Jump to content

Menu

Poll for ds: Would you rather change US measurement to metric


Would your prefer the US switch to metric system  

  1. 1. Would your prefer the US switch to metric system

    • Yes
      136
    • No
      63
    • I don't care either way
      23
    • Other
      2


Recommended Posts

I don't care either way. I internalized metric when I lived abroad. However, I would revolt if they switched to recipes with weights instead of cups. I have no idea what 200 g of flour looks like!

:iagree:

It's annoying to have to get the scale out all the time. I much prefer cups. I also voted that I don't care either way. I could do metric, but I don't mind the U.S. system either.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like the US system. The metric system has no interesting tales behind it. No spirit. It's sterile.

 

 

Au contraire. Do you know where the metre came from? Take one imaginary line and then divide it into ten million pieces! Or how about this:

 

A surveying team under the direction of two men, Pierre-Francois-Andre Mechain and Jean- Baptiste-Joseph Delambre, spent 6 years in measuring the “arc” that the earth made in a line between Dunkirk in France on the English Channel and Barcelona in Spain. The surveyors underwent much harassment and even were jailed, at times, while making their measurements, because some of the citizens and area officials resented their presence and felt they were up to no good. It was later found that Delambre and Mechain had not properly accounted for the earth's flattening in correcting for oblateness.

http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/origin.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I could add blinking lights and arrows I would. I use metric at work all day, and after learning it, it make SO MUCH MORE sense than empirical math.

 

YES!

Edited by Tap, tap, tap
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nooo see weighing for baking is actually quite nice. Imagine, you have one bowl and you weigh most of the ingredients all in the one bowl as you go along (just zero it out each time)! I tried it and it's great!!

 

As long as your scale does not shut off before you're done, it really is pretty easy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I vote for metric as well. When I moved to Germany it took a bit of getting used to but I really prefer it now and it makes more sense. Like a pp mentioned, it makes for much more consistent results in baking and I find it alot easier to weigh everything in one bowl on my scale than to get out a bunch of cups.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Love the metric system!

 

DD is in human medicine - everything is metric...people give her their weight in lbs., she converts to kg. Medicine is all in cc's, ml, g. etc.

 

The other three boys are all headed for science careers and will need to thoroughly comfortable with the metric system. The youngest is so devoted that he actually spends more time thinking in metric than U.S.

 

The whole metric system just makes sense! :001_smile:

 

Faith

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, please switch to metric. Especially since many of my recipes are messed up anyway, by manufacturers switching their portion size. Just yesterday found an old recipe that called for 16 oz of enchilada sauce, and store only had 10 oz cans.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would switch in a heartbeat! The metric system makes so much more sense. I'm surprised we haven't already changed over. What the heck are we waiting for?

 

I tried to talk ds into making it a life goal to have the US change. He's not quite ready for the challenge.

 

The only real hindrance we saw was changing miles to kilometers, they'd be printing a lot of new road signs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Au contraire. Do you know where the metre came from? Take one imaginary line and then divide it into ten million pieces! Or how about this:

 

A surveying team under the direction of two men, Pierre-Francois-Andre Mechain and Jean- Baptiste-Joseph Delambre, spent 6 years in measuring the “arc†that the earth made in a line between Dunkirk in France on the English Channel and Barcelona in Spain. The surveyors underwent much harassment and even were jailed, at times, while making their measurements, because some of the citizens and area officials resented their presence and felt they were up to no good. It was later found that Delambre and Mechain had not properly accounted for the earth's flattening in correcting for oblateness.

http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/origin.html

 

Apparently some people would rather have a system using a measure based on the distance from the tip of a king's nose to the end of his thumb. (This is the basis for the yard.)

 

I vote metric.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Apparently some people would rather have a system using a measure based on the distance from the tip of a king's nose to the end of his thumb. (This is the basis for the yard.)

 

I vote metric.

 

Having my own personal foot (two actually :D) that are exactly 12 inches long does make feet a difficult measure to give up. And nose to the end of my thumb is also a perfect yard. Maybe I should be a King? :tongue_smilie:

 

Bill

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I voted no, but I worked in engineering for 10 years and the US system is what I am used to. I did have metric in school, but prefer US.

 

Well, I worked in engineering in my pre-kids life, and I voted yes. We had to draft everything with both US and metric measurements. What a waste of time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Grew up with metric, so it's "Aye, full speed ahead!" here.

 

An unrelated piece of trivia - this question came up on a Swagbucks daily poll, with the options and just over 50% went with the option "I'm from the US and I say no to switching".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I grew up with metric and learned Imperial in regular life.

