Much Ado About Ado
By Mitch Berg
The left, in its tireless search for crises not to waste, is going – some of them, anyway – back to that old warhorse, the Metric System.
Examined in a vacuum, there is nothing obviously virtuous about the imperial system of measurement. If the United States were starting from scratch, à la Thomas Paine, its people would almost certainly elect to conform to the global standard, if only because it would make it easier for scientists who work on collaborative projects. But this is rather beside the point, for we do not live in a vacuum, and the United States is not to be started anew. Instead, we are discussing the future of a well-established and extraordinarily successful country that is full of living, breathing, habit-forming people. Were Americans to follow Lincoln Chafee’s counsel and, in a “bold embrace of internationalism” agree to “join the rest of the world and go metric,” it would almost certainly make Germany and Lithuania and San Marino feel a little better about themselves. It may help things on the International Space Station, too. But it would not, pace Chafee’s blasé claim, represent an “easy” transition. Au contraire: To pull the roots out at this late stage in the game would be extremely tough. The imperial system developed as it did for a reason — to wit, it makes intuitive sense. To push people out of their intuitions is a hard task indeed.
I’m going to disagree with both sides.
For starters, as the old saw says, there are two types of countries; ones that use metric, and ones that’ve been to the moon. We clearly don’t suffer much from using metric.
And beyond that? Every American that needs to use metric – scientists, doctors, soldiers – already does.
And seriously – is it really that hard to switch between the two? A meter is about a yard. There are three kilometers to two miles. A kilo is 2.2 pounds. A liter is a quart with a little change. There are about 2.5 hectares to an acre, not that anyone in n a country that is actually self-sufficient for food measures land in hectares (except maybe Australian and Argentina). 9 millimeter is the same as .38, .357 and .380 ACP.
June 5th, 2015 at 8:36 am
I remember when the speed limit signs show the both English and Metric systems. I loved driving 88. I still do, on the theory that if it was legal under Carter it should be legal under Obama.
June 5th, 2015 at 8:38 am
Many who F***ing Love Science! think they’re demonstrating ‘teh’ smart by advocating metric over imperial and that they are ‘doing Science!’ when they ‘go all metric’ on you. Tell them to look for the 1/3 of a meter long hot dog stand at the state fair. Lincoln Chafee would definitely fall for that gag.
Most scientists and engineers are able to move between the two systems rather easily. When I have worked in countries that use the metric system, I was surprised to learn that most people – even those who were born and grew up under the metric system use both systems interchangeably (no one ever gave me directions of “go 0.8 km and turn left”) . When my spouse got into baking a few years back, she found using grams and liters over ounces or cups led to a more consistent outcome.
June 5th, 2015 at 10:07 am
(CNN) — NASA lost a $125 million Mars orbiter because a Lockheed Martin engineering team used English units of measurement while the agency’s team used the more conventional metric system for a key spacecraft operation, according to a review finding released Thursday.
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/9909/30/mars.metric.02/
June 5th, 2015 at 10:47 am
Give themthe whole nine yards.
June 5th, 2015 at 10:54 am
@DMA: Proving that engineers aren’t rocket scientists.
(Actually, as a math major we used to joke that if the equation wasn’t off by a factor of two it was probably derived by an engineer.)
June 5th, 2015 at 11:08 am
A “Big Bang Theory” episode Sheldon’s sister called him a rocket scientist.
He was DEEPLY offended.
June 5th, 2015 at 11:15 am
Who benefits from pretending “unit conversion” is a real problem that we need to solve? The NASA/Lockheed Martin problem seems to be that someone wanted to make assumptions about the units of measurement being used, which is a great way to fail at whatever you’re trying to do (and can be done just fine from within the metric system itself).
June 5th, 2015 at 11:40 am
I agree. Today one click of a button and you switch units. It was a real problem in the 70s when the big push to convert started.
June 5th, 2015 at 11:54 am
In my industry, computer storage, there are many places where it’s common to mix imperial and metric units. You are therefore always careful to specify them and understand the differences.
A big reason not to mandate metric from an engineering perspective is that so many standards are done in the old imperial units. Let the market decide.
June 5th, 2015 at 1:07 pm
“Tell them to look for the 1/3 of a meter long hot dog stand at the state fair.”
Family lore says that grandma (born 1890) was a girl when Sweden switched to Metric. They sent her to the store to by some sausage. She walked up to the butcher and politely asked for a kilometer of korv.
Which only goes to show that you make one little mistake and they NEVER forget.
June 5th, 2015 at 1:29 pm
I’ve been using metric measurement at work for at least 10 years.
June 5th, 2015 at 1:31 pm
Besides, who wouldn’t rather have a “Royale with cheese” than a Quarter pounder?
June 5th, 2015 at 1:47 pm
For being all British, Top Gear (and most motoring journalists outside Japan) certainly doesn’t ever mention 0-100KM, nor braking distance in meters. TG goes back and forth between weights in kilos and tonnes (imp).
June 6th, 2015 at 4:46 pm
I enjoy Boddington’s Pub Ale. Comes in a PINT, dammit, not a bloody demiliter.
June 8th, 2015 at 3:51 pm
It comes in demiliters?