheit9537]

@@RogerWKnight Is it irony? Or not? Not sure.

@Gunther H.G. Geick "How far can you reach with your arm without bending over, 90 cm. Your full arm span or a man's height, 1.8 m." So your torso is 0 cm wide? "Thumb width, 2.54 cm" The inch was connected to the length of the last joint of the thumb, not the width. My own thumb is 2.0-2.1 cm wide, and I don't have small hands.

[@danielfersbeanto7942]

@pegamini Shaq will be pissed with you lol

[@Kriegerdammerung]

I'm from Argentina, we have got the metric system since ca. 1820s, the rest of America is quite the same tale, except up north in the United States

[@tstcikhthys]

+1 for properly referring to America as a continent, which you obviously would because you're from Argentina and would know better.

[@stevelangstroth5833]

@@tstcikhthys We have waves of people trying to get into the United States. They HATE the Metric System, apparently.

[@Milesco]

@@tstcikhthys : He must've meant _South_ America. "America" is not the name of a continent. It's also not the combined name of the three land masses that share that name. Taken together, they're called "The Americas".

[@tstcikhthys]

@@Milesco Only if you were taught the 7-continent model of the world. Most of the world follows the 6-continent model of the world. In either case, America is a continent or set of continents, not a country.

[@FallenLight0]

@@Milesco Wrong, the Continent is America. The first map that has the American continent has the name "America" in the land mass where Brazil is now, the whole continent is called America long before the name "USA" existed. The map is called Waldseemüller map (or Universalis Cosmographia) from 1507, made over 200 years before the name USA was created, and even 6 years before the first European set foot in US in 1513 (Juan Ponce de León who named Florida) Unfortunatelly US people put "America" in their country's name and now uneducated people thinks America is just a country. US people are so obsessed with the name "America" that they have an annual holiday that commemorates the day Christopher Columbus set foot in the American continent, and they seem to think Columbus discovered their country, but Columbus actually discovered what is now Bahamas. Everything has its north, central and south part, putting names in the upper and lower part of the continent doesn't make new continents, it's just a way of naming regions of a whole thing.

[@markhastings9037]

The big problem that occurs when making a conversion from one system to another is during the conversion our work is less efficient. When the conversion is finally finished it is more efficient. But we have been stuck half way between the two systems and it is reducing our efficiency. We have been at this halfway point for over 50 years. Let's get it DONE!

[@johnvanarnold1222]

Besides the NASA error, we experience 100k drug dosing errors/yr in our hospitals because drugs are prescribed metrically i.e. mg/kg and nobody knows their metric weight

[@Milesco]

@@johnvanarnold1222 : With all due respect, I don't believe that. Doctors are the ones who determine the correct dose, and they know (or should know) what their patients weigh. Whatever is the cause of dosing errors in the medical field, I'm sure it's not because patients don't know their weight in kilograms.

[@marcokrebs9495]

@@Milesco Do you think Doctors couldn't make mistakes?

[@Milesco]

@@marcokrebs9495 : Did I say that??? Please go back and read what I wrote.

[@marcokrebs9495]

@@Milesco No, that's why I ask. I just think that you believe it. Cause you don't believe that 100k drug dosing errors couldn't be, cause doctors determine the dose. So what do you think cause the errors?, or do you think the statistic is false?

[@vzmax]

"Coming from a country that uses the metric system" Well, most of all, France is the country who gave the world the metric system ! Kudos to the French for that magnificent achievement !

[@DaGSoFt]

Proof of why the metric system is better : everybody’s using except you, and it made nasa crash a probe on mars because they were confused between metric and imperial

[@interdictornone2285]

In metric system there is no point to memorize the convertion rates (like feet to inch)

[@DaGSoFt]

@@interdictornone2285 true, there are still son convertions when you study science like km/h to m/s, or g to mol etc

[@interdictornone2285]

@@DaGSoFt yeah but you only have to remember that 1h = 3600s (and you can deduce it easily) to make the operation, with inches everything gets more complicated

[@titi08]

@@DaGSoFt km/h is not a science mesure! hour is not metric system, second is.

[@DaGSoFt]

thierry escola yeah but 1h=3600s. I know in science u don’t talk about km/h but m/s, not round/minute but rad/s and all but converting hours in seconds is easy

[@TheCasi1811]

Man... he walks on the point like a caged tiger....

[@aronandreas]

Us people love kg... Because they loose half of weight 😅

[@Milesco]

It's "lose", but yeah, it definitely sounds better! 😁

[@DrRChandra]

I agree with most elements of this speaker, except the practicalities. We spend way too much time and energy worrying about what the new unit is in terms of the old units, instead of just learning what the unit is and accepting it as an axiom. After all, if you're like me and grew up learning pounds and ounces and feet and such, you didn't question what any of that was; a pound is a pound, and ounce is an ounce, an inch is an inch. Similarly, there's no real reason why you cannot accept a kilogram is a kilogram, a liter is a liter, a meter is a meter, and so on. You just need practical examples, like a kilo is the weight of one liter of water, a cm is about as wide as your finger, a kilometer is the distance between this familiar place and this other familiar place, and so on. No need to worry about pounds or quarts or inches or miles, it just is what it is. BTW, I heard a similar practical example of temps: 30 is hot, 20 is pleasing, 10 is not, and 0 is freezing.

[@hamarana]

The beauty of the Celsius system is something so nice to think about..0 degree is when water turns into ice.. when water boils it is 100...so you measure day to day temperature between those two numbers...: 0 and 100! I think this was genius... 50 degree ( it is intuitive = half way between ice and boiling point) is it cold or hot? 36 degree ( your body temperature) is cold or hot? 5 degree? Cold or hot? minus 75 degrees? cold or very cold?

[@mausermongerkoziczkowski8104]

Then lets go Kelvin.

[@daedalron]

@@mausermongerkoziczkowski8104 For day to day, Celsius is better than Kelvin, since you get 2-digits number which are easier to handle than 3-digits numbers. And if you need to convert, it's not a problem, since Celsius and Kelvin use the same scale (as in an increase of 1°C is equal to an increase of 1°K).

[@mausermongerkoziczkowski8104]

@@daedalron Potato potato.

[@Milesco]

Fahrenheit works much better for measuring ambient air temperature. It's a LONG way from freezing to boiling, and a mere 100 gradations isn't enough to cover it. The result is degrees that are too large and cumbersome, and a corresponding lack of precision. Humans are very temperature sensitive, and therefore need a unit that is small enough to reflect that. Fahrenheit fits the bill much better than Celsius.

[@Herimna]

@@Milesco We do use decimals, you know. Most thermometers for every day use report temperature to a tenth of a degree. For example, my thermometer tells me right now the tempereture inside my room is 22.1°C.

[@scottiethegreat74]

Depends where you are from!! In Australia, 40 is hot, 30 is nice!! 😂😂

[@PROPAROXITONO]

brazil too

[@scottiethegreat74]

@@jankowalski4283 I'll bring a jumper and long pants!! 😂😂

[@ProkerKusaka]

In Siberia -30 cold, -10 chill, 0 nice)

[@Milesco]

@@jankowalski4283 : Yeah, 30° C is a tad warm, and 20° is a tad chilly. I'll just split the difference and say I prefer 25°. 😊 (California)

[@nickbenfell4327]

Living in New Zealand I was staggered to find the USA does not have some form of metric measurement system. USA currency is metric why not measurements.

[@marcusott5054]

I'm guessing you meant their currency system is decimal?

[@stevelangstroth5833]

Living in America, I was staggered to find out that in New Zealand, they drive on the (non-standard) left side of the road. The vast majority of the world drives on the right side. Get with the program!!! :-)

[@philipocallaghan]

@@marcusott5054 SAME THING. 10s X 10s

[@sickly300salt3]

@@stevelangstroth5833 its just the majority of the world that uses metric, its ALL of them except the us and 2 others that are in the process of switching over.

[@RogerWKnight]

Do you have a road sign that reads: 90 Mile Beach next 150 km?

