Wanna tell me why or are you just gonna troll and insult me?Angerwing said:I have nothing to say to this. This is hands down the most idiotic and most poorly put together argument I've ever read. Arguing with you is like arguing with a dolphin. There are suggestions of human-like intellect, but it just lacks the faculties to use any kind of understandable language.emeraldrafael said:snip
Spoken like a true American.Radeonx said:Because we are America, and we use whatever the fuck we want because we can.
If you disagree you clearly hate freedom and are a communist, socialist, or some evil combination of the two.
Even if you are using sarcasm, some people don't take it like that. If you have an opinion then express it, that is what makes this country great. But do it without making us look like monkeys on the world stage. Like I said I agree with you but also don't forget that this site is a multinational website.Radeonx said:We should also have enough common sense to understand sarcasm, but alas, that isn't always the case either.Benjamin Grant said:ok listen although I sort of agree with you, this is no way to voice your opinion. I am an American and damn proud of it. But when you say something like this it makes all of us Americans look bad and gives the rest of the world a stick to hit us with. All I am asking is if you have a valid point don't be a jerk about it. We have freedom of speech but we should also have enough common sense to use it properly.Radeonx said:Because we are America, and we use whatever the fuck we want because we can.
If you disagree you clearly hate freedom and are a communist, socialist, or some evil combination of the two.
Umm, what?Benjamin Grant said:Even if you are using sarcasm, some people don't take it like that. If you have an opinion then express it, that is what makes this country great. But do it without making us look like monkeys on the world stage. Like I said I agree with you but also don't forget that this site is a multinational website.Radeonx said:We should also have enough common sense to understand sarcasm, but alas, that isn't always the case either.Benjamin Grant said:ok listen although I sort of agree with you, this is no way to voice your opinion. I am an American and damn proud of it. But when you say something like this it makes all of us Americans look bad and gives the rest of the world a stick to hit us with. All I am asking is if you have a valid point don't be a jerk about it. We have freedom of speech but we should also have enough common sense to use it properly.Radeonx said:Because we are America, and we use whatever the fuck we want because we can.
If you disagree you clearly hate freedom and are a communist, socialist, or some evil combination of the two.
Sarcasm is for the British, make it more apparent otherwise the humour goes.Radeonx said:Reasonable arguments are for the weak.
And those who don't understand sarcasm.
My new phrase on Xbox live has just been found!InterAirplay said:"I'm awesome, for I have a functioning pair of legs".
Make it more apparent and the humor goes.arc101 said:Sarcasm is for the British, make it more apparent otherwise the humour goes.Radeonx said:Reasonable arguments are for the weak.
And those who don't understand sarcasm.
Just something i noticed. The only clips used in that video were planes. UNITED STATES AIR FORCE FOR THE WIN!!!!!Canid117 said:
America laughs at your feeble metric system!
I understand where your argument is coming from, and while I only know imperial units of distance (though I almost never use them, besides for height), I wouldn't argue that they're more accessible. Yes, they are based on very tangible things, but things that differ greatly amongst even small groups of people, making it a poor standard.Slycne said:I'm of the mind to leave it more or less how it is now. Metric is valuable when dealing with measurements as they are applied to equations - so in science, manufacturering, etc. This is attributed to its decimalised system.
The problem become for normal every day use. The Imperial measurements are all based on real world approximations. A foot is roughly two lengths of your hand. A yard is an average person's step or length of an arm. The stone, a measurement still in wide use by a lot of you complaining, is likely based on similar real world applications. The mile is about how far someone can walk in hour. This means the common person can make quick, easy and rough approximate measurements without resorting to a tool.
You want to know what metrics is based off of?
The metre was originally 1/10,000,000 distance between the North Pole and Earth's equator as measured along the meridian passing through Paris. Now it's defined as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1⁄299,792,458 of a second.
The gram is currently defined as 1/1000th the weight of a object kept in a secure vault in France.
Yep, those are really practical...
I will keep it thank you very muchwill1182 said:Adapting to change is a part of life. Obviously it would be a gradual change, not like you have put it. Besides, how do you think the rest of the world feels, having to do conversions when anything American comes up? Do you think we enjoy it? And yes, I do mean "rest of the world", not just Britain. Old does not equal good.Skullkid4187 said:But we dont want to! a bit of "british kids" want us to and we rufuse! Just because one is easier doesn't make it accurate....for hundreds of years we've been using the Imperial System...dont you want to go in and say "HEY WE CHANGED IT IMPERIAL SYSTEM IS GONE" to everyone? It's what we've been learning our whole lives...to change is like getting rid of books and replacing them with those online book ipad things.will1182 said:Okay man, come on. You're just twisting words now, I obviously didn't say that.Skullkid4187 said:so cultures have no right to be different?will1182 said:Yes, that's a completely fair comparison.Skullkid4187 said:So if the rest of the world were to start slaughtering people....and America was against it....we should join then ;} lets not use peer pressurewill1182 said:I've been thinking about this very subject for the past couple days. Weird.
