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It's hard for any culture to do anything that is deeply ingrained into its habits. Think of all the things that would have to change everywhere, in everything,

by jb1991 4y ago

It's hard for any culture to do anything that is deeply ingrained into its habits. Think of all the things that would have to change everywhere, in everything, when something as basic as a unit system changes.

derbOac 4y ago
I was going to write what you just wrote, so I agree. However, I also think to some extent the US is changing, it's just happening very slowly. I think a lot of commerce and travel is part of it. If you buy something designed and produced overseas, and you have to get parts for it, it will be in metric. Lots of imports are in metric, if you travel you deal with metric, and so forth and so on. I've been to US hospitals that only keep charts and communicate in metric as a matter of policy, etc. The only remaining things in the US that are hard for me to intuitively deal with are speed when driving and temperature, and temperature I'm starting to kind of fuzzily intuit.
- hattmall 4y ago
  Temperature should be easy. Don't try to convert it. Just know that it's based around people instead of water. Anything out of the bounds 0-100 is extreme and to be avoided. Maybe it's just so intuitive having grown up with it, but it just seems to make perfect sense that the numbers are based around how you feel in relation to heat.
  - jb1991 4y ago
    The idea that things are "out of bounds" for "people" up to 100 C is a little strange. Try stepping outside when it's only half that temperature outside, or even just one-third. It's much simpler than that, and has nothing to do with people; it's the range between freezing water and boiling water, and that's it.
    - SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
      I think when they said "Anything out of the bounds 0-100 is extreme and to be avoided" they meant in regard to Farenheit.
SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
While true, the fact that all but 3 other nations managed to do it (though not with 100% transition - I still think of my height in feet and weight in lbs) means that "it's hard" isn't the only reason.
- grujicd 4y ago
  And yet, metric system is not 100% used even in metric countries. TVs, monitors, speaker sizes, car rims and tyres, plumbing pipes, guitar scale length, etc are stuck in inches and used like that in the whole world. If 24" monitor sounds ok and you have no idea how big 61cm display is then it's safe to say we're also creatures of habbit and it's nothing specific to US.
  - SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
    I acknowledged that the conversion wasn't complete, but it has gone much much further than the United States nearly everywhere else in the world, so there's something specific about the United States that's preventing it from making even progressing.
bannedbybros 4y ago
[dead]

by jb1991 4y ago

derbOac 4y ago

I was going to write what you just wrote, so I agree. However, I also think to some extent the US is changing, it's just happening very slowly. I think a lot of commerce and travel is part of it. If you buy something designed and produced overseas, and you have to get parts for it, it will be in metric. Lots of imports are in metric, if you travel you deal with metric, and so forth and so on. I've been to US hospitals that only keep charts and communicate in metric as a matter of policy, etc. The only remaining things in the US that are hard for me to intuitively deal with are speed when driving and temperature, and temperature I'm starting to kind of fuzzily intuit.

hattmall 4y ago
Temperature should be easy. Don't try to convert it. Just know that it's based around people instead of water. Anything out of the bounds 0-100 is extreme and to be avoided. Maybe it's just so intuitive having grown up with it, but it just seems to make perfect sense that the numbers are based around how you feel in relation to heat.
- jb1991 4y ago
  The idea that things are "out of bounds" for "people" up to 100 C is a little strange. Try stepping outside when it's only half that temperature outside, or even just one-third. It's much simpler than that, and has nothing to do with people; it's the range between freezing water and boiling water, and that's it.
  - SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
    I think when they said "Anything out of the bounds 0-100 is extreme and to be avoided" they meant in regard to Farenheit.

SketchySeaBeast 4y ago

While true, the fact that all but 3 other nations managed to do it (though not with 100% transition - I still think of my height in feet and weight in lbs) means that "it's hard" isn't the only reason.

grujicd 4y ago
And yet, metric system is not 100% used even in metric countries. TVs, monitors, speaker sizes, car rims and tyres, plumbing pipes, guitar scale length, etc are stuck in inches and used like that in the whole world. If 24" monitor sounds ok and you have no idea how big 61cm display is then it's safe to say we're also creatures of habbit and it's nothing specific to US.
- SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
  I acknowledged that the conversion wasn't complete, but it has gone much much further than the United States nearly everywhere else in the world, so there's something specific about the United States that's preventing it from making even progressing.

bannedbybros 4y ago

[dead]