[@zgliu8018]

Imagine you are a mechanical engineer in the US and have to design every single software and equipment to be compatible with two unit system, which should have totally been one, and that is metric as the rest of the world is using. This expands to distance (cm, m, km), mass (mg, g, kg), volume (mL, L), temperature (C) and so many other fields.

[@RogerWKnight]

I don't have to imagine it, I've done it. If you can handle a factor such as 3.14159 or simplified to 22/7, you can handle a millimeter being 10/254 inch. Now if you can explain to a Boeing supervisor that there are 254 Angtroms in a microinch, or that 5/8 inch i 1/8 of 5 inches, or that there are 1 billion cubic mils in a cubic inch, you have done the impossible!

[@zgliu8018]

@@RogerWKnight pi and e are different identities from scaling factors. Most people in the world with education higher than middle school (or even elementary) knows pi and can evaluate it to at least 2 decimal places. But maybe only those "Boeing supervisors" knows what 10/254 approximates to. Euler didn't include 10/254 in his equation, but instead pi.

[@RogerWKnight]

@@zgliu8018 10/254 inch is 1 millimeter. Sometimes known as 5/127 inch which is very close to 5/128 inch. If you need a hole through which a 1 mm shaft or wire or anything goes through, you add a 1/128 to the dimension, it becomes 6/128 or 3/64. The 3/64 drill bit is what you use. If you need a tighter fit, where 3/64 is 0.047 and 5/127 is 0.039, you look up the drill sizes on the gauge numbers and select a bit that is between 0.039 and 0.046. Machinists, like many Americans, think of metric drill bits as additional tools to play with, not as replacements for the common 1/64 sizes or the less common gauge sizes. I prefer to use the Metric system in addition to feet and inches, not instead of.

[@Mike-ox8sq]

@@RogerWKnight As an educated Aircraft engineer that have worked on US airplanes I like your easy explanations why I have chosen to copy paste this I wrote elsewhere on this page. Maybe you have some that needs some simple explanations around you? Americans just generally are afraid, despite claiming the opposite. Their fear have spooked them into the corner they now are paralyzed stuck in. The US today have legalized, what would be called bribery elsewhere, in their political system. As a result, their simple two party system, merely resembles fractions inside a one-party system. Seen in that light it should be easier for Americans to understand, how it was, that Putin had a finger on the scale, in their last election. Trump and his henchmen, The Russian ambassador in Washington, Cambridge Analytica, and some underpaid Russian hackers in Skt. Petersburg in happy conjunction with Koch brother (s), Murdoch and the fossile fuel industry....If Americans wonder why USA are loosing its powers and its grip, it are because of the above. You have gone full Monty Pyton and its a bit to real to be fun at all. I will listen to America again, when they have something relevant to say. It seems it will take a while.' USA seem to have been increasingly failing, in living up to its true potential, ever since Kennedy was shot. I wish more Americans would think a bit harder on this, not -so-coincidental course change in US history. I believe that US, back in the 50´s, in relation to some large trade talks, agreed to implement the metric system, but as so many other things US have promised on the negotiating table....it did not materialize into real change. Dont get me started on your media, I guess you get what you pay for, and Americans apparently want to pay more for sodas, so soda makers can interrupt and manipulate because they pay for their TV and the media presented inside that square box. An American are still clearly the most CO2 polluting human being on planet earth, and we will open for the US box's microphone when that has changed radically! FIRST day Trump was in office he fired the head of US EPA and replaced him with an former oil director. In case you forgot that was the week you all discussed crowd sizes, you imbeciles. Stop smiling and start asking questions, the planet is going under and you are a big reason here fore! Stop proving you can´t change anything and show you have a SOCIETY and not just a geographical spot to place your physical beings. I guess the next just are bonus info if one single US reader here, should care just a little. Glaciologist drilling icecores in Greenland have, by measuring airbubbles captured in the ice, established that we the last 500.000 years have had a pretty stable carbon PPM at 220. With a few periods peaking at 280 PPM. Those peaks have been connected to many large Vulcanic eruptions at the same time globally. Since around the beginning of the industrial revolution PPM has exploded. We are now (2021) at 416 PPM, close to double the amount we have seen last 500.000 year. Just to set the amount of 500.000 years in context, man left Africa around 60.000 years ago. If we scan, and we do, the globe, for optimal placements for off shore windmill parks we currently have identified overall areas that covers the global need for Electricity, hereunder electricity for producing needed hydrogen to replace our complete needed consumption more than 35 times and counting. If we imagined we had our electricity covered, converted to the area we need to place windmills in, we would immediately better our oceans, through the many many mini reefs that are natural homes for mussles and seaweed, that again gives a home for small fish. These fish nurseries gives grounds for all sorts of life. Symbiotically it combined removes acidity from the oceans by filtering. Furthermore it oxidizes the oceans significantly. Due to the actual rise of water temperature around the globe, not least via the Gulf Stream, through the thermohaline system, the oceans reefs, are under actual negative influence. The amount of bleaching events the last decades have been on a sharp rise,. More and more local extreme weather-related phenomena's have participated in large areas, that experience the complete eradication of life, in their former pristine coral reefs. They had functioned in perfect symbioses along large parts of their coastline for thousand of years. The bad news are that where large areas are affected, reality shows that the chalk in the reefs disintegrates in a few years after the last devasting bleaching event. Every single global reef constitutes a vital part, of humans and other species, food chain. If we build off shore windmills according to our global need, we would at the same time automatically, more than substitute and support the loss of our global reefs. Although the foundations of off shore windmills are artificial, they will provide home for the mentioned symbiotic species! THIS moment of time gives us all the possibility to be part of the solution, in everything we DO and project. Its going to be a leap not an hindrance! If all off shore windmill are placed at farms, below the horizon, seen from the shore, where birdlife are extremely sparse and those that do roam are spices that generally understands to avoid windmills, we will at the same time free vast amount of land and hopefully stop the rising waters, from eating of our live-able land masses. With no red tape and sufficient backing, an off shore windmill park can deliver full output from water freed for it, in 3-5 years. Electricity will be instant joining global grid, the underwater life will begin to contribute to an markable degree after 3 years and transform our oceanic life in 10, and even more later. Look into it and become an active part of a brighter future. I see no area, car/truck/ship/airplane engines or hyperloop (you name it!) where hydrogen cant replace AND eventually deliver a better overall conceptual solution. There are a Klondyke of opportunities! Not looking them up and exploiting them aggressively. are missing an option that will prevail. in a short time, anyway. We cant wait for a slow progression, we need a instant political, privat enterprise, global response to our REAL needs now! It makes no sense we use and pursue our energy needs coverage, by burning fossile fuels, when we can harvest the earths natural weather, to easily meet our needs in a green sustainable way! Investment-wise, we even can reuse foundation and grid-connections, when the windmills inner engine mechanically are getting old and needs replacement, thus we can later upgrade to new technologically more advanced engines and gearboxes, as an even more profitable investment. At first these basic requirements are a necessity for establishing the off shore windmill -parks. I would imagine that whatever capacity new energy transfer connections have they eventually will be supplied to their final safe capacity. Where I live. we now have enough hydrogen filling stations. for the persistent to cover its national needs. More are to come. The market today can deliver a wide range of hydrogen fuel cells cars, but the real game changer are coming from Toyota, that have presented a long endurance, direct injection hydrogen based car engine in a resent released presentation of a such racecar. They demonstrate its abilities by letting it participate in an Japanese long endurance race. It seems the Japanese have managed to overcome the holy grail regarding hydrogen car engines. A fast responsive, equal and better, rival to the gasline/diesel powered engine, that at the same time only emits, water! Not only that, they claim the engine actually overall REMOVES, a tiny amount of CO2, when running. Current infrastructure, gasstations, could relatively easy transform, and/or add hydrogen as an option in their business. I dont want to SPEND our taxmoney fixing our ever increasing costs related to a dramatic shifting climate; draughts, floods, hurricanes, climate refugees, I wanna INVEST in a transformation of our society so that all energy are made from sustainable sources, preferably windmills and that all devices used by modern man runs on green sustainable electricity or green hydrogen. WHY are this not on top of the US agenda! No bombs needed, just a clean transformation of how we provide and use energy. If you are an American and have been offended by above text, well...what are you going to do about it!? Wanna change and live in a cleaner world or stay stubborn and the same, and end this world we know, once and for all!? Windmills and hydrogen (!), got it!?

