Why is the U.S. still refusing to switch to the metric system?

[dmallord]

What’s so hard about getting used to the metric system? It’s simple decimal arithmetic: multiply or divide by ten, or powers of ten.

One hundred centimeters make a meter. A thousand meters make a kilometer. A thousand grams make a kilogram, and a thousand kilograms make a ton.

Zero is freezing, 100 is boiling -- basic.


Meanwhile... 12 inches in a foot, 3 feet in a yard... and 1,760 yards in a mile.

Robin, the concept of changing the system isn't difficult. The U.S. has a history of engaging with the metric system, including being an original signatory to the Treaty of the Meter in 1875, a few years before I was born so most of us have forgotten we have a lengthy connection with metrics. It's been legal to use the system for a long time but was refreshed somewhere along 1988. Congress created the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act and declared the metric system the preferred system for trade and commerce. Now, it may not seem like it, but it's mandated for use by federal agencies where feasible. And no one jumped up and down over it or even celebrated the refresh of our experiences with metric!

We could, if we really wanted to, start training children in school; those who have just finished will adapt. As elders, we'll complain about it until they close the casket, and then the complaining stops. Transition is like a speed bump, a curve in the road that slows you down, but eventually you're back on smooth ground, and the straightaway is in sight.

Hey, it's the same concept as french fries with ketchup or with mayonnaise! [Americans or Europeans] Marketing would go nuts. Can you imagine the effect of changing Subway's foot-long commercials or McDonald's quarter-pounder? It's where you grow up, not that the system is complicated. Mindset.

[It's like learning Chinese; it's a difficult language to learn; I don't really know how those Chinese people understand it so easily. Geniuses, I suppose. Is that why they are so good at mathematics?] *Humor implied for those who think I might be a stereotyping nut.*

Mindset: if the system isn't broken, don't fix it. Fixing it costs billions of dollars in converting equipment that builds things to a new standard, costs of signs, and changing all those public land records would be a pain in the neck as well. Not to mention changing all those 'zeros' and 'ones' in the computers to metric would be absolutely mind-bending! [More humor.]

 

[PersonalFavors]

Me too! Just a wordy vocab note. They are called rules. Rulers are people. We often use 'ruler' for tape measures and similar tools, to the point where no one is aware of the distinction. I think I learned that tidbit in my sixties.

When I was much younger, all my measuring devices were Craftsman. Later replacements had both, but it was clearly a lost cause since not many people I worked with used that system. Plywood thickness today, oddly, is metric, while the LxW is standard. That change caused issues with router bits over that, unless you special-ordered mm router bits.

Once I set out to convert my woodworking to metric. I tried to do the mental gymnastics of converting those in my head. Even bought metric-specific rules, etc. Followed the Englishman, Peter Parfitt, and his designs and tools. At just the point where I had some grip of the conversions, life issues rose, and I've not been back into the workshop since. Spiders and rust have settled in partnership without me.

Ducky wannabe. You are a humorless prick. Just needed saying.

 

[PersonalFavors]

What’s so hard about getting used to the metric system? It’s simple decimal arithmetic: multiply or divide by ten, or powers of ten.

One hundred centimeters make a meter. A thousand meters make a kilometer. A thousand grams make a kilogram, and a thousand kilograms make a ton.

Zero is freezing, 100 is boiling -- basic.


Meanwhile... 12 inches in a foot, 3 feet in a yard... and 1,760 yards in a mile.

The metric system is not hard. Nor is 10th of a mile.
But a kilo or sum number of kg or mg when making a recipe is nothing I can estimate.
Specially temperature. Freezing is important. Water boiling is largely a range based on how hot the water looks when cooking. No idea what 375 is for frying. Or the numbers needed for candy. Never saw those in metric either.
And for outside. I hate when they give the temp in metric. I know what 0, 25, 32, 35 40, 50, 70, 80, 90, 100 is. But tell me its 58 I got no idea in metric. To the point of frustrating.
Do they measure humidity in Metric?

 

[dmallord]

Ducky wannabe. You are a humorless prick. Just needed saying.

Aloud? To vent about some bad thing that happened in your day? Not sure what the 'ducky wannabe' relates to, Bubba. You sound a bit fuzzy. Meds?

 

[Pad_Foot]

Cooking for the most part would be fine in grams and is far more effective than anything in Amerikkka

How many teaspoons in a tablespoon?

How many tablespoons in a cup ?

 

[Baztrachian]

I don't know if it's been said already, but probably because American men refuse to measure in anything but inches lol

Memo: When we American boys start talking about millimeters and klicks (kilometers) that's a good time to find cover.

 

[PersonalFavors]

Cooking for the most part would be fine in grams and is far more effective than anything in Amerikkka

How many teaspoons in a tablespoon?

How many tablespoons in a cup ?

Not sure I ever needed to know how many tsp in a TB, but 3. Because there are 48 in a cup. 16TB in a cup.
About 2 TB you can squeeze out of a lime and 3TB sometimes more from a lemon.
4TB is about 2 oz. 2oz comes roughly 57 grams. Guessing all the recipes have an even number of grams which would not only change the recipe but the amount of all the other ingredients. Can't imagine how much work it would be to convert or modify recipes to fit metric. Come to think of it many of my recipes are hand me downs from Pennsylvania Dutch who learned them from their parents and grand parents and those from their grandparents.... When did Germany stop using cups, tablespoons and teaspoons...?
I've seen some really tempting recipes to attempt to convert on Russ' recipe repository.
https://forum.literotica.com/threads/russs-restaurant-and-recipe-repository.1512336/
Lots of good stuff on there. I've made several of the posts. However, what people share is their favorites. So beware of what might happen to your waist line. It will add more centimeters than inches but they say everything is relative.

 

[SimonDoom]

It is all explained here: