Is it time for the US to adopt the metric system?

[Mangudai]

Is it time for the US to adopt the metric system?

[Martok]

Sure, why not. We should've done it years ago already.

[JR-]

there ought to be an option for non-americans to say; "yes, if that is what the US wants".

[Strike For The South]

No, merely because Im stubborn and refuse to give the Frenchman a sense of satisfaction. On a side note I know both as do most Americans so in all reality we are already ahead of the curve.

[KarlXII]

You know they use the Metric System to measure wealth distribution, Strike.....

[Lord Winter]

Yes, its about time we stop with all those redicilous cups, ounces and all the other useless measurements the english came up with way back when. Woot for the simplicity of base ten conversions!

[Marshal Murat]

Yes it is time for the United States to adopt the metric system.

It will occur the same time we start calling "soccer" whatever you Euros call it.

[KarlXII]

Yes it is time for the United States to adopt the metric system.

It will occur the same time we start calling "soccer" whatever you Euros call it.

If you were to do that, we'd have to call Football "Rugby's bastard child"!

[Lemur]

Old ways are the best ways! Twenty cubits to a stade! Fifteen chains to a fathom!

These newfangled Normans with their fancy chained-mail and their miles and their ... oh, wait, sorry, I was off by a few years. Ahem. I meant to say, death to the metric system! Just because the military, science, aerospace and the rest of the world use the metric system is no reason we should do so!

Somebody bring me some freedom fries.

[KarlXII]

Somebody bring me some freedom fries.

First the Metric System, next Bastardized Rugby, and then you'll be asking for Chips!

[Seamus Fermanagh]

GO on then, how many fathoms in a cable? Cables to knots? Arrrrrr......

[Hooahguy]

no, b/c wed have to change ALL our textbooks and stuff. cost billions.
just teach them the conversions and be done with it.

[Mikeus Caesar]

no, b/c wed have to change ALL our textbooks and stuff. cost billions.
just teach them the conversions and be done with it.

And then we'd have to spend billions changing all the textbooks to teach them conversions.

Easier to just bite the bullet and join the rest of the world. Sure, it's going to cost, but doesn't everything?

After all, if your dear country can afford to completely level Iraq and Afghanistan and then rebuild them, i'm sure you can afford some textbooks for the education of your own children.

[Lord Winter]

no, b/c wed have to change ALL our textbooks and stuff. cost billions.
just teach them the conversions and be done with it.

Most science textbooks are already in metric though, and a lot of industries use it too. Like it or not, metric is the international standard and we're probably paying more longterm for using the english system then we would to just convert over. And metrics already all around you, 2 liters at the stores, km on most speed dails in cars ect...

[Hooahguy]

Most science textbooks are already in metric though

not in the US.
of my 12+ years in school, i have never seen any science or math textbook use primarily metric. while i agree we should use metric, its not realistic. especially for the poorer schools.

[Strike For The South]

not in the US.
of my 12+ years in school, i have never seen any science or math textbook use primarily metric. while i agree we should use metric, its not realistic. especially for the poorer schools.

What state do you live in? In TEXAS we were taught both and were constantly tested. Or are you at a private school?

[Lord Winter]

Both of my chem textbooks (AP and regular) are in metric. I've done a metrics unit in every class since fifth grade, and we've been using metric for labs and what not since 8th grade. Math isn't really an issue, since it doesn't really matter what your units are, its more that you know what to do with the equations. Besides isn't there some sort of rule that schools should update there textbooks every X amount of years, there is in my state anyway. It won't hurt if we still have some english system texts still laying around for a while. Besides any serious science textbook is going to have to use metric since its a standard for the feild.

[Hooahguy]

im at a private school, and im happy for that, b/c Georgia's public schools are 2nd worst in the country.
i did learn metric, and was constantly tested on it, but it was independent of the text books.

@lord winter-
my chem books are also in metric, but thats b/c chemistry as a whole is in metric.
but what about the 1st graders book about the basic measurement units?

[Lord Winter]

When have 1st graders used textbooks?

[Hooahguy]

my school did.
simple ones, but we did.

[Strike For The South]

im at a private school, and im happy for that, b/c Georgia's public schools are 2nd worst in the country.
i did learn metric, and was constantly tested on it, but it was independent of the text books.

Well there is your problem. and FYI Georgia does not have the 2nd worst.

[Hooahguy]

hm. at least they were a few years ago.
maybe they got a bit higher?

[Strike For The South]

hm. at least they were a few years ago.
maybe they got a bit higher?

41st

[Lord Winter]

my school did.
simple ones, but we did.

We were pretty much worksheet based.

Still the idea is the same. The systems already being learned, and textbooks can be fully integrated over time. Fluency in the system will come. In 10 years we won't notice any negative difference.

[TevashSzat]

Yes.

Although it would be a real hassle on some topics (I'm way too used to MPHs and stuff), everyone would eventually get used to it and everything would be fine

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Why bother?

[Louis VI the Fat]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

This a a meter. You can find it at the rue de Vaugirard. And at several places throughout the city. Bring a rope to correctly measure its size and you too have entered the modern world. Add a zero, and you have ten. Another, one hundred. A thousand of these are a kilometer then. Etcetera. You can use your fingers to work it out. Likewise, for all other standards of measurement.
From Picardy to the Languedoc, from Spain to Russia, the legions of Revolution have spread the banner of enlightenment. Only three places yet resist Cartesian rationality: Liberia, Burma, and the United States. Soon, these lands too will bow to the standard imposed by Paris.

[PBI]

If you were to do that, we'd have to call Football "Rugby's bastard child"!

Surely "Rugby for Weak-Kneed Girly-Men"?

As for the question, the answer is YES. Try doing theoretical physics in Imperial units and you'll see why. It's hard enough anyway without having to convert from pounds per gallon per square yard to ounces per pint per square mile every five minutes.

As far as I'm concerned the Imperial system is obsolete technology. Just as we don't generally use gas lighting anymore now we have a better alternative, so we don't need to use Imperial units anymore now we have a better option.

[Alexanderofmacedon]

Yes. Simply to make the Frenchmen happy.

[Sarmatian]

no, b/c wed have to change ALL our textbooks and stuff. cost billions.
just teach them the conversions and be done with it.

That's why those things are done gradually. Textbooks get old, they get revised, they get some stuff added, some taken out...

Same with other stuff. Machines get old and you have to replace them eventually. Instead of buying a new machine that makes 12oz beer bottles, you buy the one that makes 0.33l bottles.

Basically, a law should be passed that everything has to switch to metric system in the next 10-15 years. That way economy can prepare adequately and it can be done painlessly and without great cost.