[@DrRChandra]

As far as the software goes, it's just another I/O exercise, similar to language. Are dates supposed to be month/day or day/month? Similar thing, like if I should multiply or perhaps divide some answer by 2.54 before displaying it.

[@VibratorDefibrilator]

Actually, when usyng metric you don't bother to think of it at all - it comes as naturally as everyday usage of basic arithnetics. Alas, americans are too deep into the imperial system. Imagine any craftsman, construction inspector, architect, measuring all in inches and feet, to convert into metric overnight. There is much greater cost in industrial accidents and traffic accidents... If a conversion is possible, it has to be done smoothly, for generation or two, with meticulous planning.

[@shaxxs]

It could be started easily and slowy by putting it in the curriculum at school

[@VibratorDefibrilator]

@@shaxxs ... or maybe teachers have to be thaught, then the students. I'm not american, but I presume all people are use to with it - the imperial system - however peculiar it may appear to be... to outsiders. Is there any evaluation of the cost of using imperial against metric, made by, I don't know,... by ASA (American Statistical Association) or CWMA, or WMD, or whoever else?... I think such evaluation has to be done, at least to justify financially the transition. Only after that if the positive decision was made, the knowledge of the metric system has to be spread accordingly.

[@shaxxs]

@@VibratorDefibrilator Yeah I agree, I don't live in the US, even though Metric is more superior, but i think they're comfortable with Imperial atm, but needless to say, those things should change in some aspect and fields, and I think it's more easier to change it step by step, starting from the young generation so there is longevity that the Metric would be used more and more in the future, as of now I think many big companies in the US already used Metric for their production , it's just socially the Metric hasn't been used

[@ratheskin58]

Metrication is a system. The rest isn't.

[@1992jamo]

1000mL of water = 1000G of weight, = 1000cm^3 volume, which takes 1000 calories to raise the temperature of the water 1 degree. 0 Freezes, and 100 boils. That sentence is why the metric system is awesome. Not some BS about how KG is related to plancks constant. All said and done, I still find it easier to estimate small distances in inches than cm. Edited to fix stuff mentioned in comments.

[@forkless]

Planck. That aside, that you find it easier to estimate small distances is merely a feeling. If I asked you (let's not even consider fractions here) if a 0.3' peg would fit in a 3.5" hole you would need to whip out a calculator. Doing the same for a 1cm hole and a 10.1mm peg in the metric system you can tell instantly tell by shifting the decimal point.

[@jpc7118]

@@forkless exactly ! ... Max find it easier in inches because he does use ONLY inches and since the beginning of his life... I am using metrics since the beginning of my life, and find it easier then (logic) but I did science studies and I can do any conversion between imperial and metrics, instantly, easily. Now Tha I know enough correctly imperial, without being dogmatic, I confirm that metric is easier and more logic. The "foxy" thing of the metric is the correlation between distance, volume, and weight (mass in fact)... 1 L of water is 1 dm3 and weighs (in CNPT : normal (best) conditions of pressure and temperature) 1 kG. Also, to be precise, imperial need to use decimal too like 3,2 " (Yes, I use comma, as every french, and it's also more logic : point FINISH a sentence, comma makes just a pause and continue the sentence... then 3,2 is righter and more logic than 3.2 !!! ;) lol)

[@Milesco]

@ MaxPhallus : Actually, it would be 1000 cm^3, not cm^2. [grin] (Also, it's 1000 ml or mL of water, but not ML, which would be 1000 megalitres.)

[@Milesco]

@@forkless : But to be fair, nobody would ever ask that. Nobody would ever in a million years ask if a 0.3' peg would fit a 3.5" hole. Feet are never divided into tenths, and for an item (e.g, a peg) on that scale, it would be measured in inches, not feet. So the question would be whether a 3.6" peg could fit a 3.5" hole. And then of course the answer is equally as obvious as if you had used metric units. This is a classic example of a "Straw man" argument -- a *logical fallacy* whereby a person tries to undermine his opponent's position by setting up an improper and weak analogy or example (the "straw man") and then easily cutting it down.

[@DrRChandra]

The only reason you find it easier to estimate in inches rather than cm is you don't have enough practice. Just practice with cm, and you'll eventually get it.

[@NUSORCA]

You are not afraid of 3 16 256 but 10? Wow

[@sjcobra84]

Simple. Count to 10

[@tstcikhthys]

1000 is actually the most common. Centi-, deci-, deca-, and hecto- are useless prefixes that only confuse people and should not be used.

[@tnsquidd]

@@tstcikhthys they're really not confusing? You know what is confusing? How many inches are in a yard? You have to memorize a number for that. How many centimetres are in a meter? 100. 1 ml of water weighs exactly 1 gram and has a volume of 1cm², and takes 1J if energy to heat by 1 degree celcius

[@tstcikhthys]

@@tnsquidd Much less confusing than inches and yards and other US customary units, but more confusing than just micrometres, millimetres, metres, kilometres, megametres, etc. No one uses myriametres anymore, for example. There's no good reason, at least when using linear units, to use the prefix cluster around unity. They're only useful in square and cubic units.

[@datboy038]

@@tstcikhthys metric is best cuz starting from METER which is the standard KILO-METER KILO>thousand literally translating to thousand meters e.x 2KILO-meters literally translates to 2 thousand meters. This works for all centi deci mili etc all of them literally tell you how much they are

[@1992jamo]

@@tstcikhthys It bothers me that a liter is 1000G of water, rather than 1G of water. 1KL should be 1KG

[@-XArchLinuxEnjoyerX-]

The funny thing is us customary units are already defined using metric xDDD

[@Milesco]

Yes, but they existed long before that.

[@-XArchLinuxEnjoyerX-]

@@Milesco ok and? That means....

[@Milesco]

@@-XArchLinuxEnjoyerX- : Well, you said "The funny things is U.S. Customary units are _already_ defined using metric", but that wasn't always the case. Those units have been around for hundreds of years -- before the metric system was even invented. They're weren't originally defined in metric terms.

[@-XArchLinuxEnjoyerX-]

@@Milesco I never said they were originally defined in metric. I said they are now, already defined in metric. The now might have been implied, but i don't see how you could have assumed i meant they were originally defined in metric.

[@Milesco]

@@-XArchLinuxEnjoyerX- : Well, it was a bit ambiguous, but by saying "already", that implies something that happened significantly _before_ something else happened or came into being. It kinda sounded like you were saying or implying that Customary units were originally defined in terms of metric units. ("Already" in relation to _what?)_ It might've been better to say that U.S. Customary units are _currently_ defined by metric units. In any case, I'm not sure what your point was.

[@christianc9894]

On January 1, 2002, 300,000,000 individuals saw their currency disappear in favor of the Euro. Conversion rates were different depending on the country. All the prices have changed from the packet of laundry detergent to that of houses, cars, no benchmarks at all. What did the Europeans do? It seems suitable. The ability to adapt does not exist in the USA? I doubt.

[@manuf.eng.808]

Keep them afraid, uneducated and impoverished and they will keep voting for you.

[@326435ha]

All I do is wonder how a people could get stuck to a complicated system like the Imperial, like conversions are so much complicated to do in Imperial when in the metric you just multiply or divide by 10 (ore powers of 10)

[@Milesco]

It's historical. Much of it is due to the fact that in the early days of the United States -- indeed, long before the United States even *_was_* the United States -- we had a consistent, universal standard of measures. The importance of a single universally accepted system of measures seems obvious, yet nobody in Europe had that. Instead, every European city, duchy, kingdom, etc., had their own unique units, and it was a total mess. So when the metric system came along during the French Revolution, it solved a major problem. The United States never had that problem, so there was no burning need to change. Add to that the fact that during the 1800's the United States became heavily industrialized -- using U.S. Customary units -- and you can see that by the time other countries started adopting the metric system, we had already committed ourselves to the Customary system, and it was too late to turn back.

