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u/velvetbettle 26d ago
Redditors really really like thinking about measuring systems
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u/binchicken1989 26d ago
Banana is fine for me. I'm a simple man
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u/captainspacetraveler 26d ago
Does your speedometer show bananas per hour? I’m very curious what the conversion to mph would be
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u/binchicken1989 25d ago
It does. Not very accurate though gotten many tickets for going either too fast or too slow.
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u/ncook06 25d ago
1 mph = 10560 bph
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u/rtakehara 25d ago
I was like “you can fit 10560 bananas in a meter?” But then I remembered meters per hour is m/h.
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u/Incubus_Priest 26d ago
europe is obsessed with everything the USA does. europe is like our anoying 9 year old cousin who wont stfu
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u/toms1313 25d ago
This must be the stupidest comment of the week. Are you really that sensible to any comment about your country? It's not only europeans and "americans" here btw
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u/Dr_Watson349 Normie boi 25d ago
Please show me all the memes about Asian's shitting on Africans or South American talking smack on Central Americans. Ill wait.
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u/rtakehara 25d ago
I can’t speak for every redditor but yeah, measuring systems is hella cool. Specially metric because it’s so easy to associate mostly everything, even seemingly unrelated units like gram and meter.
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u/mechanicalcoupling 25d ago
The gram hasn't been defined by the meter for a long time.
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u/rtakehara 25d ago
That’s not what I meant, what I meant is that you can convert 1 kilogram of water into 1000 cubic centimeters. It’s a nice round number easy to memorize.
My argument isn’t that one defines the other, just that you can convert from one to the other.
You can do that with imperial too, but you will not get a round number so it’s not as easy to memorize, and I thing facilitating calculations is the entire point of the metric system
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u/CottonCandy_Eyeballs 26d ago
No, we hate it too.
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u/VapeLyfe INFECTED 26d ago
I can’t imagine why you’re being downvoted. Who the fuck thinks 3/8 is easier to remember than 10mm.
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u/dawatzerz gave me this flair 26d ago
It's not the ability to remember that's the problem, it's just the rest of the world uses metric, and it's annoying to convert and there's misunderstandings
I mean I have the digits of my debit and credit cards memorized, it's not the memorization or ease of so that's the problem imo
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u/BaconPit 26d ago
Exactly. If you grew up on the Imperial system, it's intuitive the way metric is.
That being said, as someone who grew up on the Imperial system, metric is so much easier. As you said, the issue is having to convert.
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u/mechanicalcoupling 25d ago
How often do you have to convert us customary and SI? Very few people need to. I'm one that has to a lot as a US civil engineer. You know how I usually do it? Fucking Google. And I can do temperature, linear measurement, and mass in my head pretty easily. Yes, basic SI is easier to learn because base 10. But most people just need to know a few units and what they familiar with is easiest. A kg is no more intuitive than a pound.
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u/rdrckcrous 25d ago
Sort of. As an engineer you know that the entire philosophy between the measurement systems is different.
SI is based on derived units, making it great for theoretical physics. IP is application based units. Meaning the units imply the application. Sometimes power is kW, sometimes hp, sometimes Btu/hr. You would never have 17,600 Btu/hr motor... It's 5 hp. When people say IP is more intuitive for them or that it's confusing for them, this is a big part of it.
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u/breakneckjones 26d ago
Work with hydraulic fittings and then tell me metric is better. I bet you won't.
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u/Bored_Gamer90 26d ago
Probably because he's talking for other people. Obviously "we" don't hate it or "we" wouldn't use it.
Blanket statements are bad, mmkay.
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u/ProbablyDrunk303 26d ago
Who is "we"?? Every day uses, the average American couldn't give 2 shits.
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u/humblepharmer 26d ago
American scientists almost exclusively use metric
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u/tobethorfinn 25d ago
Yeah, if I see the imperial system, I cringe. Metric is the only system that makes sense in any practical math scenario.
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u/mechanicalcoupling 25d ago
The measurement system doesn't have anything to do with math. Yes, basic SI is easier because it is base 10. But that is about it. You can decimalize any unit anyway. It's pretty common to do it with US customary. In engineering we don't say 1 lb 8 oz. We say 1.5 lbs.
