First things first, Merry Christmas, and an early Happy new Year!!
On a previous post of mine a certain "Rob" whom I don't think that I know, posted a comment about the debate over Metric vs. Imperial (or US standard as he liked to call it) systems of measurements. Well I am here to clear up the debate, Metric is the winner hands down. Now I don't know if Rob was just pointing something out or trying to make a point, but he got me thinking about this, which led to a post.
I know both systems and I use both systems everyday. I am used to inches and feet and things like that, I lived in the states so I understand miles and Fahrenheit, it is not that I don't get it but that if you think about it, imperial makes no sense what so ever. Now before all you Americans hate on me remember that this is only my opinion, as well as the opinion of the the world... seeing as only Liberia and Burma (AKA Myanmar)are the only remaining non-metric countries
Metric makes way more sense and is way easier to use and remember than imperial, you see everything is divisible by 10. All you have to do it know the order in which things go to make it all work, and it is the same right through from solids, to lengths to liquids and so on a so forth. You see everything starts at 0 and is divisible by 10. Let me give you an example or how easy it is, and if you don't believe me just check out this website for yourself. http://www.worldwidemetric.com/metcal.htm1 kilometer is 1000 meters, 1000 meters is 100000 centimeters, 100000 centimeters is 1000000 millimeters. Now on the flip side of the imperial try this on for size. 1 mile is 1760 yards, 1760 yards is 5280 feet, 5280 feet is 63360 inches. Now unless you are a math major there is no way that you will always remember that, and if you do, then tell me how many feet are in 23.5 miles? there are 124080 and you all needed a calculator and also had to remember how many feet are in a mile. But if you asked how many meters are in 23.5 km that is done in my head in an instant 23500 with no calculator. Now you take any type of measurement that you want, area, volume or weight and it will always be the same as it is always divisible by 10.
And then there is the great debate over Celsius vs. Fahrenheit. The only thing that I have to say about that is that things start at zero, not 32. If you have $32 in your bank you aren't broke, but if you have $0 in your bank you are broke. Likewise with temperature. "Man it is below freezing it is like 28º" just doesn't make sense. You cant be positive something and still be below freezing. Take waters freezing point and boiling point In Celsius it is 0º and 100º respectively, while in Fahrenheit is it 32º and 212º respectively. what the heck does 32 and 212 mean and how were those number decided upon. Now I could go into that, but I am afraid that I have bored you enough already so I will just give you a web site to visit about Mr Fahrenheit and all his craziness about multiplying by 7 1/2 and 15/16 etc. http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a891215.html
So I think that it is pretty clear that metric and Celsius make more sense and are the way to go, but if you are still not convinced, just ask anyone who works for a large manufacturer, mill working shop, hospital, or is from a country other than The USA, Liberia and Burma, and they will all tell you that metric is not going anywhere and is the way of the future as it is the world standard. So you had better get used to and and quit sniveling about how imperial and Fahrenheit are the best. Any questions, I didn't think so, I win you lose get used to it!
5 comments:
I prefer my system. My zero IS zero. Not -273.15C or -459.67F.
Great Post. Did you know the cost to change from Imperial to Metric for a country the size of the USA? A fraction of the cost of the useless International Space Station. I think I'll write a blog entry on what I would spend 130 billion dollars on.
kelvin, just FYI.. You're system is based on when molecular motion stops, so no one is gonna give a hot damn about that. Most people care about when water freezes.
"Damn, look at that pond, freezing up, it must be below zero."
"Yeah, sweet"
is better than
"Damn, look at that pond, freezing up, it must be 273 degrees above molecular stoppage"
"Yeah, ..dude? WTF?"
:-)
You know, over a decade ago (I know, aging myself again) I took speech class when I was attending university down in the US of A and I thought it would be kinda fun to present a speech on the merits of metric versus imperial, me being Canadian and all. So I did a bunch of research (very similar to yours, Matt) and came up with the indisputable conclusion that Metric is a far superior system of measurement. Now, as I have come to use it more and more regularly, I find it even more superior. Never mind the simplicity of it, which is sheer genuis, but you can get a more accurate measurement with metric than you can with Imperial. And in this age of increasing precision, whether it be manufacturing or what have you, that is extremely important. But, trying to convince someone that they should change when money and pride are at stake is...well, I think you know how that usually goes, b/c let's face it, by having this discussion, you are essentially asking someone to admit that they are wrong and using an inferior system, but no one, and I mean NO ONE wants to have to admit to that.
(*as an aside, I really heard it when it came to question time after the speech - not so nice, but vey interesting!)
You are all correct. Metric is superior to US Standard. Congratulations. Is this really where you want to hang your hat O Canada? Isn't that kind of like the basketball player who accurately brags he can make more free throws than anyone else but gets dunked on 30 times a game so no one really cares? Maybe we should debate some more relevant measure of superiority, like who invented a better driver, Torx, Allen, or Robertson?
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