At this point if the vampire sparkles in the sunlight, it probably wouldn't be going too far for them :P

So much this. Metric all the way for things that require precision, imperial for general use and or approximations. If I'm doing something with science or something technical yeah I'll want the temperature in metric, but if I want to know the ambient temperature of a building or the outdoors I definitely don't want to have to fuck with decimals and negatives.

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Also, whoever came up with dd/mm/yyyy has my eternal scorn. It is without a doubt the least useful order in popular usage (especially since the possible values can very by month and year).

What's wrong with wearing shorts with a jacket? @_@

I'm picturing a stereotypically gay Captain Planet now.

I can understand why people would assume that metric is more logical, but I challenge those folks to pay attention to what they're using the measurements for. Chances are good that they'll come to the right conclusion eventually.

If the metric system were better, the US likely would have been one of the first to use it. We were one of the first countries to adopt metric currency and we were one of the first to adopt the SI for our standards. But, over a century later and we pretty much just use metric measurements for medicine and not much else.

Hell, we switched all our trains over to standard gauge tracks even though it was a massive undertaking.

Ultimately, I don't personally care what units of measure are used various places, I just get a tad annoyed when folks act like metric is better for daily living, because it's not.

Yeah, the Twilight series totally killed the vampire image permanently. Humanity will probably have to wait 100 years before the vampire image becomes cool again.

The whole world must be stupid then, except for United States, Burma and Liberia. -_-

the metric system is better. as somebody who grew up in a country with both, that measures weight and lengths in lbs and inches except for liquids in ml and small distances in cm, I have constantly gravitated to metric even where subsidiary to imperial because it's just better.

also, ounces aren't used. grams are. alongside lbs. hopefully it'll be entirely metric in a few more years.

Well, if I took posts like this as an example...

Anyways, the US was pretty much the only place in the world with a functioning system of measure. We had the Bureau of Weights and Measures that went out and confiscated scales and measuring devices that weren't in compliance with the standards.

And BTW, you've left China off the list. China isn't a metric country. They use 3 different systems of measure depending upon the context. Most of the time things are metric, but good luck trying to buy clothes in metric sizes, that's all imperial measure.

I take it you don't do any cooking or have to divide things amongst friends. These are things that are commonly done and they're a nightmare when with metric measures. It's trivial to make half a batch of something with imperial measure and a real PITA if you wish to do it via metric measures.

When's the last time you needed to increase or reduce batch by a factor of 10? Doing the more typical double and half batches of things with imperial measures is ridiculously easy.

Like I've said, I have yet to come across a situation where something is genuinely easier to do with metric measures other than in the sciences. People get used to kludging around with metric approximations and don't realize just how much extra work it is.

Wait, what? I'd say get a better recipe book then.
A country that uses system A (no matter what said system is) for measurements will have recipes and groceries that use that system as well. If you try to translate from one system to the other, you will encounter trouble, but a recipe that calls for weights in a specific system will usually go for the easily measurable denominations.
Take a look at this apple pie (or apple cake) recipe. To translate the ingredients it uses, it says: How to divide that by half? Quarter of kilo, half a glass. How to multiply by 2? 1kg, 2 glasses. How to convert to imperial? Good luck.

You know, if we all used the metric system likely a good number of the formulas would probably be written and considered with doubling and whatnot in mind.

Besides, if you do decide to double, double & a half, triple the recipe, you'll probably quickly do the math, write notes on a card for the new amounts and go with that (and reasonable rounding as appropriate).

Besides as with intermediate systems, i wouldn't doubt they could come up with a 'cup' being 250ml if that amount is used fairly often, or for length having a 'foot' as 25cm.

I suppose we could instead make an intermediates between each level so instead of x10 it's x5....

when cooking I do all of my measurements in metric and have never had a problem. 1/3 cup in metric is 80 ml. (83)

it is true that imperial is easier with smaller numbers and simpler operations. it has its roots in very old measurements systems. but metric is far more reliable and versatile once you have the hang of it.

That is exactly why both systems have their uses. For general use and approximations imperial is infinitely easier to relay (for most usage you will be dealing with 1-2 positive digits and maybe the occasional fraction). For scientific, technical, or any that requires precision though metric is definitely the way to go.

In the US we learn both and the common conversions, the only reason a lot of people don't know/use metric is because post-schooling a lot of people never have a real reason to use metric (and thus forget from disuse) unless one is in a scientific or technical field the precision is unnecessary. For general trivial things dealing with a decimal and sometimes negatives is a pain in the ass.

For example the outdoor temperature with the metric system negatives and decimals come up all the time, with Fahrenheit there are "more degrees" within the range humans typically inhabit for many locales negatives are rarely used and decimals are never needed generally.

Celsius "normal outdoor temperature ranges": -17.77~C to 37.77~C
Fahrenheit "normal outdoor temperature range": 0 to 100
(ignoring extremes)

Cops will stop you when you're taking a walk outside, run your license, and start asking you questions to trip you up, assuming that you're a criminal.

Yes, this actually happened.

There's a real simple reason why the United States will not go full metric. It's because of our roads. The US has almost 4.1 million miles of roadways (the only Euro country in the top 10 is France with about 15% of our amount of roadways). We would have to replace all the mile marker signs, speed limit signs, distance signs, and on/off ramp signs (since those tend to be based on mileage). That would be an unbelievable cost for something that has little to no practical usage in that area. No politician is going to be on board with such an expenditure when we have a hard enough time just keeping the roads repaired.

Then there's the fact that our legal land descriptions are based upon miles and our legal survey markers are based in feet and miles. All of that stuff would have to be converted at an enormous cost.