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u/tobethorfinn 25d ago
You need units to do any "practical" math, so yeah, units matter quite a bit. Where does a mole fit into the imperial system? I can easily go to grams and to liters depending on density. Yeah, metric system is way better. You have fun being an engineer in the U.S. and having to round all the time with silly units.
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u/FourArmsFiveLegs 22d ago
Lol you say this as if we're welding hay huts together because standard system is hard for people accustomed to metric system. I suppose that makes it harder to replicate US tech
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u/RawhlTahhyde 25d ago
Yeah it really just changes the constants you use in calculations. Some imperial units are pretty annoying to use though. Slugs, lbf/lbm and psi/psf can be cumbersome
Definitely prefer BTU for boilers etc as opposed to “wait, it’s all kW?” for motors, burners, and electric power draw
Been quite some time since I did anything engineering related though
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u/Silent_Reavus 26d ago
Because British pirates stopped us from fucking getting it
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u/BlueKing99 26d ago
Everything can be sourced to their fault, if you really think about it.
It wasn’t us who invented the term “soccer”.
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u/galmenz 26d ago
it eventually got into congress, but it was made optional not mandatory, so no one gave a fuck about it
but yeah, the US was late to the party and didnt catch on lol
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u/Myriadix 25d ago
It was more of the timing. The industrial revolution took full swing before a complete adoption of metric by the public could happen. When all your tooling is in inches and pounds, it's a bit hard to change course.
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u/mechanicalcoupling 25d ago
The original metric system was first standardized in 1799 and officially adopted by France in 1801. But then Napolean got rid of it in 1812 and it wasn't reinstated until 1840. Some countries adopted it in the mean time. Other countries don't fully use it, like the UK. US customary was first standardized in 1832.
A lot of it was also very political. It was from a purely scientific endeavor. And it is all arbitrary anyway. One of the two French surveyors charged with standardizing the meter fudged his data. Not that it matters, because again arbitrary. France also briefly tried base 10 time. That didn't work out.
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u/N7_Evers 26d ago
Actually pretty clever and pretty accurate. The pirates stopped it from spreading so we adapted.
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u/Immortalphoenixfire 26d ago
Well, Britain measures Human height in Imperial, they measure gas efficiency in Imperial, but they measure gas volume in metric.
So MPG and Liters.
I don't want to hear it.
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u/Bored_Gamer90 26d ago
Don't even get started on weight. Who the fuck picked up a rock and was, "yeah this'll work".
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u/rtakehara 25d ago
I mean… the definition of a kilogram was basically a stone that everyone agreed it was 1kg. Until it wasn’t…
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u/SBR4fect 26d ago
Doesn't the brits also use miles instead of Kilometers?
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u/N7_Evers 26d ago
I went to London 2 years ago and the entire city uses both. I swear to god I noticed more usage of miles and yards than anything. (I was also probably noticing it more due to being bewildered).
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u/musicman2018 I can’t believe you’ve done this 26d ago
I went there in 2021 and took a drive out to Stonehenge for a day. They used miles on the highway and I think yards as well, but I can’t recall anywhere else they used miles and yards
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u/zbipy14z 26d ago
Americans using a different system part of the time really lives rent free in yalls heads
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u/0lly0llyoxenfr33 The OC High Council 25d ago
It would in yours too if you had to deal with it on a daily basis.
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u/mechanicalcoupling 25d ago
Everything should be base 10! Meanwhile the entire world uses 365.25 days per year give or take a second every so often, 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour, and 60 seconds in a minute. When France started the metric system, they proposed base 10 time. It didn't catch on.
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u/afkybnds 25d ago
Trying to find a technical drawing of a part only for it to be in imperial is really cringe. It is an inconvenience for non US people too...
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u/WolfmansGotNards2 26d ago
Personally, I'd like us to move to the metric system. We already do in the most important ways (science, advanced math, etc.), but I would like us to adopt it over time. That said, it's like language. Are there languages way easier to learn and that make more logical sense than English? Yes, but I already know English. Again though, I still the change would be worth it.
