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> If you really truly want an answer, it's relatablity. > If you ask the vast majority of Americans how many centimeters are in a foot, you'll get blank stares
by q-big 5y ago
> If you really truly want an answer, it's relatablity.
> If you ask the vast majority of Americans how many centimeters are in a foot, you'll get blank stares. If you ask them how long 30 centimeters are you'll get blank stares. If you ask them how long a foot is they'll hold up their hands about a foot apart.
> Americans use imperial units because it's what they used daily, what they're familiar with, and what they know. It's really not that hard to understand.
xkcd has a comic to make metric units more relatable: https://xkcd.com/526/ https://xkcd.com/526/
- cptskippy 5y agoSo I should print out one for everyone in America and pull it out with every conversation to reference it? If America is going to switch to metric it is going to require a concerted effort to influence everyone, not flash cards. They need to gradually phase it in. Since road signs last ~7 years they should pass legislation stating all new road signs must have kph under mph by 2029. Legislation to say by 2036 they must have kph on top with mph minimized underneath. By 2045 all must just display kph. Everything else much have a similar phased approach. By 2050, no more imperial.