I love America

[cadet]

And everything in it. Except for the stupid measuring that we use.
Someone explain to me why we use this stupid system.
Even take into account Celsius vs Fahrenheit. 0 is freezing point of water, 100 is boiling. Whereas Fahrenheit is some random number. This makes engineering that much more difficult.

4282

http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/usmetric.html


It shall be lawful throughout the United States of America to employ the weights and measures of the metric system; and no contract or dealing, or pleading in any court, shall be deemed invalid or liable to objection because the weights or measures expressed or referred to therein are weights or measures of the metric system.
As a result, the U. S. has been "metric" since 1866, but only in the sense that Americans have been free since that time to use the metric system as much as they like. Although there has always been popular resistance to changing the traditional measures, the metric system has actually enjoyed strong support from American business leaders and scientists since the late nineteenth century. In 1875, the U.S. was one of the original signers of the Treaty of the Meter, which established the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM).

[Thunderknuckles]

I agree but getting people to change would be an epic nightmare

[tailfins]

We speak English, we should measure in English. There's no need to make a further assault on our national sovereignty. Besides, it makes a NICE excuse to cops on the other side of the border. "It's such a hard habit to break to see a sign that says "80" (km/h) and associate it with the "80" (MPH) on my speedometer".

[WiccanLiberal]

In my humble opinion, we would be better off if metric were used universally. In health care, the English system and old apothecary measures are an absolute nightmare but they are still taught because they persist in some places. This can lead to deadly drug errors. And if you are ever in an ER or ICU and need lifesaving drugs via IV, all of them are calculated on a basis of microgram per kilogram. That means every time you give your weight in pounds, some RN or MD needs to change that weight to kilograms before determining dosage. That's one more step and adds to the possibility of error. An experienced practitioner knows the usual range of correct dosage but one unfamiliar with the drug may not and may give a dose that is low and ineffective or an overdose that could hurt or kill. The matter of measuring is not a minor one. It can be deadly serious.