# Pushing for total metric in the US: is a foolish consistency the hobgoblin of a small mind? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 5, 2015, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pushing-for-total-metric-in-the-us-is-a-foolish-consistency-the-hobgoblin-of-a-small-mind/727017 "2015-08-05T00:02:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pushing-for-total-metric-in-the-us-is-a-foolish-consistency-the-hobgoblin-of-a-small-mind/727017/81 "2015-08-06T14:42:18Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > I use a measuring cup graduated in weights and volumes. Fill it up here, it’s 100 grams of floor, fill it up there, it’s 200 mililiters of milk, fill it up there it’s 50 grams of sugar, etc… Butter is the only common product that I can’t measure this way, but the butter packages themselves are graduated by weight, so it’s not an issue > Most of more uncommon products are measured in quantities : two heads of garlic, 3 eggs, 5 tomatoes, etc… For those who aren’t, I guesstimate : 100 grams of walnuts is a bit less than half the 250 grams package of walnuts I have, and so on… > I never use a scale. You’re mismeasuring the sugar, which isn’t 1ml = 1g. Also oil, but to a lesser degree. You’re good with the milk. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pushing-for-total-metric-in-the-us-is-a-foolish-consistency-the-hobgoblin-of-a-small-mind/727017/82 "2015-08-06T14:46:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > 1: Nobody, not even most Americans, knows the conversion factors for the American system. Sure, we all know how many inches there are in a foot and how many ounces in a pound, but what’s an acre? If I have a piece of land that’s so many feet on one side and so many feet on the other, how many acres is that? If I have a fish tank that’s 18 inches by 24 inches by 48 inches, how many gallons will it hold? And even when you do know the conversion factors, it makes calculations needlessly hard: If an amusement park ride requires a minimum of 56 inches, and my kid is 4’9", should we bother going to the park, or wait until next year? As stated before, though, generally all these “conversions” just aren’t things a typical person needs to do on a daily basis, so it’s generally such a minor inconvenience as to be minor. Like, sure, I don’t know how big an acre is in square feet, so what? Why do I even need to know that? Square feet is impractical for measuring land. Instead, I have a perception in my mind of roughly how big an acre is and I can judge that when I see a plot of land. Similarly, even though you can easily convert from Hectares to Square Meters, again, who cares? It’s too many Square Meters to be a meaningful number to comprehend. For fish tanks, every time I’ve seen them for sale, they’re labeled as X gallon fish tanks so, again, I don’t see that as an issue. Similarly, with rides, they’re generally not labeled as “you need to be 56 inches to ride”, it has a line and says “you must be this tall” and it doesn’t matter how that line was measured, because it’s not labeled. And sure, we can argue minutiae of contrived circumstances where people do calculations in daily life, but I honestly can’t remember the last time I did any calculations where unit conversion would have made it easier. I’ve calculated my gas mileage, but that’s just a simple divide, exactly the same complexity as in metric. Ditto for when I’ve weighed food at the supermarket. Or when I’m calculating the weights I’m lifting at the gym, just simple addition. > [@](#): > > 2: The American system of units is incoherent. Automobile mechanics, for instance, will learn that the power of an engine is equal to its RPMs times its torque times some magic number that you just have to memorize. Except that, in any sane system of units, power is just rotational speed times torque. These magic numbers are all over the place in the American system, and they’re never necessary. And don’t even get me started on pounds, stones, poundals, and pounds. Again, this is true, but where does it apply for every day usage? I absolutely agree that engineers and scientists should be using the units that are most convenient for the application which is overwhelmingly going to be metric. But, for going about my life, I don’t care. Yes, I’ve even memorized a lot of these magic numbers, but this sort of goes back to the first point. There’s 5280 ft in a mile, and that’s obnoxious, but I’ve NEVER had to figure out how many feet are in, say, one’s 21.3 mile commute to work outside of a middle school math test. In general, all people are using units for in daily life is measuring how much of stuff, or rates so they know time or pricing or whatever. > [@](#): > > 3: The American system of units is nonstandard. Units are useless if they’re not standardized, and