Weights and Measurements

[HandsomePete]

I know that in the US, we're severely allergic to the concept of the metric system. I'll be the first to admit, I'm no good with it myself. But have you ever really stopped to think about how retarded the Standard units are? 12 inches per foot, 5280 feet per mile, 16 ounces to a pound.. pints and gallons and... It's all random amounts. Wouldn't it be great if like... a foot were 10 inches at least? Or some sort of more rounded number than 12? How many inches are in 14 and a half feet? Did that take you a couple of seconds to think about? That's a couple of seconds too many, I say.

[SCTE3]

Fun Fact
The US is the only place that still is trying to resist going with the measurement system the rest of the world is using.

[fushioon]

In my country, we don't use any measurement system whatsoever.

[ShanyBoy-XX]

we still have height/gerth/and tit size in inches

all important things

[BobbaQ]

Well, I don't have a problem with it. I understand both systems just fine.

[HandsomePete]

At 2/17/09 09:18 PM, shadowchaotailsevil3 wrote: Fun Fact
The US is the only place that still is trying to resist going with the measurement system the rest of the world is using.

I THINK England still uses it to some extent, at least. They invented the system that the US uses anyway.

[Ship]

I've thought about this too. I don't see what's wrong with basing our measurements off multiples of 10. It's too annoying to try to remember how many feet or yards in a mile. I say we either go over to metrics like the rest of the world(which would be the most practical solution) or simplify our measurements.

[sh0k]

naww its cool itd mess up all the drug slang n shit...overseas people say shit differently its weird as fuck

[HippityGopher]

Yes yes the metric system is better and more logical. But that's what makes Americans special, we like to complicate simple things.

[cHunter]

I'm never giving up inches ever. Even if there's a fire.

[Samen]

At 2/17/09 09:18 PM, shadowchaotailsevil3 wrote: Fun Fact
The US is the only place that still is trying to resist going with the measurement system the rest of the world is using.

Here's a little song that explains our viewpoint, in full:
http://juniorscienceclub.com/loganarchiv e/outsmartinthepopos/10%20the_standard_m etric_system.mp3

[MercatorMap]

Eh, it's reasonable considering that there are 365 days in a year, and that there are 28-31 days in a month, that there are 7 days in a week, that there are 24 hours in a day and 60 minutes in an hour.

Think about it. People are just too fucking lazy.

[HandsomePete]

The only people in the US who really understand the metric system are drug dealers and chemists.. who make crystal meth.

[Proottalfain]

At 2/17/09 09:23 PM, MercatorMap wrote: Eh, it's reasonable considering that there are 365 days in a year, and that there are 28-31 days in a month, that there are 7 days in a week, that there are 24 hours in a day and 60 minutes in an hour.

Think about it. People are just too fucking lazy.

365¼ is the number of rotation the earth does in a revolution around the sun
Months were based off the moon cycle, but I think they're dumb now
7 days is dumb too
24 is the time it takes for the earth to do a rotation. Changing the length of an hour would fuck with the seconds, thus fucking the whole SI.
Same thing with minutes.

[Raguel]

At 2/17/09 09:23 PM, MercatorMap wrote: Eh, it's reasonable considering that there are 365 days in a year, and that there are 28-31 days in a month, that there are 7 days in a week, that there are 24 hours in a day and 60 minutes in an hour.

Well that's got more to do with equally dividing the time it takes for the world to spin on its own axis and for how long it takes for it to circle the sun. It's just awkward to rearrange that.

[HandsomePete]

At 2/17/09 09:23 PM, MercatorMap wrote: Eh, it's reasonable considering that there are 365 days in a year, and that there are 28-31 days in a month, that there are 7 days in a week, that there are 24 hours in a day and 60 minutes in an hour.

Think about it. People are just too fucking lazy.

There's metric time, too, it's just not really used. You're just talking about time though. There's a lot of things that need to be measured, and putting them all at random amounts as they did is just stupid.

[sh0k]

At 2/17/09 09:25 PM, HandsomePete wrote: The only people in the US who really understand the metric system are drug dealers and chemists.. who make crystal meth.

wat? weed dealers dont kno the metric system...neither do ppl that sell x...or coke...i dont do coke though. really i dont snort lines.

just kidding. occasionally.

[firemaker60]

At 2/17/09 09:26 PM, Proottalfain wrote:

At 2/17/09 09:23 PM, MercatorMap wrote: Eh, it's reasonable considering that there are 365 days in a year, and that there are 28-31 days in a month, that there are 7 days in a week, that there are 24 hours in a day and 60 minutes in an hour.

Think about it. People are just too fucking lazy.

365¼ is the number of rotation the earth does in a revolution around the sun
Months were based off the moon cycle, but I think they're dumb now
7 days is dumb too
24 is the time it takes for the earth to do a rotation. Changing the length of an hour would fuck with the seconds, thus fucking the whole SI.
Same thing with minutes.

Well, the Gregorian system isn't the best, but it's good for today's world, and as long as scientists can keep it accurate (remember the extra second added to the end of 2008?), we should have no problem.

The Egyptians did have a better calendar system, though.

[Eggys]

Being raised in America, I find anything besides the not metric system annoying and hard to understand. Inches are just fine to work with.

I'd rather just say "it's 5 inches" rather than "it's 130 centimeters" or whatever that equals out to.

[cHunter]

I can't wait to start calling inch worms 2.54 centimeter worms.

[xports]

This is exactly why I support the Metric system.

[HandsomePete]

At 2/17/09 09:34 PM, sh0k wrote:

wat? weed dealers dont kno the metric system...neither do ppl that sell x...or coke...i dont do coke though. really i dont snort lines.

just kidding. occasionally.