The US is completely backwards in this regard. Switch to metric already, like the rest of the world.
In a case like this, it would just save the world so much inconvenience if everyone used one unified system.
Since the US has such an influence on the rest of the world, everybody else is forced to learn two systems just because the US refuses to change. Everybody's aware of the benefits of switching, yet they stubbornly cling to their system for no apparent reason other than "It's the American way".
No one can force them to switch, but I have a right to express my displeasure.
But jeez, keep using it if means that much to you. Just don't expect everyone else to appreciate America being different for the sake of it.
So exactly as I said, excellent examples of why metric is a poor every day use system of measurement. It's great for when precession is needed, but not every problem needs to be tackled so finely. If I just need to figure out how are to move and end table so that the couch doesn't hit the wall, the best system is the easiest one.Wyes said:Slycne said:I'm of the mind to leave it more or less how it is now. Metric is valuable when dealing with measurements as they are applied to equations - so in science, manufacturering, etc. This is attributed to its decimalised system.
The problem become for normal every day use. The Imperial measurements are all based on real world approximations. A foot is roughly two lengths of your hand. A yard is an average person's step or length of an arm. The stone, a measurement still in wide use by a lot of you complaining, is likely based on similar real world applications. The mile is about how far someone can walk in hour. This means the common person can make quick, easy and rough approximate measurements without resorting to a tool.
You want to know what metrics is based off of?
The metre was originally 1/10,000,000 distance between the North Pole and Earth's equator as measured along the meridian passing through Paris. Now it's defined as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1⁄299,792,458 of a second.
The gram is currently defined as 1/1000th the weight of a object kept in a secure vault in France.
Yep, those are really practical...I understand where your argument is coming from, and while I only know imperial units of distance (though I almost never use them, besides for height), I wouldn't argue that they're more accessible. Yes, they are based on very tangible things, but things that differ greatly amongst even small groups of people, making it a poor standard.
The SI units were chosen to be both fundamental and accessible (in terms of ease of use). You mentioned a great example, in fact; A metre is (currently) defined as the distance travelled by light in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458th of a second. As a result of this, the speed of light is 299,792,458m/s.
Now, the reason why we don't have a nice correlation when it comes to 'seconds' is because there is no readily apparent natural phenomenon that takes the exact same amount of time for each oscillation or event.
In terms of grams, the standard arose from something every person on Earth is familiar with; water. There is a thousand grams per cubic metre. Similarly, this is where the standard for degrees Celsius came from (though note Celsius is NOT an SI unit!), using 0 degrees C as the freezing temperature of water, 100 degrees C as the boiling point. The SI unit for temperature is the Kelvin, which takes units the same 'size' as degrees Celsius (so there is still 100K between freezing water and boiling water), but uses a much more fundamental '0' temperature (0K = -273.15 degrees C = -459.67 degrees Fahrenheit), corresponding to the temperature at which all thermal motion stops (so, particles stop vibrating, which is really god damn cold).
You'll notice that all of these are inter-related also, and you'll also find that any other SI units are based off of these fundamental standards (you'll have to forgive me if I've forgotten something, I've got a nasty bug and I'm pretty out of it). The most obvious example is of course m/s, a measure of velocity, or m/s^2 (m/s.s), a measure of acceleration. We also get units of force from this, if F = ma, then in SI units we find F = gm/s^2, and so on.
As for why America should switch to the metric system, that's a little easier to explain. As far as domestic use goes, it doesn't really matter, but teaching people metric from the get-go means that they're more familiar with it, they're not going to get confused by it, and they're going to be more inclined to use it in other fields. When America should be using the metric system is in any time they're dealing with a nation that primarily uses metric, and also in the fields of science and engineering. It takes time and thus costs money to convert units either way. I'm sure some Americans would feel that this is unfair as we don't give them information/data/whatever in their units, however I'd argue that in this case, the vast majority of the rest of the developed world uses metric. The reason for this should be obvious; mistakes can and do happen. Sometimes they're not so bad, and easily fixed. But sometimes they're much more disastrous, and cost significant amounts of money. The Mars Climate Orbiter [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter] is one such example [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/462264.stm]. This also has the potential to lead to a loss of human life.
As a little disclaimer, I'm not trying to villainise anybody or any system here, just trying to make a logical argument for the use of the metric system and why America should switch to it, not just for the benefit of the rest of the world but for the benefit of itself. This is also directed at the people who have been saying that this is American business and nobody elses' issue. Also America, you're totally at the butt of many jokes because of this.