What are the downsides to not adopting metric system?

You crashed a mars lander because of it. Millions of of your currency went up in smoke.

The metric system is far superior to the totally ridiculous old English system. However the cost involved at this point in time would likely be much greater than the gains. I don’t know of any studies on this situation.

You can forget about the US switching to the metric system anytime soon. HA! I went to Home Depot recently to by a metric tape measure and they didn’t have one. So I’m forced to use both systems. Fortunately in my work in the medical field I use the metric system of measurement exclusively.

This particular issue was put out of its misery around 1974. As rational an approach as it would have been, 200 million Americans (back then) were not about to be “re-educated” to those get along better with the rest of the world.

Sad to say, this is one of those things were emotions and hubristic pride overrules sanity.

Europe and Asia use the metric system. Europe is full of Socialists, and Asia is full of Communists.

I wish I were being flippant, but the truth is that a large part of the reason the US doesn’t use the metric system is because other people do, and many of them are the antithesis of American values.

@jerv That’s the most ridiculous reason I’ve ever heard for not wanting the metric system. So… sigh, it’s probably true.

@ragingloli gave the best reason to adopt the metric system. It allows your country to communicate mathematically, scientifically, and economically with other countries.

The metric system is ridiculously easy to use. Everything is in 10s and 100s and 1000s (so it’s more intuitive; memorization is not required) so conversion to smaller or larger units is done by dividing by 10 or multiplying by 10. Could not be easier.

I hear some say that it will be costly to convert… but my understanding of the process of conversion here in Canada is that it was not expensive, and took less time than Americans think it would. Like currency changes, it would be a gradual process, not an overnight one. Old people will still talk in miles and quarts for years and years, and that’s perfectly fine! But over a generation or so, people begin to use the new units more and more – because that’s what they learn in school.

I seem to remember Jon Stewart doing quite a good rant about this maybe a year ago, but I can’t seem to find it anywhere. If I can turn it up, I’ll post it here.

I wonder to what extent the metric system is already being used. For example, it would not surprise me if in manufacturing a lot of the specifications are given in metric quantities. It an American company wants to set up plants in other countries, it seems that it would be convenient to do everything in the metric system. The consumer would not know the difference.

The easiest way to convert might be to start off giving everything in both units, with the metric units given first. For example, if weather reports gave temperatures and expected snowfall with the metric units given first, I think people would gradually get used to metric. The main thing is to get a feel for what different measures are. For example, we have an intuitive feel for what 30 degrees or 70 degrees Fahrenheit means. We would need to get that same intuitive feel for Celsius degrees, without having to bother to convert from Celsius to Fahrenheit.

@glacial Tried to help you out; only found this by Stephen COlbert.

Tool-and-die makers will sell fewer tools in the US as kits need half as many wrenches.
Americans will have to learn to say “SI” instead of “the metric system” and SI is secretly “Systeme Internationale” which sounds (and is) French- and we still haven’t forgiven those bastards for giving us the Statue of Liberty.
Kilometers are shorter than miles, so cars will go way faster.

@jerv Aw, thanks. I’m pretty sure it was Stewart, though. Can’t watch the clip from Canada. :/

How can adopting the metric system lead to job creation in the long run?

People don’t like changes and this would be an important (and in my mind necessary) one. If we just DO it, people would learn quickly how much more sensible metric is. Start next year with all kindergartners and catch up with the rest of the world!

@genjgal Why do you expect it to lead to job creation?

The are two that I can think of.
First, the rest of the world is on that system, even the country that invented the system we presently use so it would be nice if we could know what they were talking about.
Second, it is a much easier system to understand, we could probably cut out at least one year of math in our education system.
Third (Three, there are three reasons), we look like a bunch of dumbass hillbillies.

@rojo Compared to the rest of the Industrialized World, we are a bunch of dumbass hillbillies!

“Da-Da-Daaa-Daaa-Daadaa Daadaa Daaaaa….” Banjo Duet

@glacial I suspect in the long run it could. It would lead to scientific and technological advances (more jobs), and subsequently a better economy and more jobs.

In defense of our non-metric system, it seems that the units are more meaningful in human terms.

Length – A foot is about the length of a person’s foot. A room 20 feet long is about 20 paces.

Volume – A cup is the volume of a glass or a cup.

Temperature – 100 degrees F may not mean much in scientific terms, but when the air temperature gets to 100, it is pretty hot and when it gets to 0, it is pretty cold

@LostInParadise
100°C = Water boils
0°C= Water freezes
1l=1000ml=1000cm³ (a cube with 10cm sides)

What exactly happens at 100/0F?
How big is the foot?
How big is the cup?
How long are the legs of the one that walks the pace?
Useless!

@genjgal I don’t think that changing the unit system is likely to lead to scientific and technological advances. Units alone don’t have the power to make people more creative or more productive. I could see it improving the economy by making international trade easier or less costly, and international collaboration less risky (a la Mars lander), but I don’t see how it could lead to job creation.

I struggled with this question for years. Captain Picard obviously goes metric, so the vision is there.