[@calebkopitsky7611]

Anyone here cause of Tucker Carlson calling this “creepy”

[@88farrel]

WTF IS A STICK OF BUTTER

[@666t]

A stick of butter is 4oz, 120 grams, half a cup.

[@Milesco]

@Electronic Adventures : 28.35 grams It's also a magical land where the Wizard grants your most fervent wishes for personal character development or just to get back home.

[@Rayman1971]

So much easier to use than imperial derived units.... US public probably think they are special or something, I don't know why they love their weird system.....

[@Vanha21]

It's costly to change to metric, and US is all about only the profit

[@stephanweinberger]

@@Vanha21 Ironically, the US economy looses BILLIONS each year due to calculation errors and waste that could have been easily avoided by using the metric system. Yes, there would be initial cost to change everything; but it would pay for itself within a few years.

[@jennyh4025]

@@stephanweinberger but in the USA companies rarely think in the long term, managers are usually payed for short term results… not like some companies, where an outgoing manager gets shares, he can only cash in on in ten years…

[@Milesco]

@ Rayman : We're used to it. We've spent our whole lives using those units, so we are familiar with their size, and that counts for a lot. We know how long 30 feet is; we know how much 10 pounds is; we know how much 15 gallons is. You start throwing a different measurement system with different unit sizes at us, and we're not going to know how long, heavy, or big the thing is. Even *_I,_* who am *_very_* familiar with the metric system and all of the unit conversion factors, can't instinctively and intuitively know how big, heavy, or far away something is if it's told to me in metric units. I have to do the conversion in my head first. Imagine what it's like for Americans who aren't good with numbers and math, and _haven't_ memorized all the conversion factors! Also, the U.S. Customary system isn't hard to use. We don't use it to do complex calculations -- we just use it to *_measure_* stuff. You go to the store and buy a pound of meat and a couple pounds of potatoes. Then you go to the gas station and put a few gallons of gas in your car. You see that you've driven 150 miles and used 6 gallons, so you know you're getting 25 miles per gallon. How hard is that? It isn't! It's not hard at all! We're not calculating missile trajectories or satellite orbits. We're just measuring how far it is to Grandma's house.

[@stephanweinberger]

@@Milesco If you actually *use* it that's only a matter of a few weeks, maybe a couple of months at most. E.g. here in Europe many countries (including where I live) changed their currency to Euros - and guess what: we survived. The initial confusion only lasted a couple of weeks, until most people got used to it.

[@samirantanen707]

Frenchman pitching for metric system. Last time it took, what, 4 wars?

[@franciscoborquezk.155]

In this case, this is only one Frenchman... but in reality, it's the whole world, mate

[@ninodino444]

31 Mio Abos and only 14 thousand views.... that says it all

[@chrisgraham2904]

"Dear America"??? Only one American country, the United States of America, has not adopted the Metric System. The other 37 "American" countries already use the Metric System. I guess you meant; "Dear UnitedStations".

[@franciscoborquezk.155]

Dear gringos is the most used term south of the border ;)

[@tidepoolclipper8657]

Technically the US uses both imperial and metric. Imperial for the general public and some corporations for metric.

[@denelson83]

And that is a problem. Besides, using both systems is how you got ACA143.

[@stephanweinberger]

The public already uses metric as well, and they have no problem with it. Money is based on multiples of 10, engine size is measured in liters, drugs are administered in ml and cc, gun barrels and bullets are in mm, nutrition values are printed in joules/100g, ... - strangely nobody has a problem with that.

[@frankfahrenheit9537]

@@stephanweinberger Shame on me (German), I still count kcal.

[@Milesco]

@@denelson83 _"...using both systems is how you got ACA 143."_ Well...while that is true, in all fairness, the famous 1983 Gimli Glider incident happened because the airline was going through a transition from imperial to metric. Transitional periods always have difficulties like this. If they had stuck with imperial, it wouldn't have happened. As the saying goes, "No good deed goes unpunished." So perhaps you are arguing that Air Canada shouldn't have switched over to the metric system, and by extension, the United States shouldn't, either? 😉

[@denelson83]

@@Milesco Now you are twisting my position.

[@zeux6634]

Did this man just say that Poland is a town?

[@kj9108]

And yet our American friends have already modified the metric system to suit themselves, inasmuch as they are spelling litres as liters and metres as meters. Same pronunciation in each instance so why change them? Kinda goes against the harmonisation that this French guy was talking about. Americans just wanting to be different or someone in Washington somewhere afraid that it will be too complicated or too foreign looking for American folk? I call BS on that one. People would get used to the spelling and not notice it after a month or two. 9mm is already accepted, as has been noted elsewhere in these comments, as has 3.5 liters/litres. Go for it America, it is an easy system to use, honestly.

[@stevelangstroth5833]

....and EVERYONE drive on the right side of the road, instead of the WRONG side of the road.

[@mausermongerkoziczkowski8104]

We have been spelling stuff wrong for 200 years. lol Blame Danial Webster.

[@Milesco]

Americans aren't the only ones who spell the the basic unit of length in the SI system "neter". It is spelled that way in the Philippines, as well as German, Dutch, and the Scandinavian languages. The suffix "-meter" has the same Greek origin as the unit of length. As a practical matter, I might agree that it would be better to spell it "metre" to differentiate between the SI length and a device that measures things (water meter, voltmeter, etc.) But don't say it's because "Americans just want to be different". I know commenters on KZbin love to bash the U.S., but this time you're wrong.

[@sadwhitesoxfan17]

Is there anything Ted Talks say no to?

[@koff41]

Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius (1701-1744)

[@benjaminb5516]

metric system is way easier to learn, usefull and make a sens but his speech is not very good

[@spicybrown75]

Metric system multiply everything by 10...easy conversion. Imperial system is confusing.

[@albertjackinson]

@@spicybrown75 Not for people who learn it.

[@tstcikhthys]

@@spicybrown75 Actually it's commonly improperly taught. The metric system is a system of 1000s, not of 10s. Centi-, deci-, deca-, and hecto- are entirely useless prefixes that should be chucked in the bin.

[@tstcikhthys]

@Dark Waters I don't think you read my comment fully. "The metric system is a system of _1000s_ not of 10s". Kilo- is 1000 times the base unit, so it is clearly not useless. And no, deca-, centi-, and hecto- (and also deci-) are rarely used. The only thing that's used relatively commonly is centimetres (also centilitres in France & other parts of Europe, but this is rare on a global scale), which is unfortunate and totally unnecessary for linear lengths. And it's metres, btw, not "meters".

[@tstcikhthys]

@Dark Waters "10 kilometers is 1 mile"...yeah, no. Saying "don't be a know it all unless you know whats actually up doood" sounds real ironic now, doesn't it? I already said "& others parts of Europe", so it seems like you use it. There are more countries in the world than the US, UK, and Sweden; I hope you know that the metric system is used all over the world. Most people in the world don't use centi-, deci-, deca-, and hecto- anything (except centimetres, hectares, and hectopascals; and specifically in the US, people rarely even use the metric system; hence, the purpose of this video). There is no "American" spelling; the SI is a specification, so spelling it as anything other than "metre" in English is wrong. It doesn't matter what other languages are doing, regardless of whether they're Germanic or not. "Meter" in English comes from the verb "to mete", which means "to measure", so a "meter" is someone/something that measures (e.g., a water meter). The unit of measurement itself didn't exist in English, so they use "metre", which comes from French. The word for "meter" in many Germanic languages is totally different, so the comparison is not a good one.

[@Oldiesyoungies]

heyyyyyy!

[@thomashan4963]

To be fair, Celsius is not good enough. Kelvin should be introduced into Metric system

[@mohamedsamsudeen7694]

5:55 kelvin is metric actually

[@ronaldderooij1774]

@@mohamedsamsudeen7694 No, Kelvin is an SI unit. Not metric.