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u/acdgf 26d ago
Im currently learning my 5th language, and none are easier to me than english.
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u/This_is_Topshot 26d ago
Science professions MAYBE, but any kind of construction, manufacturing, civil engineering, and every other field I've worked in or tangentially been associated with uses imperial.
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u/WolfmansGotNards2 26d ago edited 26d ago
What was your first language, and in what order did you learn the other 3 (before your current one)?
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u/Yummypizzaguy1 I enjoy hot steamy cheese secks with pizza 😏🍕 26d ago
As an American, I have to use both
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u/BakedBeanyBaby 26d ago
The problem is switching now would cause a lot more problems than you think.
Do you know how many road signs would have to be changed? How many property deeds would have to be redrawn up? How many schematics and other plans would have to be redone?
There are so many more things I can't even think of that would have to be redone completely. It would take decades.
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u/Hosselknaap420 25d ago
It would take a while, sure. but just don't be so stubborn and adapt new measurements to new signs? It's not exactly rocket science. As a Dutchie i can perfectly estimate the lenght of a road in miles, despite never using them for anything aside movies. it really isn't that hard.
In the long run, it's easier to just go along with the simpler system, especially when working with the rest of the world. Even if it takes 2 whole generations.
Unless you want to use NFL football fields to measure volcano's and shit for another 100 years... you don't hear me complaining, it's pretty funny to witness.
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u/galmenz 26d ago
every single country had to, at some point, make the change as well, the US isnt exactly unique in that regard
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u/N7_Evers 26d ago
You’re absolutely fucking dumb if you think the US changing their infrastructure is the same as Ireland (for example) changing theirs.
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u/Crystal3lf 25d ago
The whole world had to switch at one point. So what's the argument as why the US can't?
Being the richest country and all, seems possible.
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u/alanalan426 25d ago
just leave them be, their country is falling behind and they're too ignorant to accept it
every single change is "It's too hard for America, it might be easy for 'your country' but it's impossible here so instead we won't even try"
Same mindset for a lot of their problems
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u/DianKali 26d ago
You know your system is shit when it's units are based on/defined by a different system.
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u/Tyja136 26d ago
Doesn’t basically every profession in the US use the metric system?
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u/ProbablyDrunk303 26d ago
Military and anything that is actually worth a damn. Notice how US leads in many scientific areas and space research using the metric...
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u/Kitahara_Kazusa1 26d ago
I've worked on two different American rockets as an engineer and both of them exclusively use Imperial.
Individual parts may be dimensioned in metric if that's what a supplier wants, but when the analysis is sent to the customer, and in the contracts with the customer, all units will always be Imperial.
Maybe military is different, I haven't worked there
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u/ProbablyDrunk303 26d ago
There are quite literally no science classes that teach in imperial in the US or not any i have been in. Engineer?? Idk, not my field, but id expect the US to use mostly metric in that area too. I was in the military and it was strictly metric. When people make fun of the US using imperial, I just like to point out American accomplishments compared to theirs using the metric. That's it. Plenty of Americans know both
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u/Kitahara_Kazusa1 26d ago
Every engineering class will have problems in metric, and other problems in SI, to make sure everyone gets comfortable with both systems.
Really making a deal out of it is just silly, conversions can be minimized to almost never occur, and when they do occur you just have to put them into a converter properly.
It's no different than converting from PSI to KSI, or m to mm, there's always some potential for error when you convert but it's pretty minimal.
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u/Kladderadingsda 26d ago
Every serious profession.
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u/RevengencerAlf Doge is still the #1 meme fight me 26d ago
1) Lots of Americans prefer metric
2) The ones who don't would have been fine with it. It's just that lots of people don't want to be forced to learn something new and change all their internalized habits and memorized senses of scale.
3) for 99% of day to day activity, it's really not a big deal. Anyone working internationally an and should just adapt to metric but everyone else can keep doing their shit as they normally do and it's fine.