Meanwhile I think @jerv is right about the root cause of this not happening. It’s American arrogance expressed by staunch Republicans who think foreign countries are irrelevant, so why give a damn. I always wonder why these guys are still swallowing their Viagra pills in milligrams instead of ounces or milliounces.

@mattbrowne – I’m not sure that it’s fair to blame only the republicans, much as I would like to.

Moving from our inches/feet to the metric system is not something that happens overnight. It is at least a single generation, and probably multiple generations, to re-educate and re-acclimate every living person in the US to a new system. That’s 300,000,000 million people that have been raised with one system and would need to change how they think of things.

And to what tangible benefit?

Other than the “we’ll be like every country in the rest of the world” argument, which is, frankly, not compelling, where is the benefit to Mr. or Mrs. America? Yes, there might be a couple of jobs gained or lost, and manufacturers might save a couple of dollars on packaging, but how does the average guy on the street benefit? The answer is – they don’t. Moving to metric in the US does not improve the life of the average person.

And by the way, the Picard argument is also not compelling.

@elbanditoroso – No one said anything of having to do this overnight. Of course, this requires a whole generation. There are smart inexpensive migration strategies. Traffic signs do age and have to be replaced at some point anyway. The new one can show two numbers during the transition time. The older generation can ignore the metric part, except for teachers working in kindergartens, schools and colleges. From day one to be defined, metric becomes the new standard for young children. For them it will feel normal. From their parents they learn about the outdated system, so they can still follow American books written before day one. Older people in Europe converted euros back to the old currencies for at least ten years. Children get amused when they are doing this. They grew up with the euro, but can still read books talking about marks and liras.

What are the tangible benefits? Having a world language plus a world measurement system connecting people around the world working increasingly in global virtual teams.

Right now everyone of the 6.7 billion people wanting to communicate with Americans must learn the outdated American system, because they know most Americans won’t make the effort, so for the sake of good communication… Americans might not be aware of this, but almost everyone resents having to do this all the time. It generates a feeling of unfairness. First we have to learn English which is a huge investment of time and money. Which is fine. English makes sense as the number one global language. But the metric system also makes sense as the number one global language. So if Americans want to prevent resentment and isolation and not risk losing any Mars probes anymore…

Deep down most (younger) Americans know that metric is the future. That’s why I made the Picard argument. One needs a vision to make decisions and define strategies. The vision is a peaceful interconnected world with wars becoming more and more the exception. The euro isn’t just about getting rid of foreign exchange risks for companies. It’s also a political project. After centuries of war, Europe at last has become a peaceful place of great diversity with demonstrations as the only means of expressing disagreement and anger. What became possible in Europe can become possible on a much larger scale. We need patience. But we also need a vision.

@mattbrowne “Older people in Europe converted euros back to the old currencies for at least ten years. Children get amused when they are doing this.”

Exactly. Learning the metric system is child’s play. Only old people who are set in their ways resist this change, because they fear losing their traditions. The metric system is so much simpler, it takes an effort to reject it.

@glacial – Some traditions are worth keeping, others are not. I think almost all American scientists realize this when it comes to the metric system. Top American scientists want to interact with top scientists from the rest of the world. Such interactions speed up progress. Take the SARS virus as an example. There was instant global communication from day one. These connections potentially saved thousands of lives. We should be grateful for this powerful global community. There are tangible benefits.

Two other examples are classifying Pluto as a dwarf planet and going from the Fujita scale to the Enhanced Fujita scale for classifying tornadoes. People still talk about F3s and F4s, but wait another 15 years and it will be different. Our kids won’t be bothered by a solar system with 8 planets.

A lot of machining equipment and tools are in English units, so changing to metric would entail high replacement costs. Also machinists are used to English, and can detect out of tolerance amounts in English units by feel.

Mechanical engineering calculations are easier in English because loads are in pounds, dimensions are in inches, and strengths are in pounds per square inch.

@RocketGuy The CNC mills/lathes I use can easily be switched to metric by altering one single parameter in the controls. I can switch my 8-inch calipers to metric with the push of a button… and often do since some of the blueprints we get through my shop are in millimeters instead of inches. Older machinists may be unable to adapt to metric, but most of them also are having a hard time accepting pretty much anything else after 1980 as well.

Many engineers already use Newtons, Meters, and Pascals (1 Pascal = 1 Newton/meter^2), on various scales (milli-, kilo- ...); to claim otherwise is to say that the US (the only industrialized non-metric nation) contains 100% of all engineers on Earth.

Granted, it’s easier to stick with what you learned in grade school than to change, but it’s also easier to bleed a patient to relieve an imbalance of humors than it is to perform surgery. Adapt and evolve, or be left behind.

@RocketGuy – Of course there are replacement costs. But what about the long-term costs of not doing it? That mechanical engineering calculations are easier in English is, sorry, total nonsense.

All of our material test data is in English units. It would be a pain to redo all if that too.

I assume the test data is available in digital form and if not, it can be scanned. All that’s required is a simple computer program doing the conversion.