[@empyrionin]

It's the same scale, only offset

[@thomashan4963]

@@empyrionin Agree but modified. C is based on cooling/boiling point (under 1ATM) while Kelvin is based on true meaning of temperature (i.e. Kinetic energy of particles in a system) K explain temperature more.

[@key2520]

​@@thomashan4963 I understand what you are trying to say, but you are being needlessly pedantic. Its the same scale, the increments are arbitrary, and the boiling and freezing point of water is more practical as reference points on the scale than absolute zero which a vast majority of people will never have to deal with.

[@GH-oi2jf]

The United States adopted the metric system in 1866. We use it in many situations, but we do not use it in all situations. Fear has nothing to do with it.

[@mikekaatman3194]

Numbers sound more impressive in the imperial system...and since bigger is better according to most people living in the U.S.A. , they like the imperial.

[@Mike-ox8sq]

Americans just generally are afraid, despite claiming the opposite. Their fear have spooked them into the corner they now are paralyzed stuck in. The US today have legalized, what would be called bribery elsewhere, in their political system. As a result, their simple two party system, merely resembles fractions inside a one-party system. Seen in that light it should be easier for Americans to understand, how it was, that Putin had a finger on the scale, in their last election. Trump and his henchmen, The Russian ambassador in Washington, Cambridge Analytica, and some underpaid Russian hackers in Skt. Petersburg in happy conjunction with Koch brother (s), Murdoch and the fossile fuel industry....If Americans wonder why USA are loosing its powers and its grip, it are because of the above. You have gone full Monty Pyton and its a bit to real to be fun at all. I will listen to America again, when they have something relevant to say. It seems it will take a while.' USA seem to have been increasingly failing, in living up to its true potential, ever since Kennedy was shot. I wish more Americans would think a bit harder on this, not -so-coincidental course change in US history. I believe that US, back in the 50´s, in relation to some large trade talks, agreed to implement the metric system, but as so many other things US have promised on the negotiating table....it did not materialize into real change. Dont get me started on your media, I guess you get what you pay for, and Americans apparently want to pay more for sodas, so soda makers can interrupt and manipulate because they pay for their TV and the media presented inside that square box. An American are still clearly the most CO2 polluting human being on planet earth, and we will open for the US box's microphone when that has changed radically! FIRST day Trump was in office he fired the head of US EPA and replaced him with an former oil director. In case you forgot that was the week you all discussed crowd sizes, you imbeciles. Stop smiling and start asking questions, the planet is going under and you are a big reason here fore! Stop proving you can´t change anything and show you have a SOCIETY and not just a geographical spot to place your physical beings. I guess the next just are bonus info if one single US reader here, should care just a little. Glaciologist drilling icecores in Greenland have, by measuring airbubbles captured in the ice, established that we the last 500.000 years have had a pretty stable carbon PPM at 220. With a few periods peaking at 280 PPM. Those peaks have been connected to many large Vulcanic eruptions at the same time globally. Since around the beginning of the industrial revolution PPM has exploded. We are now (2021) at 416 PPM, close to double the amount we have seen last 500.000 year. Just to set the amount of 500.000 years in context, man left Africa around 60.000 years ago. If we scan, and we do, the globe, for optimal placements for off shore windmill parks we currently have identified overall areas that covers the global need for Electricity, hereunder electricity for producing needed hydrogen to replace our complete needed consumption more than 35 times and counting. If we imagined we had our electricity covered, converted to the area we need to place windmills in, we would immediately better our oceans, through the many many mini reefs that are natural homes for mussles and seaweed, that again gives a home for small fish. These fish nurseries gives grounds for all sorts of life. Symbiotically it combined removes acidity from the oceans by filtering. Furthermore it oxidizes the oceans significantly. Due to the actual rise of water temperature around the globe, not least via the Gulf Stream, through the thermohaline system, the oceans reefs, are under actual negative influence. The amount of bleaching events the last decades have been on a sharp rise,. More and more local extreme weather-related phenomena's have participated in large areas, that experience the complete eradication of life, in their former pristine coral reefs. They had functioned in perfect symbioses along large parts of their coastline for thousand of years. The bad news are that where large areas are affected, reality shows that the chalk in the reefs disintegrates in a few years after the last devasting bleaching event. Every single global reef constitutes a vital part, of humans and other species, food chain. If we build off shore windmills according to our global need, we would at the same time automatically, more than substitute and support the loss of our global reefs. Although the foundations of off shore windmills are artificial, they will provide home for the mentioned symbiotic species! THIS moment of time gives us all the possibility to be part of the solution, in everything we DO and project. Its going to be a leap not an hindrance! If all off shore windmill are placed at farms, below the horizon, seen from the shore, where birdlife are extremely sparse and those that do roam are spices that generally understands to avoid windmills, we will at the same time free vast amount of land and hopefully stop the rising waters, from eating of our live-able land masses. With no red tape and sufficient backing, an off shore windmill park can deliver full output from water freed for it, in 3-5 years. Electricity will be instant joining global grid, the underwater life will begin to contribute to an markable degree after 3 years and transform our oceanic life in 10, and even more later. Look into it and become an active part of a brighter future. I see no area, car/truck/ship/airplane engines or hyperloop (you name it!) where hydrogen cant replace AND eventually deliver a better overall conceptual solution. There are a Klondyke of opportunities! Not looking them up and exploiting them aggressively. are missing an option that will prevail. in a short time, anyway. We cant wait for a slow progression, we need a instant political, privat enterprise, global response to our REAL needs now! It makes no sense we use and pursue our energy needs coverage, by burning fossile fuels, when we can harvest the earths natural weather, to easily meet our needs in a green sustainable way! Investment-wise, we even can reuse foundation and grid-connections, when the windmills inner engine mechanically are getting old and needs replacement, thus we can later upgrade to new technologically more advanced engines and gearboxes, as an even more profitable investment. At first these basic requirements are a necessity for establishing the off shore windmill -parks. I would imagine that whatever capacity new energy transfer connections have they eventually will be supplied to their final safe capacity. Where I live. we now have enough hydrogen filling stations. for the persistent to cover its national needs. More are to come. The market today can deliver a wide range of hydrogen fuel cells cars, but the real game changer are coming from Toyota, that have presented a long endurance, direct injection hydrogen based car engine in a resent released presentation of a such racecar. They demonstrate its abilities by letting it participate in an Japanese long endurance race. It seems the Japanese have managed to overcome the holy grail regarding hydrogen car engines. A fast responsive, equal and better, rival to the gasline/diesel powered engine, that at the same time only emits, water! Not only that, they claim the engine actually overall REMOVES, a tiny amount of CO2, when running. Current infrastructure, gasstations, could relatively easy transform, and/or add hydrogen as an option in their business. I dont want to SPEND our taxmoney fixing our ever increasing costs related to a dramatic shifting climate; draughts, floods, hurricanes, climate refugees, I wanna INVEST in a transformation of our society so that all energy are made from sustainable sources, preferably windmills and that all devices used by modern man runs on green sustainable electricity or green hydrogen. WHY are this not on top of the US agenda! No bombs needed, just a clean transformation of how we provide and use energy. If you are an American and have been offended by above text, well...what are you going to do about it!? Wanna change and live in a cleaner world or stay stubborn and the same, and end this world we know, once and for all!? Windmills and hydrogen (!), got it!?

[@misterchess3254]

Aah, yes, -40 kelvin

[@andersholt4653]

The US is already metric, but you are too pigheaded to understand it: according to the Congress Library, an inch is 25.4mm, as stipulated by the CI system. Go figure.

[@G_Confalonieri]

Countless months avoiding this recommendation and finally seems the worst lecture I´ve watched so far. PS I´m Metric to my bones.