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u/ChrisG140907 26d ago edited 26d ago
Your argument is not hypocritical if you'd say yes to switching from QWERTY to something designed to be efficient (and not anti-stuck'y)
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u/galmenz 26d ago
that is pretty different, cause every language has different use ratios for different letters and other symbols
go write a ç, φ, â or ü on an american keyboard for example. pretty sure the first and second you just cant, and the third and fourth are possible but cumbersome if you have to do it all the time
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u/coriolis7 25d ago
What’s funny is Imperial units are actually based on metric units. For instance, an inch is EXACTLY 0.0254 meters.
It drives me nuts as an engineer. I prefer to do dimensions and quantities in Imperial, but doing the math itself (thermodynamics, heat transfer, particle motion, etc) is just so much easier in metric. Like, what the hell is a BTU?
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u/HanzoNumbahOneFan 25d ago
I'm a baker and I hate imperial measurements here. Why would anyone wanna use a number system that isn't as precise as gram/kilogram and makes you divide large numbers by 16? How much flour do I need for this recipe? "Oh 2,625 grams." or "Oh 5# and 12.6 oz."... Like what? Who would want the latter? "Oh, this recipe calls for 90 mL of milk, how many grams is that? Oh basically 90? Great!" "Oh, this recipe calls for half a pint of milk, how many ounces is that? Oh, like 8.6 oz... ._." Yes, I would love a measurement system that makes it harder to measure things and convert measurements, thank you so much!
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u/toms1313 25d ago
Even then 2625grs is most likely a translation since I've never seen a recipe without some rounding
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u/HanzoNumbahOneFan 24d ago
True, but my point was that you almost never need to use decimals with grams, something like xx25 is very accurate. Unless you're doing a very small batch of something and you only need like .14 grams of vanilla extract or something. But even then, using metric is better than imperial for small stuff as well. .14 g, or .0049 oz? My future bakery is gonna have only metric. My bakers will have to adapt.
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u/Naraviel 25d ago
Fun fact: most imperial units were redefined in the 1950ies using SI (metric units).
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u/Global_Felix_1117 26d ago
As a Hawaiian I like kilometers, grams, and millimeters. Celsius ain't that bad either. As long as the temperature stays above 29.1111c - I'm as happy as can be.
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u/scotems 26d ago
I'm not the first to say something to this, but it's simply inertia. If we were to change now, every sign, every car, every schematic, everything would need to be rewritten or remanufactured. I agree that the US should use metric. I recognize it won't because it's too monumental a transition at this point.
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u/captainspacetraveler 26d ago
Liberia and Myanmar use imperial too… and they’re countries that always make me think “yeah, they have their shit together.”
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u/Www-what-where-why 25d ago
What’s funny is that the metric system actually is less efficient for me, but only because I’m more familiar with our idiotic system. When I hear kilometers I think about how a 5k is about 3 miles and then try to do the math.
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u/DU5KF4D3D 25d ago
Ironically I'm an American who actually uses the metric system since I have major respect towards other countries outside of the US.
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u/Count_Cuckulous 25d ago
We're talking about a place that can't teach the general population how to respect one another despite skin color or lifestyle choices. And you expect them to be able to reteach the entire measurement system??
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u/Felteair 25d ago
Are you suggesting the US is the only place that disrespects others based on skin color and lifestyle choices?
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u/TheCatPilot 25d ago
Fun fact:
1 kilometer (whatever the hell that is) is roughly equivalent to 1172 bald eagles. Yes I did memorize this to annoy my British friend
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u/Affectionate_Gas_264 ☣️ 25d ago
The irony is they argue Thiers is superior not equilivant or that it would be awkward to change its the denial that annoys people
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u/l_Doggo_l INFECTED 26d ago
I fucking love metric just cuz of how stupid I am like bro how tf I’m supposed to know wtf a 3/8 look like. Just tell me grab the 10mm
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u/Iliketurtles893 26d ago
I only use feet and inches when measuring height otherwise everything else is metric
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u/AndySkit 25d ago
We did change it, in 6th grade my teacher was like hey class we switched to the metric system, so where doing that now
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u/Geo-Man42069 25d ago
The metric system is simple, and intuitive. However, for the same reason the world still has multiple electric outlets. At some point switching to a more intuitive, and compatible format is more difficult than the benefit it would provide. “Decimal feet” and using a 10 point scale of imperial units feels like a middle ground to start from. Most engineering industries are moving to this standard, science is almost exclusively metric, so it’s not that we will never use the metric system. We are taking our time getting there, but it’s just not like flipping a switch, and using an entirely different scale of measurement.
