I Didn't Think About the Metric System Recently Until Memes Like This Popped Up

Learning the Metric System Wasn't a Waste of Time

When I was a gullible child in school, my sweet-faced teachers all enthusiastically assured us that we had a good reason for learning about the metric system. We learned because the USA would join almost all of the rest of the planet in switching from Imperial Units to the more modern system of measurement. Later, of course, science classes reinforced my use of this foreign system, so learning the metric system wasn't a waste of time.

Later, when I bought a European bicycle and traveled to metric countries, it was helpful to have some vague idea that a mm was much smaller than an inch and a km was somewhat shorter than a mile. Also, Coca-Cola must not have gotten the message because they sell their sodas in liter sizes.

Why Didn't the USA Adopt the Metric System

We Do Use the Metric System Sometimes

Look, I read some answers from patriots that contended that we're America, and we don't have to do what other countries do. After all, we sent people to the Moon and won WWII without the metric system. Would those wonderful accomplishments have been somewhat easier with the metric system? That's a question I was too timid to ask.

What's the Real Reason the USA Didn't Switch From Yards to Meters?

The only three countries that don't use the new system of measurement are Liberia, Myanmar, and of course, the United States. That isn't to say Americans never use the metric system. Obviously, scientists, engineers, and medical professionals rely heavily upon it.

For instance, the dosage of medicine is always in mg. and not ounces. On the other hand, instructions for liquid dosages are often stated in teaspoons or tablespoons or ounces. Technical professions use the metric system, but they still communicate to the public in the Imperial system mostly.

These are the two reasons that I think kept the USA from going metric:

Reason #1 : During the time when the issue enjoyed a lot of debate, U.S. manufacturers complained about the cost.

Reason #2: At this same time, HP introduced its first popular calculators, and they made conversions quite simple. These days, you can simply Google it.

Windows Has a Conversion App

It's sort of ironic that the first argument about converting insisted that the transition would be too expensive and complicated, and the second argument was that conversion was so simple and cheap that it wasn't worth the effort to change. The debate still continues. It was only about 10 years ago that NASA agreed to rely upon the metric system to make it easy to coordinate with other countries.

Is the Metric System Always Better?

Naturally, the metric system offers a uniform 10-based system of measurement that makes a lot of sense. However, it's not better for everything. For example, weight can be measured in grams or kilograms. There's a big difference between the content of a sugar packet and a bag of sugar. The same can be said about liters and kiloliters and milliliters.

The U.S. system offers more intermediate measures. Food can be measured in ounces, pounds, teaspoons, tablespoons, cups, pints, and so on.

It is true that it's easier to divide smaller measurements into thirds when using feet and yards. We might not have 12 fingers; however, a 12-based system can offer certain advantages over a 10-based system.

Do You Think the USA Should Convert to the Metric System?

What do you think about having the USA convert to the metric system? I upvote RELEVANT comments and am interested in learning more about the pros and cons of this change. I sort of doubt it will happen in the near future, but maybe it's an issue that we should revisit.

Oh yeah, here's some sources:

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/198481
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/88126
http://www.anacreofpints.com/pros-cons-metric-system/