[@selezian]

I'd like to see a tv show. Grown up americans against children from other countries. "guys, you got here 1 qt of water and you kids got 1litter. You should tell us in 1 second how much is it in pounds and you - in kg"

[@seriously1184]

That was really a bad speech for promoting the Metric System ! A meter was determined by the French Institute of Science and Measurements to be 1\10 000 000 of the distance between the Poles and the Equator !! That's it, nothing more ! Liter and kilogram are based on the meter, hence Metric System ! 1 meter cube = 1000 decimeters cubes ! 1 decimeter cube = 1 LITER ! 1 liter of water = 1 KILOGRAM ! To make the use of bigger and smaller amounts of the measurement UNITS (METER - LITER - GRAM) more structured and thus easier to use, Old Greek and Latin words for numbers were used ! The Old Greek numbers are the following : DECA means TEN (as in a decade,which means 10 years) ! HECTO means a HUNDRED ! KILO means a THOUSAND ! MEGA means a MILLION ! GIGA means a BILLION ! TERA means a TRILLION ! Thus : 1 METER = 1 meter ! 1 DECAMETER = 10 meter ! 1 HECTOMETER = 100 meter ! 1 KILOMETER = 1000 meter ! 1 MEGAMETER = 1 000 000 meter ! 1 TERAMETER = 1 000 000 000 meter ! This applies as well for liters and grams !!! Latin words for numbers were and are used for decimals ! As in the following : DECI means TEN ! CENTI means a HUNDRED ! MILLI means a THOUSAND ! Thus : 1 METER = 1 meter ! 1 DECIMETER = 1/10 meter ! 1 CENTIMETER = 1/100 meter ! 1 MILLIMETER = 1/1000 meter ! This applies as well for liters and grams !!! THAT'S ALL !!!! IT I S THAT SIMPLE !!!! THERE IS NOTHING ELSE TO IT !!!!!!

[@aaryajain6396]

" there is nothing else to it" Metre isn't even defined using that anymore, btw. 1cm3 of volume filled with water weighs exactly 1 gram, which takes 1 calorie to raise temperature by 1° C. All units are interrelated to each other, making it easier to understand and recreate.

[@seriously1184]

@@aaryajain6396 I explained the origin of the metric system and its simple structure, interrelation and use !!! What did you not understand !!??? Calorie as a unit, was created much later on as defined in your comment !!! Other units where created out of the metric system as time and science progressed leading up to the SI international standard system !!! And with progression of time, knowledge and science/technology, other more scientific definitions where attributed to define the Units of the Metric System !!! So...........What's your problem ??? Which part of my original statement was too difficult for you to understand ???

[@aaryajain6396]

@@seriously1184 I was expanding on the interrelation, and pointing out that the definition of metre changed.

[@seriously1184]

@@aaryajain6396 The interrelation was pointed out in my original statement !!! The changing of the definition of the Unit of meter or any other Unit in the Metric System, does NOT change the simple structure, interrelation and use oof the Metric System !!!

[@aaryajain6396]

@@seriously1184 I know and I agree. I'm simply saying that you were using the outdated definition of metre, and I rephrased it to be easier to understand. A lot of !!!! make it confusing

[@chriskeel3096]

dear rest of existence, stop thinking you know everything about America. we actually use both. you know, keep options open and all that. might be why some things overseas never work correctly. someone show me the rule book that has everyone believe YOU get to decide what others do

[@TRPGpilot]

You are not particularly intelligent are you? Is that defect a genetic anomaly from your father or did you simply learn it by watching your mother? . . .

[@mikekaatman3194]

Well the U.S.A. certainly love to convert the rest of the world to their way of life. Example..permanent military presence in 140 countries...

[@kevinchuca870]

Americans are very used to metric system in schools, they use 9 mm all the time 🤣

[@zigge1989]

I guess U.S Americans kind of use the metric system. So many carry 9mm guns, and buy their drugs by the gram xD lol

[@FaustoM7432]

Convince US, for good and logical reasons to use metric system ? It is just a waste of time. For them it is no longer a practical thing, but it has become something that characterizes their identity, and therefore they are proud of it and will never abandon it

[@seka1986]

8 INCHES.

[@Gatos-hy]

America isn't afraid of the _Metric System_ . All countries in América use it except the United States. Canada was the last to switch from imperial in 1989.

[@Milesco]

The United States *_is_* America. ;-)

[@Gatos-hy]

That is what US people claim, @@Milesco. But, sorry. There is more America than the United States.

[@stevelangstroth5833]

When the United States was founded, the British Empire controlled 3/4 of the world and THEY used the English system of measurement. In order to "plug into" the trade with 3/4 of the world, the United States stuck with the English system (which was already in use, before the American Revolution (1775-83) (yes, we all know that 'America' is made up of North America, South America and Central America). International trade in Metric makes sense. Converting U.S. highways and construction to metric would be pointless and EXPENSIVE and would cause countless problems and for what advantage? There would be no advantage to doing it, except that Luc would smile more. Um, whatever...

[@aaryajain6396]

Nasa lost a multi-million dollar mission because an employee forgot to use metric instead of imperial units. Moreover, 98% of the world uses metric now.

[@stevelangstroth5833]

No, NASA mixed both systems. That is what caused the crash.

[@RogerWKnight]

And the best reason we Americans continue to use English units, is that it irritates all the right people!

[@JustyMe]

"All the right people" lmao who? Who is so important to annoy that you want to keep a bizarre way of measuring things?

[@RogerWKnight]

@@JustyMe Luc, who won't use the Force.

[@TRPGpilot]

@@RogerWKnight You are not particularly intelligent are you? Is that defect a genetic anomaly from your father or did you simply learn it by watching your mother? . . .

[@RogerWKnight]

1/3 of a meter is, oh, wait! Why do we continue to divide the circle into 360 degrees? Why are multiples of 360 so popular for computer screen sizes? 720, 1080, 1440, 1800, and 2160. 1080 is the radius of the Moon in miles. 2160 is its diameter. The diameter of the Moon is 3/11 of that of the Earth, which is 7920 miles. 7920 is 22X360. But wait, there's more! The Sun's diameter is 400 times that of the Moon and is 400 times farther. The solar diameter is 864,000 miles, which happens to be the number of seconds in 10 days. Remember that the Earth's diameter is 7920 miles? That is the number of inches in a furlong, which is the length of the rectangle that is defined as the acre, the chain being the width. Which we use for land measure, what the Greeks called geometry. Furlongs, chains, and links are a decimal system of measurement invented over 100 years before the Metric System. The diameter of the Earth in furlongs, 63,360, is the number of inches in a mile. Why these numbers for ratios between units? Factors. Divisibility. These numbers are the opposite of what a prime number is. 360, and all multiples of 360, are divisible by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, and 12. Seconds in an hour is 3600, which is 10X360. 5280, the number of feet in a mile, is not divisible by 360, but it is divisible by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 20, 22, 24, etc. The dimension of 1 1/2 miles, or 12 furlongs, or 7920 feet, is 1/5280 of the diameter of the Earth. Worrying about we Americans refusing to convert completely to the Metric System, rather than our preferred policy of using Metric in addition to feet and inches, is like worrying about the Chinese continuing to use their Hansi writing system and not converting completely to a Roman Alphabet way of writing their language. Just because a way of representing reality is "easier" does not necessarily make it better.

[@k1lcho213]

1/3 of a Meter is 33.3 cm. Isn’t that hard. And the diameter of the earth is 12742 km or 7917 miles. And telling me, that the imperial system is based on astronomical distances or length is simply false, because it was introduced way before we even knew how large any planet is. The problem with the 360° can easily be fixed by using 2pi for scientific issues. But in our normal daily live it also works quite well with 360°

[@RogerWKnight]

@@k1lcho213 To convert from meters per second to kilometers per hour, multiply by 3.6. As easy as converting from yards to inches!

[@k1lcho213]

@@RogerWKnight and now convert yards/s to miles/h. Wish you luck.

