Pirates may of caused the US to keep the Imperial units system - Sensationalist Headlines

[url]https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/12/28/574044232/how-pirates-of-the-caribbean-hijacked-americas-metric-system[/url] [QUOTE]If the United States were more like the rest of the world, a McDonald's Quarter Pounder might be known as the McDonald's 113-Grammer, John Henry's 9-pound hammer would be 4.08 kilograms, and any 800-pound gorillas in the room would likely weigh 362 kilos. One reason this country never adopted the metric system might be pirates. Here's what happened: In 1793, the brand new United States of America needed a standard measuring system because the states were using a hodgepodge of systems. "For example, in New York, they were using Dutch systems, and in New England, they were using English systems," says Keith Martin, of the research library at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. This made interstate commerce difficult. The secretary of state at the time was Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson knew about a new French system and thought it was just what America needed. He wrote to his pals in France, and the French sent a scientist named Joseph Dombey off to Jefferson carrying a small copper cylinder with a little handle on top. It was about 3 inches tall and about the same wide. This object was intended to be a standard for weighing things, part of a weights and measure system being developed in France, now known as the metric system. The object's weight was 1 kilogram. Crossing the Atlantic, Dombey ran into a giant storm. "It blew his ship quite far south into the Caribbean Sea," says Martin. And you know who was lurking in Caribbean waters in the late 1700s? Pirates. "These pirates were British privateers, to be exact," says Martin. "They were basically water-borne criminals tacitly supported by the British government, and they were tasked with harassing enemy shipping." The pirates took Joseph Dombey prisoner on the island of Montserrat, hoping to obtain a ransom for him. Unfortunately for the pirates, and for Dombey as well, he died in captivity. The pirates weren't interested in the objects Dombey was carrying. They were auctioned off along with the rest of the contents of his ship. Ultimately, the kilogram made it into the hands of an American land surveyor at the time named Andrew Ellicott. It was passed down in the Ellicott family until 1952, when Andrew Ellicott Douglas, an astronomer, gave it to the agency that was the precursor of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.[/QUOTE]

may have*

Those bastards.

So the UK had the last laugh after all.

[QUOTE=MelonShooter;53012785]may have*[/QUOTE] pirates also stole my shipment of grammar books

[QUOTE=Wii60;53012824]pirates also stole my shipment [B]have[/B] grammar books[/QUOTE] fixed

I still see no benefits to keeping the imperial system. I do however acknowledge the fact that converting the whole US to metric would be a hard task.

And yet another reason as of why ninjas are better.

[QUOTE=Mifil;53013029]I still see no benefits to keeping the imperial system. I do however acknowledge the fact that converting the whole US to metric would be a hard task.[/QUOTE] The US gov knows that the metric system is far more easier to learn and use than the imperial system. Unfortunatley, the US has gone for so long with it that a total overhaul to metric is not simpley economically feasible at this moment. Roadsigns, packgaging, schoolbooks, measuring instruments. Etc. It would be a enormous undertaking and the US has other things to worry about at the moment.

I wouldn't be surprised if a switch to metric would cause a bump in American children's math and physics grades and skills, given just how simple and intuitive the system is.

[QUOTE=Radley;53013056]The US gov knows that the metric system is far more easier to learn and use than the imperial system. Unfortunatley, the US has gone for so long with it that a total overhaul to metric is not simpley economically feasible at this moment. Roadsigns, packgaging, schoolbooks, measuring instruments. Etc. It would be a enormous undertaking and the US has other things to worry about at the moment.[/QUOTE] Come on. Even the Brits [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication_in_the_United_Kingdom"]did it[/URL].

[QUOTE=Riller;53013060]I wouldn't be surprised if a switch to metric would cause a bump in American children's math and physics grades and skills, given just how simple and intuitive the system is.[/QUOTE] It would at least free up some of the teacher's time, because science classes do teach it and use it. And they usually have to re-teach it yearly since everyone forgets it quickly. It actually gets kind of absurd. When I was doing high school physics I'd use equations with metric values, and I'd memorize those numbers (e.g. gravity acceleration,) and then barely an hour later I'd be in algebra class, using the same equations, but in imperial units because that's what those teachers used.

[QUOTE=ScumBunny;53013064]Come on. Even the Brits [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication_in_the_United_Kingdom"]did it[/URL].[/QUOTE] Britain is a little over half the size of the state of Texas. It'll be significantly harder to change all the measurements in the US.

[QUOTE=L'Citizen;53013072]Britain is a little over half the size of the state of Texas. It'll be significantly harder to change all the measurements in the US.[/QUOTE] So, what? Just give up? That doesn't sound like the America we all know and love. Come on you guys, you can do it! We believe in you!

[QUOTE=thelurker1234;53013067]It would at least free up some of the teacher's time, because science classes do teach it and use it. And they usually have to re-teach it yearly since everyone forgets it quickly. It actually gets kind of absurd. When was doing high school physics I'd use equations with metric values, and I'd memorize those numbers (e.g. gravity acceleration,) and then barely an hour later I'd be in algebra class, using the same equations, but in imperial units because that's what those teachers used.[/QUOTE] There's no conversion to be done for different values of metric, it's all just simply multiplying or dividing by 10 to scale it, whereas ounce to pound to (the silly non-metric)ton or whatever is all different values you gotta memorize.

