Changing To The Metric System

Discussion in 'Jobs I Have Had' started by Sheldon Scott, Jul 6, 2016.

  1. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    We understand the system we have. Why change it? Those products that have changed, I think, have done so as a means of duping their customers into thinking they're getting more than they really are. When they changed from quarts to liters, they never lowered the price to reflect the lesser volume. In their heads, people think of the one-liter or two-liter bottle of soda as being 1-2 quarts.

    If we need an exact measurement of something, we can use metric because pretty much everyone understands that, too. Although their heads might think in ounces and quarts, most people can calculate in metric when they need to. It's not that complicated.
     
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  2. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    Restating what I said above, arguments for switching to the metric system in the US are more about abandoning the system of measurement that we all grew up with and understand than about adopted the metric system. For the past fifty years or more, everyone has learned the metric system, and most of us have used the metric system in one application or another, so we understand the metric system, although we may not think in the metric system. There's no need for a change.
     
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  3. Martin Alonzo

    Martin Alonzo Supreme Member
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    I do agree with Ken as I learned 12, 36, 5,280 or 32 ,212 all these we had to remember as a child and now they have to remember 10. For us older people that still think in the way we were taught making it hard to make that change my mind still thinks in inches. Hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
     
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  4. Hal Pollner

    Hal Pollner Veteran Member
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    The trouble with the base 10 is some may use it in the improper power of 10!

    Thus, some may say there are 100 millimeters in a meter, which is wrong by a factor of ten, or a Kilogram is 100 grams. See?

    Hal
     
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  5. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    That's exactly right. My mind is programmed to visualize inches and fractions of an inch, etc. When I see "15mm" my eyes glaze over because I can't visualize it (unless I covert it to inches) :D.
     
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  6. Hal Pollner

    Hal Pollner Veteran Member
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    Ken, a Liter contains 33.8 fluid ounces. A Quart contains 32 fluid ounces. Therefore a Liter contains 6% more fluid than a Quart!

    Hal
     
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  7. Herb Sutton

    Herb Sutton Very Well-Known Member
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    I was in a hotel in London and there was a scale that had a dual dial that read in Kilos on one side and Stones on the other. I knew that a Kilo is 2.2 pounds, so I calculated from that.

    In the 1920s my father shipped on an ocean liner as a machinist. The liner sailed NY to England on a regular schedule. It had been built in Germany. That was his introduction to things metric. He said the machine tools were all different from what he was used to in the US.
     
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  8. Faye Fox

    Faye Fox Veteran Member
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    I grew up with both systems and understand them both. I see no reason to do away with either in the USA. Things that were made using one system would create a problem trying to repair with another. Musical instruments are a good example. Trying measuring in inches a 650 mm scale to set a bridge on a guitar. 650 mm = 25.75/127 inches or sawing a replacement leg for an old chair whose legs measures 23 5 / 16 inches as 592.1375 millimeters. I think both systems are useful when precision work is necessary. I know a young lady in Europe that was training for police work and she was proficient in shooting a handgun at 10 meters. I automatically made that 10 yards. Not perfectly accurate but close enough for understanding the range. 10 meters = 10.936133 yards.
     
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  9. Silvia Benoit

    Silvia Benoit Veteran Member
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    Brunner,

    BTW, NY temp. right now is 0 Celsius. If I remember correctly Canada uses the metrical system and the Celsius for the temp. Right?
     
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  10. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    @Silvia Benoit

    I agree 10o% that lights make you visible. Somewhere in the late 90s silver became a ubiquitous vehicle color. It blends into the background almost everywhere. I really detest it. I used to have a yellow Vega station wagon. Statistically, yellow is the least accident-prone color because it stands out.

    Regarding Canada and the metric system, I had to do a web search because I was confused. This is from WIKI:

    Metrication in Canada began in 1970 and ceased in 1985. While Canada has converted to the metric system for many purposes, there is still significant use of non-metric units and standards in many sectors of the Canadian economy and everyday life today. This is mainly due to historical ties with the United Kingdom, the traditional use of the imperial system of measurement in Canada, proximity to the United States, and strong public opposition to metrication during the transition period.

    More directly to your question, Canadian weather reports are in Celsius, although there are Fahrenheit holdouts among the masses. But some food items (like steak) are advertised at their per-pound price, while the price tag is in kilograms.

    No wonder we're confused!!!
     
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  11. Silvia Benoit

    Silvia Benoit Veteran Member
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    John

    I asked because I wasn't quite sure. Here, also, you can see both systems printed on many products. I guess eventually the entire world will go metrical.
     
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  12. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    In elementary school, we were told that the country was in the process of switching to the metric system so we'd need to learn it. Well, we learned it, pretty much, but I could have done fine without it, and I'm happy that we never switched over nationwide.
     
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  13. Herb Durant

    Herb Durant Very Well-Known Member
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    We have the metric system in Canada but in aviation we still work with the imperial system .
     
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  14. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    Read the WIKI article on the metric system in Canada. It ain't ubiquitous. Nor is it omnipresent.
     
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  15. Herb Durant

    Herb Durant Very Well-Known Member
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    I never got use to it in the airplane wold we still work in the imperial system .
     
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