[@RogerWKnight]

@@k1lcho213 10 yards/second X 3600 seconds/hour = 36,000 yards/hour. 36,000 yards/hour X 1/1760 miles/yard = 225/11 miles/hour = 20.45 mph. Notice how the fraction can be simplified out. If you think 225/11 is to difficult to work with, try 900/88 or any other fraction along the way reflects the same number. But I find that when doing the old fashioned method of division taught in the public schools when attended them, 11 as a divisor or denominator is fairly easy to use. Even when I was in the 3rd grade. Why do we have that factor of 11 when working with furlongs and miles? I suspect that the Medieval English were considering 22/7 as a good working estimate of pi. A circle 70 yards in diameter has a circumference of 220 yards. Add a pair of 110 yard straight ways and we have a 1/4 mile track. Fuss and adjust those dimensions and we can fit it around a football field that 360 feet long and 160 feet wide. This is our typical track and field arrangement at our high schools and colleges. Around 1978 or 1979, our public school systems got this bee in their bonnet about the Metric system and squooshed the ends of the tracks in to reduce the 440 yard lap to 400 meter lap. Now, instead of running around a half circle, the fast kids have run around a kind of French curve while competing. Because of course, 200, 400, 800, 1600, and 3200 meter distances are "simpler" than furlong, 1/4 mile, 1/2 mile, mile and 2 mile distances. If you find yourself fighting a speeding ticket, knowing these little tricks can help. Whatever speed you are clocked at with the radar, divide that number 2 to get yards per second. Or multiply by 22/15 to get feet per second. 40 mph is approximately 20 yards per second. Did your car move that far in each second? 15 mph is 22 feet/second. 30 mph is 44 feet/second. 45 mph is 66 feet/second. 60 mph is 88 feet/second. 75 mph is 110 feet/second. I am presently dealing with an automated camera ticket. It took two still shots of my car 0.681 seconds apart. How convenient! 0.68181818 = 3600/5280. If my car traveled 18 feet during that 0.681 seconds, it averaged 18 mph during that interval. But the Doppler device reading is 29. The car is 17 feet long. It did not move 29 feet in that interval! The still shots clearly show 17 or 18 feet! 29/18 = 1.61. Well golly gee. I wonder if the City of Lake Forest Park made the Mars Climate Orbiter mistake!

[@k1lcho213]

@@RogerWKnight honestly, I didn’t read your whole comment. I’m too scared of your weird fractions. And even though you are pretending they are handy, they are not.

[@nirmalkrishansingh5865]

written book on more scientific unit book all evolution in one unit on Amazon in send by email written coment box decimal nature

[@Stefan_Van_pellicom]

Yeah, this makes no sense at all ...

[@Milesco]

????

[@stevelangstroth5833]

The Metric System --- after working in engineering in the US for 30 years involving facilities, I have come to these conclusions: 1) Manufacturing durable goods (cars, planes, industrial pumps, engines, etc.) in the US should use the Metric system, because exporting machinery built using Metric dimensions that people in other countries are familiar with is good for business...and exports. 2) Switching to the Metric system for building construction in the US would be foolish and pointless and very expensive. Existing facilities are built using the English system of measurement. For example; a standard door is 6'-8". Like other construction industry producers in the US, the door makers are all tooled up to make their products using English units. The vast majority of their customers are in the US. To attempt to retrofit an existing building using the Metric system would be a bastardized cluster-$#@&. Try installing a Metric replacement door in an existing English unit door frame. All that can really be done with this is to continue manufacture building materials using English units with the converted Metric units identified on the item's label ("soft" Metric). 3) Switching US highways to Metric would cost $ billions (yes, the US Congress priced it out). All the highway signs would have to be replaced, all the highway exit numbers would have to be changed, because they are based upon mile markers. What would we get for changing the highways to Metric? Well, Luc Rebillout would be able to drive here with familiar Metric units. So what? What's in it for us? Modern cars can change their speedometers and odometers from English to Metric and back with the press of a button (yes, I've done that driving into Canada. Wooo Big Deal! /sarc). There is absolutely nothing to gain by switching US highways to Metric just so that Luc won't have to push a button on a car dashboard. Metric? Yes? / No? Machinery? Yes. Construction industries? No. Highways? No.

[@philipocallaghan]

Gradual changes just like any other country did.

[@stevelangstroth5833]

@@philipocallaghan For the purpose of.....what, exactly? What is the goal and/or advantage after all that expense?

[@Herxal]

The problem you describe in 2) is purely fictional. Changing to metric measure does not imply changing the actual size of any object or tool (not even in theory and in the twentieth decimal since imperial units are already now defined on a metrical basis). You won't believe it, but also here in Europe many pieces and tools have, for traditional reasons, still sizes in old units. It does not pose any problems in everyday work. We will call a tube a "quarter-inch tube" for quick reference, but do calculations, where necessary, in millimeters. I trust you can do that, too. In 3) you would have to take the economical gains into account (higher productivity through faster calculation and smaller number of errors). Those gains are recurring, while the cost of transition is a one-off investment.

[@stevelangstroth5833]

@@Herxal The US Army Corps of Engineers attempted to force "hard" metric in construction projects about 15 years ago. It was a disaster. What you described is "soft" metric and it achieves nothing, other than making Luc happier. Machinery, on the other hand, should be manufactured in the US using the "hard" metric system, if it means increasing exports. Manufacturing construction items in the US in metric would be disasterus and pointless. For example; there's nothing to gain in the US by selling 3 meter by 1 1/2 meter sheets of plywood, instead of 4 foot by 8 foot plywood. It would be expensive and confusing, especially if used for renovation work on existing buildings.

[@ntahlahsiak]

@@stevelangstroth5833 Well the longer you guys don't do it, the harder will it gets. Just do it little by little from the smallest state/county to bigger state/county

[@jomac2046]

Just changing road signs would cost mega billions, they've missed the boat.

[@BICIeCOMPUTERconGabriele]

No, it's an excuse. Australia, Canada, changed few decades ago OVERNIGHT, applying a sticker. No need for changing the signs.

[@jomac2046]

@@BICIeCOMPUTERconGabriele Changing speed limit signs would be a minor detail. Eg one large overhead sign reading exit 2 miles with a sticker would read exit 3.22 kilometers, you can take it to the bank the sign would not just be changed with a sticker in the end it would be moved.

[@Zekiraeth]

@@jomac2046 While, yes, that would be awkward at first, it would still work fine enough. Then when you eventually have to replace the signs due to wear and tear or an accident, then you have the opportunity to move the signs. It's not a clean solution by any means, but that's only because Americans refused the system earlier. Switching will probably only get more impractical over time, so you might as just get it over with sooner rather than later.

[@jomac2046]

@@Zekiraeth Lookup "Interstate 19", It runs in Arizona from Tucson to Nogales and it uses metric road signage. It was converted in the 70's and never changed back because of cost and businesses along the route not wanting to change their signage. If a stretch of road 60 miles long in Arizona is just too complicated try that process right across the country.

[@dayko.]

@@jomac2046 So just never use the more practical system because it takes too much effort to change? Doesn't seem like a good solution to me but as it stands that is probably going to happen.

[@mausermongerkoziczkowski8104]

Metric, Came out of the French Revolution and is based on the circumference of the earth but their math was wrong so it is inaccurate in that regard. Who saved Europe twice not using the metric system?

[@martinhughes2549]

It has been redefined since the 1790s.

[@jennyh4025]

The US armed forces use metric… ask any US soldier, if they know one kilometer… aviation and nautical use different units, but those are specialized fields (even in the „metric world“). By the way anyone working in the medical field in the USA knows metric as well, as they use it in their work….

[@mausermongerkoziczkowski8104]

Yet ,is it more precise?

[@r.anthony8685]

Europeans saved themeselves though, just with the help of the U.S.