 

Metric is better for measuring things that are hopelessly abstract -- very large or very small, say. The distance to the moon. The size of a cell.

 

For concrete measurements, Imperial is much better. Inches, feet, cups, and pounds came into being because they are naturally, useful units. Take height. People who are four feet something are quite short. Five feet is in the middle range; six feet is tall. OTOH, everyone is a metre-something. A batch of bread is a pound of flour. An inch is "small." Which is easier to remember -- one and an half cups, or 375 mL? My babies were 4 lbs 11 oz, 7 lbs 6 oz, and 7 lbs even (small, medium, medium). They were all something over 1500 grams. I think.

 

IME, most people in Canada think at least partly in Imperial. Everyone I know thinks of height and weight in imperial, unless they, say, work in a hospital.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Apparently some people would rather have a system using a measure based on the distance from the tip of a king's nose to the end of his thumb. (This is the basis for the yard.)

 

Well, yes, that is indeed a much better unit. A yard is about an arms length. Very useful for, say, estimating fabric.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't care either way. I internalized metric when I lived abroad. However, I would revolt if they switched to recipes with weights instead of cups. I have no idea what 200 g of flour looks like!

The metric system has measuring cups for cooking.

 

I have a nifty chart that converts grams into cups. It is different for each ingredient.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I tried to talk ds into making it a life goal to have the US change. He's not quite ready for the challenge.

 

The only real hindrance we saw was changing miles to kilometers, they'd be printing a lot of new road signs.

 

I'll sponsor him!

 

Yes, here in NJ, we'd have to renumber the Garden State Parkway exits, and everyone would have to relearn what their answer to "What exit?" is, but it'd be worth it. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Au contraire. Do you know where the metre came from? Take one imaginary line and then divide it into ten million pieces! Or how about this:

 

A surveying team under the direction of two men, Pierre-Francois-Andre Mechain and Jean- Baptiste-Joseph Delambre, spent 6 years in measuring the “arc†that the earth made in a line between Dunkirk in France on the English Channel and Barcelona in Spain. The surveyors underwent much harassment and even were jailed, at times, while making their measurements, because some of the citizens and area officials resented their presence and felt they were up to no good. It was later found that Delambre and Mechain had not properly accounted for the earth's flattening in correcting for oblateness.

http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/origin.html

 

An imaginary line is not interesting (to me at least,) nor is the invisible arc between two towns I've never visited.

 

OTOH, the politics and marketing of making up a system of measurement and convincing the whole world to buy into it might be interesting, but not enough to switch.

 

Slightly off topic, but how come they didn't create a metric calendar while they were at it? I'd think the 7's and 12's would really irritate the base 10 purists.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like the US system. The metric system has no interesting tales behind it. No spirit. It's sterile.

 

It's not really that hard to use metric at work or when traveling, and the US system at home.

 

This is how I feel but couldn't put it in words.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the metric system is easier to learn and use, and it is more exact.

 

Four decades ago, when I was in elementary school, we learned the metric system because the U.S. was going to switch to it very soon. When DD was in 2nd grade, her class began to learn it because the U.S. was going to switch to it very soon. Of course, my kids learned it in HS, but only in case any of them wanted to pursue a science career. I've given up hope that the US will switch.

 

If my kids could vote here, they would add 4 more votes for the metric system.

Edited by RoughCollie
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Slightly off topic, but how come they didn't create a metric calendar while they were at it? I'd think the 7's and 12's would really irritate the base 10 purists.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Republican_Calendar

 

Excerpt:

"There were twelve months, each divided into three ten-day weeks called décades.

..

Each day in the Republican Calendar was divided into ten hours, each hour into 100 decimal minutes, and each decimal minute into 100 decimal seconds. "

 

My head hurts thinking about switching to the above. Perhaps I can understand the reaction (against metric) of those who grew up with the US system. :tongue_smilie:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ugh, YES! I hate the US system after learning metric. Metric just makes so much more sense! Living in Europe we had to adjust to it fairly quickly as I buy most of our food off post and it's all metric in weight. It took me forever to figure how what 200g of cheese from the deli looked like, but once I figured out the weights, it was so easy. Cooking in metric is easy too. And yes, they do make metric measuring cups. Europeans don't weigh everything on a scale. They have a set of cups, just like we do, but with different amounts. I love that everything is based on 10.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nooo see weighing for baking is actually quite nice. Imagine, you have one bowl and you weigh most of the ingredients all in the one bowl as you go along (just zero it out each time)! I tried it and it's great!!

 

Yep thats what I do. Its so much easier. We would rather switch here. My kids have proclaimed that the U.S. system makes zero sense. They like the metric system much better.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...