US switching to metric system?

[freebeard]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

By democratic vote the Earth's surface is at sea level, then

But when the polar ice will melt in a few years, sea level will rise. Will we have to redefine the Celsius scale by a fraction of a degree?

Boiling point is dependent on the weight of the air, not the level of the oceans.

[RedDevil]

In other words, the raising sea level pushes the air up with it and the pressure will still be the same at the new sea level.
Sharp catch!

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by P-hack

Lol, it isn't like sea level is that arbitrary, well it is a bit, but not as arbitrary as "lets base it on where james is living", I think on degrees of irrationality, that might win... I mean the sea is over 70% of the earths surface, you can't pretend to be of that sort of significance.

But "sea level" changes. Twice a day with tides, more gradually as glaciers shrink and grow. And even if we could somehow hold the sea level constant, the atmospheric pressure itself changes due to weather systems in the short term. There's also some evidence for major changes over geologic time.

And of course we now have the option of measuring temperatures on other planets, with robotic probes if not yet in person. So nice job picking a "constant" :-)

Originally Posted by CapriRacer

...not realizing that small, medium, and large are dimensionless and that doesn't seem to be a problem.

It is rather a problem - and one reason I hate clothes shopping - if your shoulders are "L" or "XL", but your waist is "S".

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

It is rather a problem - and one reason I hate clothes shopping - if your shoulders are "L" or "XL", but your waist is "S".

Uh, I must be built upside down.

[Goldenstate]

The French government mandated the development of the metric system as they had at that time, several hundred different methods of measurement in place. This in itself was a major impediment to trade with other countries. The people were resistant to the change but with the help of the guillotine, they got past the issue of a new standardized system of measurement.

Having taught the fractional system and the metric system to students for well over 20 years, I quickly discovered that the metric system is far easier for people to learn. The fractional system with all of the different lines on a ruler will quickly cause the best learning intentions to fail rapidly. I had some students who never did grasp the fractions system and have seen adults who still did not understand how to measure beyond the number lines on a ruler.

The US government has dropped the ball on conversion to the metric system so many times in the past 200 years that if they had, the problem would not be facing us today. With the rest of the world economic engine already well established with the metric system, it is important for us to make the change as rapidly as possible to remain competitive.

I notice more and more that metric measurement tools are showing up in local hardware stores as the manufacturers of measurement tools finally grasp that making more of the fractional tools is not part of the future in this country. Years ago I tried to find metric graduated try squares for my wood shop program. The local suppliers laughed at me when I asked for 40 metric graduated hand tools to measure with. I told them that I was instructed to convert my entire program to the metric system as the state testing was no longer going to include fractions. All the science teachers also had to make the conversion and came to me as I had already developed a series of lessons and worksheets which were proven and just a copy machine away. The kids loved it as they went to science class and had the advantage over the students who did not have my wood program in their schedule. If the new generation is taught the metric system, the next generation will be so much easier to teach the metric system to.

Resistance seems to come from industry and the people who own a big box of fractional tools near retirement. They do not want to make the change as the bottom line is it will cost them big bucks to convert with little return on their investment. A perfect lesson in the Beardian theory that money related matters are big generators of how history plays out in the long term.

[Fat Charlie]

Originally Posted by P-hack

Lol, it isn't like sea level is that arbitrary, well it is a bit, but not as arbitrary as "lets base it on where james is living", I think on degrees of irrationality, that might win...

Arbitrary is not irrational, you've got to pick somewhere to start. I'm originally from a couple miles east of here, but it's always served as a reasonable map:



We all do it, or the Total Perspective Vortex would never have worked.

[Hockeynut]

Myself I am not a fan of the metric system...Very well could be that I am a product of the American Standard system!.As a Tool and Die Maker I find myself converting any print I get if in metric before making the part to American Standard...Gotta love .03937..

[freebeard]

The New Yorker cover captures a particular mindset perfectly.

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Sea-surface height (SSH) is the height (or topography or relief) of the ocean's surface. On a daily basis, SSH is most obviously affected by the tidal forces of the Moon and the Sun acting on the Earth. Over longer timescales, SSH is influenced by ocean circulation. Typically, SSH anomalies resulting from these forces differ from the mean by less than ±1 m (3 ft) at the global scale.[1] The slowest and largest variations are due to changes in the Earth's gravitational field (geoid) due to the rearrangement of continents, formation of sea mounts and other redistribution of rock.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea-surface_height

Localized sea level is chaotic. The outliers will munch on your b*tt. But freaking over a 4cm rise is to confuse accuracy and precision.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Goldenstate

The French government mandated the development of the metric system... The people were resistant to the change but with the help of the guillotine, they got past the issue of a new standardized system of measurement.

...If the new generation is taught the metric system, the next generation will be so much easier to teach the metric system to.

As you have pointed out, people have to be forced to use something regularly or they forget. Merely teaching the metric system is not enough, as we were all taught a massive amount of stuff we no longer remember. I'd guess only 5% of the population knows F=M*A (Newton's Second Law of Motion), but everyone was taught it. Since people don't have to know what force is required to accelerate their vehicles, they don't remember the equation. The same goes in teaching people to think in the metric system; once they are no longer forced to utilize it, the skill evaporates.

[RedDevil]

Of over 200 countries who have made the conversion, only one needed the guillotine to enforce it. My country decided to switch over in 1817, despite (at that time) loathing the French that brought the system to us.

So there you have it. If the changeover were that hard many conversions would have failed.
They did not fail and nobody wants to go back to the old system.
I had to learn the Imperial system and found it doable, but I was never happy having to multiply by 5280 and stuff. That is just weird.