while America might be the most powerful and important nation in the world, we’re not more powerful and important than the rest of the world combined, and international trade and other interactions are more important than ever. Even those nations that still use something resembling American units, use their own units, often with the same names, which just makes things even worse. > > In short, American units work just fine, so long as you never need to actually use them. And most people never do need to use them, and so they don’t see the problem. But if you ever do need to use a system of units, the whole thing explodes in your face. Again, I agree, that we should be using metric for those purposes, particularly things in trade. If we’re building cars, it only makes sense to use metric parts, etc. My complaint about the whole “Go Metric” thing is that it seems to miss these sorts of differences. I’ve actually heard a Brittish person mention their weight in Stone, then at another time condemn the US for still using Fahrenheit, or a Canadian berate us “silly Americans” for Fahrenheit, but later talk about miles or gallons or whatever. We just don’t NEED to force metric units on everyday use, they’re slowly fading out if they’re not serving much purpose, and the ones that are sticking around harder are the ones that still seem to have some utility. And that’s where something like Fahrenheit comes in… > [@](#): > > Now, for temperature, I’ll grant that the first two points are mostly moot, since very few people ever need to convert temperature to anything else, or combine temperature units with any other sort of unit. There’s no fundamental reason to prefer Celsius or Fahrenheit. The biggest difference is that the units are different sizes… but Celsius degrees are a more convenient size. Nobody ever actually uses individual Fahrenheit degrees: People speak of temperatures being “low 70s”, or “mid 70s”, or “high 70s”, and very seldom use any more precision than that. Which indicates that the degree size you need is only about 3.3 Fahrenheit degrees. In fact, even Celsius degrees are smaller than is needed, but at least they’re closer. I disagree that no one uses individual degrees. Yes, at more extreme temperatures, like 90s or 30s, we can’t really feel the difference, but when we get around room temperature, I can definitely feel the difference between each degree between about 68 and 75, then you can start getting into about 2 degree resolution. It’s a minor thing, but the whole point is, Fahrenheit has show it has a utility because people have latched onto it in a way they haven’t to, say, ounces over grams or liquid ounces over milliliters. Then again, temperature seems to be one of those things that we think and talk about on a daily basis, so whatever method we use is going to be that much more ingrained in us. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pushing-for-total-metric-in-the-us-is-a-foolish-consistency-the-hobgoblin-of-a-small-mind/727017/83 "2015-08-06T14:49:31Z")
There’s an ounce of truth to the pro-Imperial side. Wait, how much truth is that? ---
**Author:** ![ebsarvesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/aeb1de/32.png) [@ebsarvesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ebsarvesh)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pushing-for-total-metric-in-the-us-is-a-foolish-consistency-the-hobgoblin-of-a-small-mind/727017/84 "2015-08-06T15:17:25Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > And it’s trivially easy for you convert yards to miles off the top of your head, right? Goodness knows how many yards are in a mile. Yet I do know that there are 1,000 meters in a kilometer. IMHO? The metric system is easier to use. Everything just works, you don’t have to waste time converting weird multiples. For example, I know that a liter is 1000 milliliters, but how many fluid ounces are in a pint, or a gallon? God knows - I certainly don’t! ---
**Author:** ![ebsarvesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/aeb1de/32.png) [@ebsarvesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ebsarvesh)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pushing-for-total-metric-in-the-us-is-a-foolish-consistency-the-hobgoblin-of-a-small-mind/727017/85 "2015-08-06T15:25:57Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > 0°C = Freezing > 10°C = Cold > 20°C = Pleasant > 30°C = Hot > 40°C = Unbearable > > Works for me very neatly. Yup, that’s how I think of temperatures too. Anything below 10C is on the cold side, and you have to wrap up warm; anything above 30C is a bit too warm for me, and you have to find the air conditioned rooms. And in the winter, if it goes below zero (not that it does much) you know it’s time to wrap up really warm and shove the heating on. > [@Learjeff](#): > > It’s great when it’s -40. No letter required. Because -40 is the same at C and F! However, the chances of actually experiencing such temperatures is very remote. As a comparison, most freezers (for storing food) are set at about -20C. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pushing-for-total-metric-in-the-us-is-a-foolish-consistency-the-hobgoblin-of-a-small-mind/727017/86 "2015-08-06T16:00:42Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > you’re missing a major chunk of the unit system. I don’t think of the American System as a system. It’s a collection of individually useful measurements. A mile is useful to measure traveling distances. A foot is useful to measure large things like property lines. Inches are good for measuring smallish things, like people. Feet and inches together are really more trouble than they’re worth. I have a landscaping tape with decimal feet and a machinists ruler with decimal inches, makes calculations pretty easy. Cups and spoons are useful for cooking and pounds are useful for weighing things. I agree that ounces (of both types) suck, I prefer decimal pounds by a long shot. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pushing-for-total-metric-in-the-us-is-a-foolish-consistency-the-hobgoblin-of-a-small-mind/727017/87 "2015-08-06T16:30:00Z")
> [@ebsarvesh](#): > > Because -40 is the same at C and F! However, the chances of actually experiencing such temperatures is very remote. Have you ever lived in Saskatchewan? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pushing-for-total-metric-in-the-us-is-a-foolish-consistency-the-hobgoblin-of-a-small-mind/727017/88 "2015-08-06T16:39:15Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > It doesn’t really matter. the only people who care that we haven’t converted over only care inasmuch as it gives them something to complain about. > > where it _does_ matter (science and engineering,) we’ve already converted. Only if you pick and choose. If you look at petroleum engineering, for example, the available reserves in a particular well is calculated as the number of (42-gallon) barrels. In the newest, biggest, deep ocean drill ships, the drill pipe used is 6-5/8" pipe with 6-5/8 Full Hole connections. The casing sizes are alll in inches. The density of the drilling fluid is measured in pounds per gallon. I guess you could say petroleum engineering doesn’t really matter, though. Of course, the folks who use such measurements are all oilfield trash, so that may explain it. ---
**Author:** ![ebsarvesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/aeb1de/32.png) [@ebsarvesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ebsarvesh)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pushing-for-total-metric-in-the-us-is-a-foolish-consistency-the-hobgoblin-of-a-small-mind/727017/89 "2015-08-06T17:12:52Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Have you ever lived in Saskatchewan? 🙂 Don’t even know that there was such a place that existed, until now! I know most places in the UK though. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pushing-for-total-metric-in-the-us-is-a-foolish-consistency-the-hobgoblin-of-a-small-mind/727017/90 "2015-08-07T01:24:41Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > Not sure how to put this but there is ZERO advantage in usability of F vs C. I’d say you’re being ignorant of how human beings work. People prefer different things. I’m sure there is a small percentage of people raised in F who prefer C, and vice versa. > [@](#): > > This is what I mentioned earlier about ignorant arguments. Only an argument based on the ignorance of the experience of being raised in a different scale would conclude that F is better than C in any way. Wrong. I lived in Japan for 8 years, and also said I prefer certain metric units on their own merits. > [@](#): > > Sure it has higher usability for people raised with F but it has zero to negative advantage for people raised in C (e.g. they could claim “unnecessary granularity”) I am in agreement with you here. I don’t think F has anywhere close to enough advantage to overcome the “born into it and completely used to it” factor of C for those people. But the reverse is certainly also true: there’s not enough advantage of C (i.e., it matches Kelvin, etc.) for us to switch in the US. > [@](#): > > I find it sad that such arguments are being made on the SDMB. Positively scandalous! ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pushing-for-total-metric-in-the-us-is-a-foolish-consistency-the-hobgoblin-of-a-small-mind/727017/91 "2015-08-07T01:27:33Z")
> [@Learjeff](#): > > It’s great when it’s -40. No letter required. If only we could have met in the middle and not in Antarctica! