Should the whole world follow 1 unit of measurement?
129 replies, posted
Its really annoying when I have to calculate and change miles, yards, pounds, into the metric system. But that is a small problem. The big problem, is when travelling, and if you rent/buy a car in countries that uses metric/imperial system, you have to find out the correct units for what you had been taught. It is time consuming, and of course, you'll feel annoyed with it, and wouldn't bother learning the other measurement system. Of course, you'll most likely say that learning both will be the best choice, but it still is a waste of time, and after all, you probably stick to one of them. But I find metric to be more accurate, since it ends with a zero. Like how 1 mile=1.6km, and that is annoying to me. Why can't they just fucking round off?
Yes, definitely. It wouldn't be easy nor cheap to change though.
Everyone should just use metric. It's superior in every way.
I don't think any country has entirely switched over to the metric system.
Weight isn't measured in Newtons. Pounds are typically used instead.
Height isn't measured in centimetres. At least, I would be surprised if one were to consider oneself 175cm.
Power isn't always measured in Watts. Cars have horsepower and food has Calories.
Volume isn't always measured in Litres. Oil comes in barrels.
Pressure isn't always measured in Pascals. Blood is measured in mmHg and air in atm.
Angles can be measured in three units, as can temperature.
If the world is to conform to the metric system, you yourself would be inconvenienced by the imposition of new units and you'd end up learning new measurements.
I say everyone should use the SI system, but it isn't that easy, It's like saying everyone should drive on the same side of the road, it involves remaking a lot of the roads out there and just isn't worth it.
Also, you can't change the conversion factors of Imperial units to be whole numbers. That would just change the value of the units, require remaking of everything labelled with the old units, and cause even more confusion than simply changing everyone over to SI.
[QUOTE=Krinkels;35287189]I don't think any country has entirely switched over to the metric system.[b]True, but here in Australia we're pretty close[/b]
Weight isn't measured in Newtons. Pounds are typically used instead.[b]Kilograms, which itself is a unit of mass not weight[/b]
Height isn't measured in centimetres. At least, I would be surprised if one were to consider oneself 175cm.[b]Metres here[/b]
Power isn't always measured in Watts. Cars have horsepower and food has Calories.[b]Mainly watts but yeah[/b]
Volume isn't always measured in Litres. Oil comes in barrels.[b]Litres 'ere[/b]
Pressure isn't always measured in Pascals. Blood is measured in mmHg and air in atm.[b]Not sure about these, I've only heard people use pascals[/b]
Angles can be measured in three units, as can temperature.[b]Mainly radians here[/b]
If the world is to conform to the metric system, you yourself would be inconvenienced by the imposition of new units and you'd end up learning new measurements.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Krinkels;35287215]Also, you can't change the conversion factors of Imperial units to be whole numbers. That would just change the value of the units, require remaking of everything labelled with the old units, and cause even more confusion than simply changing everyone over to SI.[/QUOTE]
Yeah hence it isn't worth it
[QUOTE=Krinkels;35287189]I don't think any country has entirely switched over to the metric system.
Weight isn't measured in Newtons. Pounds are typically used instead.
Height isn't measured in centimetres. At least, I would be surprised if one were to consider oneself 175cm.
Power isn't always measured in Watts. Cars have horsepower and food has Calories.
Volume isn't always measured in Litres. Oil comes in barrels.
Pressure isn't always measured in Pascals. Blood is measured in mmHg and air in atm.
Angles can be measured in three units, as can temperature.
If the world is to conform to the metric system, you yourself would be inconvenienced by the imposition of new units and you'd end up learning new measurements.[/QUOTE]
Sorry, but you're wrong. In Europe, excluding the UK, we measure weight in Newtons, height in meters, volume in liters and temperature in Celsius.
[quote]and food has Calories.[/quote]
Calories are the worst unit of measurement ever since they cannot be accurately calculated.
There are certain measurements that should really be kept due to their utility in certain circumstances, like mmHG (mm of mercury) used for blood pressure, atomic mass units, and the astronomical units like lightyears. Still, other than that, it would be incredibly useful for the whole world to use SI, and it wouldn't take the millions of pounds, euros or dollars that everyone claims it would - it's perfectly possible to phase it in. Over in the UK, and most of Europe, cars will have both M/H and km/H on their speedometers, and that doesn't cost any more for the factory to use.
As for the familiarity issue, I don't understand any imperial unit other than the inch - I actually have no clue how high I am in feet and cannot visualise a foot, or how big it is. (short of knowing it's 30cm, which I understand)
[QUOTE=Hruhf;35287235]Yeah hence it isn't worth it[/QUOTE]
Wait, what country uses mainly radians? I just assumed everywhere used degrees.
[QUOTE=Hruhf;35287193]I say everyone should use the SI system, but it isn't that easy, It's like saying everyone should drive on the same side of the road, it involves remaking a lot of the roads out there and just isn't worth it.[/QUOTE]
SI units are generally just metric anyway, aren't they?
[QUOTE=Hellduck;35287464]Wait, what country uses mainly radians? I just assumed everywhere used degrees.[/QUOTE]
Australia
Not too sure about everything else but everything I've come across in highschool and uni has been in radians. Haven't really seen angles outside of education though.
[QUOTE=Hruhf;35287602]Australia
Not too sure about everything else but everything I've come across in highschool and uni has been in radians. Haven't really seen angles outside of education though.[/QUOTE]
That's odd (from my point of view - at my school in the UK you didn't even learn about radians unless you're doing Maths or Physics or something at A-level), but it kinda makes sense - radians are probably better than degrees overall anyway.
