I don't get it, why is metric better?

[Leon]

There is no such thing as "a third" in the metric world.

[Leon]

LOL. Is that numerically possible?

[Leon]

The Metric system is a "basic introduction to math"

The Imperial system is "Algebra".

[dadiOH]

Lucky you/ When I was a kid, there were only reel push mowers. Worked OK for an adult but for a little kid the handle cross pieces were somewhere around eye level. NOT easy :(

[notbob]

And you are exhibiting what, exactly?

As Ed has already stated, metric is already here. I've always hadda set of metric tools. I only bought SAE, later. This due to my being a motorcycle mechanic in the early Japanese "dumping" days (70s). I used metric cuz that's what works. Also worked on my American made '60 Rambler. Much later, I worked in Silcon Valley. All our specs, plans, fasteners were in metric. Why? Our primary market was the rest of the World. And this was almost twenty years ago. ;)

nb

[notbob]

But, I do!

I was using metric long before I ever attended college. And quite frankly, I can use either system with equal ease. I do it every day.

Don't you?

nb

[graham]

In my profession, we used to use "µ" when we published papers in science journals. Now they insist on using "µm". Graham

[graham]

Yes! Here in Canada! I have a couple of 2 litre bottles of milk in the fridge right now.

[Larry Blanchard]

I'm joining this discussion late, so this may have been said already.

I can visualize a foot, a yard, a gallon, and even an acre. Because I grew up with them! The same is true of someone who grew up with the metric system - they have no trouble visualizing a meter, a liter, or a hectare.

So there's a lot of reluctance to have to unlearn and relearn. That said, if you took two children and taught one of them each system, absent extenal influences, I have no doubt the one learning metric would progress faster.

Hmmm - I wonder if that is one reason, maybe a major one, that European students show up so much better than US students on math tests?

[graham]

Depends on whether it's an Imperial or US ounce too:-)

[Ed Pawlowski]

Its a measurement. Kodak, a US company made miles of it and used metric tools to do it. They had to or not have that business that Fuji, Agfa and others made money from. They chose to buy a metric ruler and cash in.

I guess I gave you too much credit. Ever been to Europe? By day two most of us are buying fuel by the liter and can figure distance in kilometers. Stubbornness is the only reason a normal intelligent person would not grasp it.

Yep,stubbornness. You've not stated one of those many reasons not to use metric.

[Larry Blanchard]

OK, but what enters into "better" for a number system other than ease of use?

Oh yeah, the one I grew up with is "better" :-). Gimme that old time religion :-).

[graham]

Not "+1.00"?

[dpb]

What part of "...the innate volume reference of the US population..." did you miss? That we've not [yet] annexed Canada? :)

[dpb]

On 08/07/2016 11:55 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote: ...

Again, nobody buys fuel by a specific volume almost ever; they either fill up the tank or container or watch the total monetary amount. If the pump is in liter vis a vis gallons; so what? It's just like the soda bottle, you buy what is offered; there's no choice and no need to even think of what the volume actually is; it takes what it takes to get to wherever you're going in whatever vehicle it is you're driving.

Similarly w/ the road signs...but it still doesn't mean it becomes any more innate quickly than does the immediate reaction to pull to the right in traffic when something unexpected happens; it's just too ingrained to overcome in only a few days (and yes, I've "been there, done that!" a number of times, including driving off the M and class A roads.

[dpb]

No, 1 - 0/32 :)

[Ed Pawlowski]

What is "better" is what you know. 320 million of us leaned inches and expect the other 6.5 billion people to adapt to us.

Just as most of us speak English and want others to do so rather than us learn Urdu or Swahili.

What is also easier is having an open mind and learning how to use other methods compatible with the rest of the world.

[Leon]

Snip

Absolutely! Other students do not have to deal with fractions.

[Leon]

No push mower is easy, and especially down here in Houston. We have St. Augustine grass, often referred to as carpet grass. Let it get a little over grown and it is an effort to walk on, no dragging your feet. ;~)

My dad replace that self propelled mower with a standard push mower when I was about 8 and I had to drag it to cut the yard.

[Leon]

LOL