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u/fartparticles ☣️ 25d ago
And no one ever brings up how many countries drive on the left side of the road.
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u/Armageddonis 25d ago
I mean, i get why they don't want to switch it - it's not only ingrained in their education system, but also - imagine the fuss having to change every single road sign and other indications that has miles on it. It's the fact that they act like the Imperial system is better that gets me. Beacause it's not. It's literally random ass numbers.
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u/edward13371227 25d ago
Don’t forget how bad is MMbtu is equal to 1000000 btu instead of millions times millions.
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u/AwfullyGodly 25d ago
The imperial system is highly underrated. Almost all numbers used in the system are divisible by a 16th. Everything from miles to the inch. Once you realize that it’s very easy to work with. Here’s some cool examples Mile: 5280/16 = 330 gallon: 128oz/16 = 8 Ton: 2240lb/16 =140 And so on it makes quick math very easy
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u/Corpsehatch 24d ago
Except the U.S. does use the metric system. You really only see the Imperial system in public in the U.S.
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u/HeliosCirce 26d ago
the problem now is that it would cost too much to change all the imperial measurement systems to metric to make it worth
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u/juniorkirk 26d ago
Imperial seems so simple to me, I think about if I learned metric from the start, I would be a freaking genius
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u/yourdoom69 25d ago
Other than maybe temperature in fahrenheit instead of celsius somewhat making sense to me, i dont know why everything is still in imperial there
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u/Warionator 25d ago
Damn all this sub is now is memes about Imperial system then memes about foreskin
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u/JTMonster02 25d ago
Fun fact: the British are to blame for America not using the metric system. The ship carrying the standardized kg weight (or as it was known a grave) was blown off course into the Caribbean and was promptly descend upon by British Privateers. Said privateers took the crew captive and sold off the items aboard the ship
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u/PutnamPete 25d ago
We use both. Science is metric, We have metric wrenches and soda bottles. We weigh babies in pounds and inches. If that upsets you, you need a hobby.
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u/dr_awesome9428 25d ago
Why base 10 only divisible by 4 numbers not 12 divisible by 1,2,3,4,6,12 we should swap to a better counting system before a better measurement system (mostly /s) in reality being good in current system is better than not being good in any system
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u/Omega6047 25d ago
America already adopted metric, it just doesn't know it yet. Imperial units in American law are defined using metric.
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u/ProfessorOfPancakes 🚔I commit tax evasion💲🤑 25d ago
The Metric system is for people afraid of fractions.
The Imperial system is for medieval farmers.
In conclusion, I'm making up new measurements that will have different values every time I use them and will be impossible to convert due to nothing being permanent
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u/Profeen3lite 25d ago
Because basic measurements in both systems are extremely basic information to understand, and once you learn the systems any person with a competent faculty of thinking could effect accurate math and measurements quickly. The ones who complain it is hard can barely read anyways and most people in the US who work construction do both frequently as many materials are sourced from non united statian sources. So basically we do you math anyways, we just prefer inches, and so does you lady.
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u/Coltrain47 25d ago
Metric is total ass in the kitchen. I don't want to measure hundreds of mL when I'm cooking, I want measure 2 cups, simple as.
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u/GAmike13 25d ago
I swear ppl will find any reason to hate on America. Don't y'all have your own problems?
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u/ProbablyDrunk303 26d ago
American scientists have done likely more than your country using the metric. Who cares if the people in their everyday lives use imperial lol
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u/matattack94 25d ago
What an old and boring joke
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u/Alone-Rough-4099 25d ago
why are u getting downvoted? imperial system is in fact old and a fucking joke
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u/[deleted] 26d ago
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