[@Mike-ox8sq]

"Who saved Europe twice not using the metric system"...well guess it was not you. But let me help you maybe save yourself (es) Americans just generally are afraid, despite claiming the opposite. Their fear have spooked them into the corner they now are paralyzed stuck in. The US today have legalized, what would be called bribery elsewhere, in their political system. As a result, their simple two party system, merely resembles fractions inside a one-party system. Seen in that light it should be easier for Americans to understand, how it was, that Putin had a finger on the scale, in their last election. Trump and his henchmen, The Russian ambassador in Washington, Cambridge Analytica, and some underpaid Russian hackers in Skt. Petersburg in happy conjunction with Koch brother (s), Murdoch and the fossile fuel industry....If Americans wonder why USA are loosing its powers and its grip, it are because of the above. You have gone full Monty Pyton and its a bit to real to be fun at all. I will listen to America again, when they have something relevant to say. It seems it will take a while.' USA seem to have been increasingly failing, in living up to its true potential, ever since Kennedy was shot. I wish more Americans would think a bit harder on this, not -so-coincidental course change in US history. I believe that US, back in the 50´s, in relation to some large trade talks, agreed to implement the metric system, but as so many other things US have promised on the negotiating table....it did not materialize into real change. Dont get me started on your media, I guess you get what you pay for, and Americans apparently want to pay more for sodas, so soda makers can interrupt and manipulate because they pay for their TV and the media presented inside that square box. An American are still clearly the most CO2 polluting human being on planet earth, and we will open for the US box's microphone when that has changed radically! FIRST day Trump was in office he fired the head of US EPA and replaced him with an former oil director. In case you forgot that was the week you all discussed crowd sizes, you imbeciles. Stop smiling and start asking questions, the planet is going under and you are a big reason here fore! Stop proving you can´t change anything and show you have a SOCIETY and not just a geographical spot to place your physical beings. I guess the next just are bonus info if one single US reader here, should care just a little. Glaciologist drilling icecores in Greenland have, by measuring airbubbles captured in the ice, established that we the last 500.000 years have had a pretty stable carbon PPM at 220. With a few periods peaking at 280 PPM. Those peaks have been connected to many large Vulcanic eruptions at the same time globally. Since around the beginning of the industrial revolution PPM has exploded. We are now (2021) at 416 PPM, close to double the amount we have seen last 500.000 year. Just to set the amount of 500.000 years in context, man left Africa around 60.000 years ago. If we scan, and we do, the globe, for optimal placements for off shore windmill parks we currently have identified overall areas that covers the global need for Electricity, hereunder electricity for producing needed hydrogen to replace our complete needed consumption more than 35 times and counting. If we imagined we had our electricity covered, converted to the area we need to place windmills in, we would immediately better our oceans, through the many many mini reefs that are natural homes for mussles and seaweed, that again gives a home for small fish. These fish nurseries gives grounds for all sorts of life. Symbiotically it combined removes acidity from the oceans by filtering. Furthermore it oxidizes the oceans significantly. Due to the actual rise of water temperature around the globe, not least via the Gulf Stream, through the thermohaline system, the oceans reefs, are under actual negative influence. The amount of bleaching events the last decades have been on a sharp rise,. More and more local extreme weather-related phenomena's have participated in large areas, that experience the complete eradication of life, in their former pristine coral reefs. They had functioned in perfect symbioses along large parts of their coastline for thousand of years. The bad news are that where large areas are affected, reality shows that the chalk in the reefs disintegrates in a few years after the last devasting bleaching event. Every single global reef constitutes a vital part, of humans and other species, food chain. If we build off shore windmills according to our global need, we would at the same time automatically, more than substitute and support the loss of our global reefs. Although the foundations of off shore windmills are artificial, they will provide home for the mentioned symbiotic species! THIS moment of time gives us all the possibility to be part of the solution, in everything we DO and project. Its going to be a leap not an hindrance! If all off shore windmill are placed at farms, below the horizon, seen from the shore, where birdlife are extremely sparse and those that do roam are spices that generally understands to avoid windmills, we will at the same time free vast amount of land and hopefully stop the rising waters, from eating of our live-able land masses. With no red tape and sufficient backing, an off shore windmill park can deliver full output from water freed for it, in 3-5 years. Electricity will be instant joining global grid, the underwater life will begin to contribute to an markable degree after 3 years and transform our oceanic life in 10, and even more later. Look into it and become an active part of a brighter future. I see no area, car/truck/ship/airplane engines or hyperloop (you name it!) where hydrogen cant replace AND eventually deliver a better overall conceptual solution. There are a Klondyke of opportunities! Not looking them up and exploiting them aggressively. are missing an option that will prevail. in a short time, anyway. We cant wait for a slow progression, we need a instant political, privat enterprise, global response to our REAL needs now! It makes no sense we use and pursue our energy needs coverage, by burning fossile fuels, when we can harvest the earths natural weather, to easily meet our needs in a green sustainable way! Investment-wise, we even can reuse foundation and grid-connections, when the windmills inner engine mechanically are getting old and needs replacement, thus we can later upgrade to new technologically more advanced engines and gearboxes, as an even more profitable investment. At first these basic requirements are a necessity for establishing the off shore windmill -parks. I would imagine that whatever capacity new energy transfer connections have they eventually will be supplied to their final safe capacity. Where I live. we now have enough hydrogen filling stations. for the persistent to cover its national needs. More are to come. The market today can deliver a wide range of hydrogen fuel cells cars, but the real game changer are coming from Toyota, that have presented a long endurance, direct injection hydrogen based car engine in a resent released presentation of a such racecar. They demonstrate its abilities by letting it participate in an Japanese long endurance race. It seems the Japanese have managed to overcome the holy grail regarding hydrogen car engines. A fast responsive, equal and better, rival to the gasline/diesel powered engine, that at the same time only emits, water! Not only that, they claim the engine actually overall REMOVES, a tiny amount of CO2, when running. Current infrastructure, gasstations, could relatively easy transform, and/or add hydrogen as an option in their business. I dont want to SPEND our taxmoney fixing our ever increasing costs related to a dramatic shifting climate; draughts, floods, hurricanes, climate refugees, I wanna INVEST in a transformation of our society so that all energy are made from sustainable sources, preferably windmills and that all devices used by modern man runs on green sustainable electricity or green hydrogen. WHY are this not on top of the US agenda! No bombs needed, just a clean transformation of how we provide and use energy. If you are an American and have been offended by above text, well...what are you going to do about it!? Wanna change and live in a cleaner world or stay stubborn and the same, and end this world we know, once and for all!? Windmills and hydrogen (!), got it!?

[@philipocallaghan]

Fundamental constants??? LOL FACT: We don't actually know for sure what the speed of light is. It has been given a numerical value but it has NEVER been measured. We only have a best guestimate.

[@stephanweinberger]

It has been measured, but as with any measurement there are uncertainties. So what, having a meter artifact that had to be copied involved uncertainties a s well... We can still define our system of measurement based on natural constants, even if we cannot measure them exactly. The whole point of a measuring system is that it does not change over time - hence using natural _constants_ is the way to go. Edit: plus, our ability to measure these constants already is far better than the amount of change we noticed in the artifacts over time. So it is already more precise.

[@jackmatheus]

It’s a guesstimate the scientific community agrees around the world, so it works.

[@DrRChandra]

I thought we knew it too, but then I watched Veritasium's/Derek Muller's video on that.

[@sssweetnesss3483]

We don’t need to be afraid if we’re the only ones who landed in the moon before anyone else

[@1Mystery10000]

Well, scientists in the USA use the metric system for sure. Because it is more efficient.

[@dukejohn5608]

Who says you did?

[@jomac2046]

The Apollo Guidance Computer internally used metric for all its calculations. Distance, altitude, and altitude rate were converted back to imperial on the display for the crew.

[@marcusott5054]

@@jomac2046 Even then I don't believe it is a good argument. The US could have landed o the moon using any measuring system. Metric is just easier. It just takes ONE generation to make the change. When my country changed currency to Euros it was a bit of hassle to get used to the new values... but you'l get over it.

[@f1r3hunt3rz5]

Yeah, which you did by actually using metric.

[@jblackwell008]

Borrrrriiiiinnnnggggg

[@mikesbackyardgarage5578]

AS a Canadian . THE METRIC SYSTEM SUCKS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@arsipaani]

why so ?

[@xyespotato4339]

If youre under the age of 3 and cant count to 10, i agree.

[@siradmin6791]

Can you count to ten? Yes? Then metric is easy. It makes sense to base a measuring system on base 10 when we count using base 10