Why don't US citizens use Celsius, SI, and other international standards?

[Valjean]

I use SI in most everyday situations -- giving directions, my height and weight, weather, &c.

American's are obstinate, though. They won't change till they're forced to deal with the international system in everyday life.

Our provincialism is becoming a financial and scientific liability. It's our social responsibility to put it in their faces, to drag our fellow citizens, kicking and screaming, into the modern world.
It's good citizenship.

 

[Falvlun]

​

In part it is.

"'The U.S. military uses metric measurements extensively to ensure interoperability with allied forces, particularly NATO STANAGs, "standardization agreements". Ground forces measure distances in "klicks", slang for kilometers. Most military firearms are measured in metric units, beginning with the M-14 which was introduced in 1957,although a few legacy exceptions exist, such as .50-caliber guns. Aircraft ordnance is normally measured in pounds. Heavy weapon caliber is measured in millimeters. Military vehicles are generally built to metric standards. An exception is the U.S. Navy, whose guns are measured in inches and whose undersea fleet measures distances in terms of "kiloyards" (equivalent to 914.4 m), depth as "feet", and velocity, in some cases, as "feet per second". The Navy and Air Force continue to measure distance in nautical miles and speed in knots; these units are now accepted for use with SI by the BIPM.'"
Source: Wikipedia
​

:areyoucra If English units are bad, then this hybrid monstrosity is even worse.

 

[Valjean]

Hybrid monstrosity?

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

:areyoucra If English units are bad, then this hybrid monstrosity is even worse.

I understand the need for backward compatibility.

Actually, I use knots and feet for flying myself. I wouldn't say that I'm comfortable with them, but I imagine once I'm a bit more into it, I won't have a good idea of what an altitude of 1000 metres looks like until I convert it into footric.

So... I'll end up with this weird amalgam:

- at rest for short distances: feet or metres.
- at highway speeds: metres, kilometres, and kilometres per hour.
- at airplane speeds: feet, miles and knots.

I think that even I would refuse to use "kiloyards", though. At that point, why not just use a kilometer?

 

[Falvlun]

Hybrid monstrosity?

A little too heavy?

I think that consistently using one system is better than having a random mixture of both. The example given by Skwim just seemed like a real headache for those who have to deal with it.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I think that consistently using one system is better than having a random mixture of both. The example given by Skwim just seemed like a real headache for those who have to deal with it.

Canada's kinda like that now. For instance, everyone I know measures weather temperature in Celsius but cooking temperatures in Foreignheit, and we weigh ourselves in pounds but we weigh our produce in grams and kilograms.

 

[Penumbra]

Outside of engineering, I usually use the imperial units. I think of my height in feet, weight in pounds, speed in mph, and temperature in Fahrenheit.

I knew a guy who one day forced himself to change to using all metric instead- all day, every day, for everything. I should probably do that one day.

 

[Falvlun]

Canada's kinda like that now. For instance, everyone I know measures weather temperature in Celsius but cooking temperatures in Foreignheit, and we weigh ourselves in pounds but we weigh our produce in grams and kilograms.

Silly Canadians.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I wish we would just hurry up and make the transition. It makes no sense to use a system that is not used in science or in any other part of the world, and not to mention the metric system is a very easy and simple system to learn and understand. But then again Americans do like making things harder than they have to be.

 

[Valjean]

A little too heavy?

I think that consistently using one system is better than having a random mixture of both. The example given by Skwim just seemed like a real headache for those who have to deal with it.

I agree -- pick one.
The Imperial system has a certain intuitiveness to it. It relates to familiar objects and experiences.
You can relate to a foot -- most people have two of them, and 100 degrees being "very hot" and 0 being "very cold" is a very "real world" system.

S.I, on the other hand, is based on a measurement no-one can really relate to -- the circumference of the earth, I believe, but it's so simple and interrelated; so elegant.
You have a base unit with regular prefixes dividing it by tens. Everything's interrelated. A centimeter is a length. Cube it and you get a milliliter -- a unit of volume. The amount of heat needed to raise a milliliter of water one degree is, well, one degree Celsius. It all ties together.

I knew a guy who one day forced himself to change to using all metric instead- all day, every day, for everything. I should probably do that one day.

We've met? Sorry, I don't remember. Perhaps Penumbra isn't the name I knew you by.