[QUOTE=Negrul1;35287590]SI units are generally just metric anyway, aren't they?[/QUOTE]
I believe so, other than some small differences (eg kilogram to gram, kelvin)
I prefer stuff to be measured in Meters, Grams and Celsius.
100cm is easier to convert into 1m and 1000m to 1km
1000g to 1kg and 0 degrees Celsius is freezing point
Measurement in Inches, miles, pounds and Fahrenheit is so confusing.
[QUOTE=Hellduck;35287464]Wait, what country uses mainly radians? I just assumed everywhere used degrees.[/QUOTE]
You'll use both a lot in maths past GCSE in the UK, and presumably in the rest of the world.
Radians are infinitely more useful when you have to deal with circles.
At least conversion isn't too bad, 360 degrees is 2 pi radians.
[QUOTE=BCell;35287638]I prefer stuff to be measured in Meters, Grams and Celsius.
100cm is easier to convert into 1m and 1000m to 1km
1000g to 1kg and 0 degrees Celsius is freezing point
Measurement in Inches, miles, pounds and Fahrenheit is so confusing.[/QUOTE]
I used to hate it when our teacher would give us a measurement in imperial just to catch us off guard. Instead we all get stuck because we don't know the conversion.
[QUOTE=Hruhf;35287624]I believe so, other than some small differences (eg kilogram to gram, kelvin)[/QUOTE]
The Kilogram is the SI unit, the gram was considered too small.
[img]http://memefolder.com/image/609.png[/img]
I know the pic is a bit silly and all, but it has a good point.
Metric is the way to go, and imperial does nothing but bring confusion. If everyone used metric, communication between countries like the US and Europe would become much better.
[QUOTE=danharibo;35287783]The Kilogram is the SI unit, the gram was considered too small.[/QUOTE]
That's what I meant by that, the metric unit is gram where SI is kilogram.
I adhere to the metric system so much I have completely ignored Imperial.
Whenever somebody usually gives me an imperial measurement, I tell them to give it in metric or else I won't use it. Mostly it's old people who get annoyed by this.
Fuck the imperial system. It literally makes no sense.
The conversion from pounds to kilos is like 0,45942747 or something. Who the heck wants to be tasked with remembering a conversion like that?
I'm American, and I don't know why we use the standard system when the rest of the world uses metric. I mean, it's the only way I can get an idea into my head of how long/tall/far away something is because that's what we were taught since a young age.
Although I do like the idea of a universal system of measurement, much like how I think there should be a universal sign language.
[QUOTE=Sickle;35289162]Fuck the imperial system. It literally makes no sense.
The conversion from pounds to kilos is like 0,45942747 or something. Who the heck wants to be tasked with remembering a conversion like that?[/QUOTE]
Apparently you do good sir.
But yeah the imperial system sucks ass.
[QUOTE=Krinkels;35287189]I don't think any country has entirely switched over to the metric system.
Weight isn't measured in Newtons. Pounds are typically used instead.
Height isn't measured in centimetres. At least, I would be surprised if one were to consider oneself 175cm.
Power isn't always measured in Watts. Cars have horsepower and food has Calories.
Volume isn't always measured in Litres. Oil comes in barrels.
Pressure isn't always measured in Pascals. Blood is measured in mmHg and air in atm.
Angles can be measured in three units, as can temperature.
If the world is to conform to the metric system, you yourself would be inconvenienced by the imposition of new units and you'd end up learning new measurements.[/QUOTE]
Actually most of those things are measured in metric in countries that have had metric for a long time (most European nations)
Telling people about pounds, feet, or whatever just confuses them since they know they measure 167 and weight 60 for instance.
Temperature is measured by Celsius just about anywhere and kelvin is merely a modification of celsius (uses the same grading system).
A few things are standardly not measured in SI but there's usually a very simple conversion. Or the measurement exists because it makes more sense.
For the record - I believe Oil barrels as a measurement system was pushed by the americans who succeeded in that. In Europe it's sold per cubic volume though (large scale obviously). Same goes for gas and similar.
[QUOTE=Hellduck;35287464]Wait, what country uses mainly radians? I just assumed everywhere used degrees.[/QUOTE]
Degrees tend to be grade school level but highschool and higher tends to switch over to radians almost exclusively.
And the reason is obviously that radians make more sense mathematically. There's no reason to use it in everyday life and I can't imagine that this is standard anywhere. Radians vs degrees has nothing to do with the metric system vs imperial system. Think of it like everyday usage vs scientific usage. It's like celsius and kelvin.
Everyone needs to use one system.
[QUOTE=booster;35287788][img]http://memefolder.com/image/609.png[/img]
I know the pic is a bit silly and all, but it has a good point.
Metric is the way to go, and imperial does nothing but bring confusion. If everyone used metric, communication between countries like the US and Europe would become much better.[/QUOTE]
i'm pretty sure that this ranks astonishingly(except not really astonishing considering how trivial this really is) low on "things that could be fixed to improve communication between nations"
[editline]25th March 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=Sickle;35289162]Fuck the imperial system. It literally makes no sense.
The conversion from pounds to kilos is like 0,45942747 or something. Who the heck wants to be tasked with remembering a conversion like that?[/QUOTE]
lmao as if you actually need to remember it under any circumstances ever
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