Dude... Coke dealers are the biggest proponents of them all... The dealers buy their stashes in kilos, don't they? Then they sell you a few grams or whatever. With X, you're selling pills, sooo, no need for anything there. And weed.. Well, I guess most of them probably deal in ounces, but some probably still go for grams, etc.

[HandsomePete]

At 2/17/09 09:43 PM, Eggys wrote: Being raised in America, I find anything besides the not metric system annoying and hard to understand. Inches are just fine to work with.

I'd rather just say "it's 5 inches" rather than "it's 130 centimeters" or whatever that equals out to.

Think in larger numbers though. How many feet is 75 inches? How many meters are 75 centimeters. Which one is quicker? Which one don't you need to think about at all? Or, again, what if there were just 10 inches to a foot. I'm full well aware that this shit isn't ever going to change, and like I said, I KNOW metric but I can't convert our shit to metric that easily. And I can't ever remember how many ounces are in a pint are in a gallon, etc. It'd just be nice if we had a more modernized system is all I'm sayin.

[MercatorMap]

At 2/17/09 09:53 PM, HandsomePete wrote:

At 2/17/09 09:43 PM, Eggys wrote: Being raised in America, I find anything besides the not metric system annoying and hard to understand. Inches are just fine to work with.

I'd rather just say "it's 5 inches" rather than "it's 130 centimeters" or whatever that equals out to.

Think in larger numbers though. How many feet is 75 inches? How many meters are 75 centimeters. Which one is quicker? Which one don't you need to think about at all? Or, again, what if there were just 10 inches to a foot. I'm full well aware that this shit isn't ever going to change, and like I said, I KNOW metric but I can't convert our shit to metric that easily. And I can't ever remember how many ounces are in a pint are in a gallon, etc. It'd just be nice if we had a more modernized system is all I'm sayin.

I was honestly able to figure out that 75 inches is 6 foot 3 in a matter of 5 seconds.

And 75 centi meters are .075 meters?

I don't know.

Argue as you must, all I know is that the english system IS beneficial because we don't get raped up the ass when we buy gasoline like the english do.

[HandsomePete]

At 2/17/09 10:19 PM, MercatorMap wrote:

I was honestly able to figure out that 75 inches is 6 foot 3 in a matter of 5 seconds.

And 75 centi meters are .075 meters?

I don't know.

Argue as you must, all I know is that the english system IS beneficial because we don't get raped up the ass when we buy gasoline like the english do.

The unit of measure has absolutely no bearing on the price of gas. We get it cheaper because we buy so much of it. It's like buying from Sam's Club as opposed to a local grocery store.
75 centimeters is .75m. The only reason you got that wrong was because you aren't familiar with it. And if you're using metric, it's a matter of moving the decimal point. I realize that 75in - 6'3" isn't that hard, but you still need to actually think about it.
But I think you're arguing with me more to be arguing with me than because you really believe in the point you're trying to make.

[Evark]

At 2/17/09 09:26 PM, Proottalfain wrote: 365¼ is the number of rotation the earth does in a revolution around the sun

Actually, every year that ends in -00 is NOT a leap year.

Months were based off the moon cycle, but I think they're dumb now

The name itself is based off the moon cycle (month --> moon). Originally, they were ACTUALLY based off the moon's cycle (28 days) and 13 months, but it's been changed so that the year coincides with the solar calendar.

7 days is dumb too

The week is based off the biblical declaration that the earth was created in the span of one week. It's the basis for societal organization, as any christian, judaic, or islamic religion believes that there is one day of rest out of every seven. The weekend itself is a more modern concept.

24 is the time it takes for the earth to do a rotation. Changing the length of an hour would fuck with the seconds, thus fucking the whole SI.

It's actually 23.something hours. This is the reason for an extra day every four years, because it takes that long for the spare minutes to add up to a full day.

Same thing with minutes.

Even though I've grown up with the system, I constantly make the mistaken assumption (mostly when reading movie lengths) that 100 minutes equals an hour. So I'll see a movie of 120 minutes and be like "Short movie! Only an hour and twenty minutes long." And then call myself a dumbass later.

I dunno. I think if we're going to go metric we should metricize everything, including time measurements. I don't mind following the SI system because tradition doesn't bother me. I have no problem measuring in EITHER system, but converting between the two fucks shit up.

[Steven-Polley]

Phew... good thing I have the metric system in Canada..

Where the boiling point of water is 100 degrees. And a kilometer is just 1000 meters. The density of water is 1kg/L And we weigh things in grams.

[Sensationalism]

The metric system is so much easier.

[Skilla]

Well a lot of things people don't understand is that its not simply miles and feet.

It's even down to the liquid measurements and such that are not metric that are confusing such as,
quarts teaspoons tablespoons like do you know how many go in each?

No I bet you don't.

The reason our system was invented here in the US was to make the numbers smaller.
In the metric system anything less than 1 liter is measured in 1's so up to 999 u'd have to say 999 milliliters or 99.9 centiliters.

In the US we'd have a smaller integer for that or breaking pt.

It also comes easier to rounding when your talking about objects weight its easier to tell the weight of a person that's 150lbs than 45kg.

But when it comes to science, you almost need the metric system. Because its so precise.

Another popular belief is that US is against it, and it's not were trying to change. Scientifically we have been changed for years. If you learn any sciences in school you'll probably be using metric.

Science textbooks are almost entirely in metric.

Its just hard to change the US so fast, because education system is hard as it is. So, to change everything in one big swing is tough.

It's all being presented slowly at an easier pace.