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pushing-for-total-metric-in-the-us-is-a-foolish-consistency-the-hobgoblin-of-a-small-mind/727017/92 "2015-08-07T03:12:06Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > Not sure how to put this but there is ZERO advantage in usability of F vs C. This. I was raised on Fahrenheit (disclosure: I lived on an international border and was exposed daily to Celsius, but never used it myself). But I’ve also lived (and currently do) in metric countries. Either system is perfectly fine by me, and there’s not one that’s more usable than the other. Heck, in my kitchen I regularly use both (sous vide is in F, oven in C, ThermoPen in F, fridge in C). > [@Blaster\_Master](#): > > Yes, I’ve even memorized a lot of these magic numbers, but this sort of goes back to the first point. There’s 5280 ft in a mile, and that’s obnoxious, but I’ve NEVER had to figure out how many feet are in, say, one’s 21.3 mile commute to work outside of a middle school math test. It just so happens that I was watching a NOVA episode last night, and I wanted to compare the 50 mile altitude that they mentioned to a typical airliner cruising altitude of 36,000 feet. So, yeah, I pulled out the calculator and used my memorized 5280 feet conversion. And you know what? It wasn’t obnoxious in the least. It’s not difficult to remember these conversions. I’m old and use my calculator (or Excel) for pretty much anything these days, and it wasn’t obnoxious to require it, either. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pushing-for-total-metric-in-the-us-is-a-foolish-consistency-the-hobgoblin-of-a-small-mind/727017/93 "2015-08-07T03:13:39Z")
> [@ebsarvesh](#): > > Goodness knows how many yards are in a mile. > > Yet I do know that there are 1,000 meters in a kilometer. > > IMHO? The metric system is easier to use. Everything just works, you don’t have to waste time converting weird multiples. > > For example, I know that a liter is 1000 milliliters, but how many fluid ounces are in a pint, or a gallon? God knows - I certainly don’t! it’s funny that the people advocating the metric system trot out conversions that practically nobody has to do, like, ever. I’ve never in my life had to care about how many yards are in a mile. nor how many hectares are in a furlong, or how many rods to the hogshead. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pushing-for-total-metric-in-the-us-is-a-foolish-consistency-the-hobgoblin-of-a-small-mind/727017/94 "2015-08-07T06:51:41Z")
> [@Learjeff](#): > > You’re mismeasuring the sugar, which isn’t 1ml = 1g. Also oil, but to a lesser degree. You’re good with the milk. I think **clairobscur** might have been referring to a metric version of this: [![](https://images.ehive.com/accounts/3021/objects/images/1tq0skv_16ap_l.jpg) ](https://images.ehive.com/accounts/3021/objects/images/1tq0skv_16ap_l.jpg) (it has different graduations for different ingredients) ---
**Author:** ![ebsarvesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/aeb1de/32.png) [@ebsarvesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ebsarvesh)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pushing-for-total-metric-in-the-us-is-a-foolish-consistency-the-hobgoblin-of-a-small-mind/727017/95 "2015-08-07T10:56:05Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > it’s funny that the people advocating the metric system trot out conversions that practically nobody has to do, like, ever. I’ve never in my life had to care about how many yards are in a mile. nor how many hectares are in a furlong, or **how many rods to the hogshead.** I’ve never even heard of a hogshead before! Is that some made up unit? 😕 I know that, in the UK, the road signs are mapped out in either miles or yards. If you see that you are 300 yards away from where you need to turn off, how much of a mile is that? I’ve never known and probably won’t know either. Whereas if the UK (and the US, obviously) adopted metric, if the sign said 400 meters, you’d know that it is also 0.4 km. And vice versa - if it says 0.5 km, you know it’s 500 meters. With regards to the temperature thing, the only real difference is the use of Kelvin, but if you are in science, or electronics, or anything that uses equations to work out temperatures (or involving temperatures), those temperatures are almost always specified in Kelvins. To get from C to K is easy: add (or subtract, depending on which way you are going) 273.15. How do you get from Fahrenheit to Kelvins? I haven’t a clue. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pushing-for-total-metric-in-the-us-is-a-foolish-consistency-the-hobgoblin-of-a-small-mind/727017/96 "2015-08-07T11:45:06Z")
> [@ebsarvesh](#): > > If you see that you are 300 yards away from where you need to turn off, how much of a mile is that? I’ve never known and probably won’t know either. Not a lot, which is as much information as is needed. 300 yards means “soon” not “0.17 miles, set your odometer now.” ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pushing-for-total-metric-in-the-us-is-a-foolish-consistency-the-hobgoblin-of-a-small-mind/727017/97 "2015-08-07T11:57:29Z")