I couldn't imagine having to do math with imperial units, thank god for the metrication in the UK. Albeit the UK does still use some imperial units, like miles for distance, and stones and pounds for weight. Admittedly I just stick to metric still for those things, since it's easier for me to understand

[QUOTE=Riller;53013060]I wouldn't be surprised if a switch to metric would cause a bump in American children's math and physics grades and skills, given just how simple and intuitive the system is.[/QUOTE] The imperial system is for foot fetishists.

Britain uses a mix. We officially use metric for weights and some other things which was one of the rulings in the EU bloc, many traders in the UK (particularly grocers, market sellers, butchers, etc) were unhappy with the switch and campaigned to remain using imperial units. The EU agreed that they can display things at Imperial units but only if they show the Metric one also. Its why our 4 pints of milk also display 2.27l on them.

[QUOTE=ScumBunny;53013064]Come on. Even the Brits [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication_in_the_United_Kingdom"]did it[/URL].[/QUOTE] even the Brits?? you mean a country with one-sixth of the population and 1/75 the land mass? wow! color me shocked that it was easier for them to do that! seriously though, will europeans ever learn that the stuff that works in their tiny ass countries crammed into one continent doesn't necessarily work in a huge ass country spread across an entire continent?

In the long run, it would still be better for the US to switch anyway. Despite the challenges, one can argue the economic benefit to using a universal system, especially as our economies become more globalized. There are already so many considerations in industries taken to make conversions or even make separate distinct versions of products using separate units. The savings in engineering cost alone would probably outweigh the long term maintenance of dealing with a separate system. There have also been instances where having two systems to deal with bit us in the ass, like when [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter#Cause_of_failure"]we lost a mars probe because one party provided Imperial Units where SI was expected[/URL].

[QUOTE=FFStudios;53013592]even the Brits?? you mean a country with one-sixth of the population and 1/75 the land mass? wow! color me shocked that it was easier for them to do that! seriously though, will europeans ever learn that the stuff that works in their tiny ass countries crammed into one continent doesn't necessarily work in a huge ass country spread across an entire continent?[/QUOTE] And? It is a scale thing. You also have the population and tax economy to support the change. I just wish Britain would stop displaying things in Imperial too... especially distances. I only instinctively understand a mile, it is not something I comprehend on the same level as I do the metric system, which I think is true of most of my generation and the ones to come after us. Even those who fully grasp the Imperial system will mostly use and think in metric.

Imperial units with the miles and shit, while I think are terrible, is nothing compared to the FUCKING TERRIBLE MEASUREMENT THAT IS CUPS WHAT THE FUCK IS A CUP? You have no idea how many fucking times I get annoyed when I want to do a recipe, and they go, oh ya, just add a cup of this, a cup of that. It doesn't help in baking, which is science, which requires precise measurements. A cup of flour =/= A cup of milk or water.

[QUOTE=FFStudios;53013592]even the Brits?? you mean a country with one-sixth of the population and 1/75 the land mass? wow! color me shocked that it was easier for them to do that! seriously though, will europeans ever learn that the stuff that works in their tiny ass countries crammed into one continent doesn't necessarily work in a huge ass country spread across an entire continent?[/QUOTE] what on earth does the size of the country have to do with it?

[QUOTE=Zukriuchen;53013704]what on earth does the size of the country have to do with it?[/QUOTE] It's the usual get out clause that certain Americans like to deploy when asked to hold themselves to the same standard as the rest of the world

[QUOTE=FFStudios;53013592]even the Brits?? you mean a country with one-sixth of the population and 1/75 the land mass? wow! color me shocked that it was easier for them to do that! seriously though, will europeans ever learn that the stuff that works in their tiny ass countries crammed into one continent doesn't necessarily work in a huge ass country spread across an entire continent?[/QUOTE] China did it in 1925. Indonesia did it in 1946. India did it in 1954. Nearly every single fucking country in the world has managed to switch with no issue. America isn't special, get with the times.

[QUOTE=Ignhelper;53013695]Imperial units with the miles and shit, while I think are terrible, is nothing compared to the FUCKING TERRIBLE MEASUREMENT THAT IS CUPS WHAT THE FUCK IS A CUP? You have no idea how many fucking times I get annoyed when I want to do a recipe, and they go, oh ya, just add a cup of this, a cup of that. It doesn't help in baking, which is science, which requires precise measurements. [B]A cup of flour =/= A cup of milk or water.[/B][/QUOTE] Uhh, I'm pretty sure they're the same thing. You might be confusing ounces and fluid ounces?

[QUOTE=FFStudios;53013592]even the Brits?? you mean a country with one-sixth of the population and 1/75 the land mass? wow! color me shocked that it was easier for them to do that! seriously though, will europeans ever learn that the stuff that works in their tiny ass countries crammed into one continent doesn't necessarily work in a huge ass country spread across an entire continent?[/QUOTE] Literally the entire world uses the metric system except for the United States lmao what the fuck are you on about?

If metrification is brought up for an actual serious discussion these days, it'll immediately become a partisan issue. I kinda expect it to happen at some point in my lifetime, but not anytime soon.

[QUOTE=Craigewan;53013707]It's the usual get out clause that certain Americans like to deploy when asked to hold themselves to the same standard as the rest of the world[/QUOTE] American exceptionalism is one hell of a drug.

[QUOTE=Big Bang;53013713]Literally the entire world uses the metric system except for the United States lmao what the fuck are you on about?[/QUOTE] Except for Burma and Liberia. To quote Archer: "Wow really?... Cause you never really think of those other two as having their shit together."