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Can't you just split the question in 2 parts ? - Is the metric system superior to the American (bastard) imperial system ? - Is it worth the switch ? There a

Can't you just split the question in 2 parts ? - Is the metric system superior to the American (bastard) imperial system ? - Is it worth the switch ? There are a lot of other accidental situations out there that are (perceived to be) too costly to eradicate. For example, in Europe (not the UK) we drive on the right hand side while yielding the right of way to the right as well. For safety reasons, it would have been better to switch on of the two to the left. Will it happen? probably not. Actually, cost might even be irrelevant: The Chinese still use chop-sticks while a fork is clearly more practical.

jmoiron 12y ago
Chopsticks are superior for lots of traditional chinese dishes.
dirktheman 12y ago
Sweden switched from left side driving to right side driving as late as in 1967. So it is possible, but, like you said, not likely. Sweden isn't an island, so I can imagine the safety hazards when crossing a border. The UK/Ireland are islands of course, so there's more of a physical barrier. I guess this applies to the metric/imperial system, too. I think we can all agree that the metric system is more logical. But there just isn't enough incentive to make the switch.
- adventured 12y ago
  Countries are always funny about making such huge switches though. For example Sweden still has Swedish as its official language, which makes absolutely no rational sense. They should obviously standardize on English. There's no good reason for a country of ten million people to have their own language, it's extraordinarily inefficient. The counter argument to this is always: but 90% of Swedish people also speak English. Ok, so what's the point of maintaining Swedish then? It's like arguing it'd be ok for the US to keep / use / teach both metric and imperial - in reality there is no good reason for that, it would be backwards.
jacobolus 12y ago
In my experience, chopsticks are better when you have food that has already been cut up into pieces, especially when you’re trying to pluck pieces of food out of soups (I can’t imagine eating hot pot with a fork). By contrast, forks are better when you want to hold down a big piece of meat to cut it with a knife, or when you need to use the side of the fork itself to cut something, or when you’re trying to pick up awkward slippery things that you can just stab instead (e.g. raw cherry tomatoes). For some types of food and dining arrangements, ditching the silverware/individual plates and using a piece of flat bread or a handful of rice to pick up the food (as people do in South Asia, many parts of Africa, and parts of Latin America) is more effective. Still other types of food is best eaten with hands alone (e.g. sushi, sandwiches, pizza [whatever Europeans might tell you]). To call the fork “clearly more practical” betrays ignorance and lack of imagination about the broader world.

jmoiron 12y ago

Chopsticks are superior for lots of traditional chinese dishes.

dirktheman 12y ago

Sweden switched from left side driving to right side driving as late as in 1967. So it is possible, but, like you said, not likely. Sweden isn't an island, so I can imagine the safety hazards when crossing a border. The UK/Ireland are islands of course, so there's more of a physical barrier. I guess this applies to the metric/imperial system, too. I think we can all agree that the metric system is more logical. But there just isn't enough incentive to make the switch.

adventured 12y ago
Countries are always funny about making such huge switches though. For example Sweden still has Swedish as its official language, which makes absolutely no rational sense. They should obviously standardize on English. There's no good reason for a country of ten million people to have their own language, it's extraordinarily inefficient. The counter argument to this is always: but 90% of Swedish people also speak English. Ok, so what's the point of maintaining Swedish then? It's like arguing it'd be ok for the US to keep / use / teach both metric and imperial - in reality there is no good reason for that, it would be backwards.

jacobolus 12y ago

In my experience, chopsticks are better when you have food that has already been cut up into pieces, especially when you’re trying to pluck pieces of food out of soups (I can’t imagine eating hot pot with a fork). By contrast, forks are better when you want to hold down a big piece of meat to cut it with a knife, or when you need to use the side of the fork itself to cut something, or when you’re trying to pick up awkward slippery things that you can just stab instead (e.g. raw cherry tomatoes). For some types of food and dining arrangements, ditching the silverware/individual plates and using a piece of flat bread or a handful of rice to pick up the food (as people do in South Asia, many parts of Africa, and parts of Latin America) is more effective. Still other types of food is best eaten with hands alone (e.g. sushi, sandwiches, pizza [whatever Europeans might tell you]). To call the fork “clearly more practical” betrays ignorance and lack of imagination about the broader world.