> [@ebsarvesh](#): > > I’ve never even heard of a hogshead before! Is that some made up unit? 😕 > **[English brewery cask units](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_brewery_cask_units)** > > Capacities of brewery casks were formerly measured and standardised according to a specific system of English units. The system was originally based on the ale gallon of 282 cubic inches (4.62 L; 1.22 US gal). In United Kingdom and its colonies, with the adoption of the imperial system in 1824, the units were redefined in terms of the slightly smaller imperial gallon (1.2 US gal; 4.5 L). The older units continued in use in the United States. > Historically the terms beer and ale referred to distin... Hogshead, Butt, Firkin, and Kilderkin are all perfectly cromulent units of measure. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pushing-for-total-metric-in-the-us-is-a-foolish-consistency-the-hobgoblin-of-a-small-mind/727017/98 "2015-08-07T12:49:18Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > There’s an ounce of truth to the pro-Imperial side. > Wait, how much truth is that? Depends on if it’s a troy ounce or avoirdupois ounce. ---
**Author:** ![ebsarvesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/aeb1de/32.png) [@ebsarvesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ebsarvesh)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pushing-for-total-metric-in-the-us-is-a-foolish-consistency-the-hobgoblin-of-a-small-mind/727017/99 "2015-08-07T14:03:42Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > [English brewery cask units - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_brewery_cask_units) > > Hogshead, Butt, Firkin, and Kilderkin are all perfectly cromulent units of measure. Okay, thanks for the info. Well I guess you learn something new every day! But those units are for liquids and are related to the gallon - which is not required because you can use milliliters, centiliters and liters! (In the UK, you often see wine bottles measured in centiliters, e.g. 75 cl = 0.75 l = 750 ml.) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pushing-for-total-metric-in-the-us-is-a-foolish-consistency-the-hobgoblin-of-a-small-mind/727017/100 "2015-08-07T14:50:38Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > Further, there are aspects of the imperial system that are just better _for everyday applications_, and that’s the main reason why they’ve stuck around: > > • Miles are better for highway distances because, by happy coincidence, 60 mph is a common highway speed. You can easily estimate your time to your destination. Yes, it’s a small thing. But changing everything to km wouldn’t really make anyone’s life easier, except perhaps for foreign visitors and residents. > > • The Celsius temperature scale is a joke for daily use. Further, since both it and Fahrenheit are base 10 and the selection of their 0 point is _completely_ arbitrary, neither is more “metric” or “scientific” than the other (for actual science, please use Kelvin). The 0-100 scale of Celsius seems more rational at first glance, but it actually sucks for expressing daily temperatures: you have to go negative for anything even sort of cold, and almost nothing over 40 is used. OTOH, Fahrenheit 0-100 covers the temperature range that people actually experience, and it is suitably granular: no need for decimals at all. > > • Feet have stuck around because the meter is too big and the centimeter is too small for a lot of things. Also, millimeters are too fine a gradation for everyday crafts like home building, framing, etc., whereas 1/4 1/8 1/16 in. are more visually intuitive for everyday purposes. (Again, for science and industry, metric is great.) > > • Cooking measurements in cups and tablespoons isn’t going away simply because it works well–very well. I cook a lot and bake too. Trying to convert all that to ml and grams would just be anal-retentive nonsense. Working with overseas recipes I get online in grams forces me to get out my gram scale–no biggie, but it’s an extra step. At first, I thought this was a parody. None of these are examples of Imperial units being “better”. They are examples of _your preferences_. I find it hard to believe you genuinely can’t tell the difference. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pushing-for-total-metric-in-the-us-is-a-foolish-consistency-the-hobgoblin-of-a-small-mind/727017.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pushing-for-total-metric-in-the-us-is-a-foolish-consistency-the-hobgoblin-of-a-small-mind/727017.md?page=6)