Why didn't the USA ever adopt the Metric System? (Short Animated Documentary)
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- Опубліковано 28 лис 2022
- The USA is famously one of the few countries on Earth that doesn't use the Metric System. So why doesn't it? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.
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If only James Bisonette had been there to implement the metric system.
Seems like it would be difficult
Also Kelly Moneymaker
@@jamesbissonette8002 James Bissonnette
what about boogoley woogely
@@beanseason6515 stlll mad that your channel never took off and you got 7 views on your last upload
Interestingly, Thomas Jefferson did have one major success in metrifying the USA: decimalized currency. The American dollar was one of the world's first currencies to be divided in 100 parts.
That is amazing. I never knew the metric system invented the number 100. I guess you learn something new every day.
@@GoatTheGoat It has probably more to do with the fact that 100 cent is 1 Dollar is 10 Dime.
@@fana9863 all of which has nothing to do with meters.
But do we really need pennies, nowadays??
@@GoatTheGoat The english money system is not decimal.
As an elementary and middle school student in the 60s and 70s, we constantly studied for the “big conversion to the metric system”. Then, one day it was dropped and never mentioned again. I learned as a young adult, that it was the high cost of industry retooling that killed it. I became a scientist, using mainly American Practical Hydrologic Units for work and could well believe it, every day was a crazy mix of systems and units from here, there and everywhere. We all wasted a lot of time converting quantities all the time to use them in equations.
Spot on.
I remember that same 'big conversion' that was coming in the early 80's.
Same here, 70s and 80s. I remember the commercial that said "you get more from a liter".
And then I start working in auto mechanics and everything is in metrics. Even Ford and GM cars. I mean we still use standard for miles and weight and such. But mostly tools and threads are easier in metric.
i was one of those of those kids too...we had to learn "freedom units" outside...
I had an argument with my American instructor in the late 80’s as to wether or not a quart was just larger or just smaller than a litre. As a Canadian in the sciences, I was familiar with both and we were both adamant that each of us was correct. It was only after I realized that Canadian (Imperial) and US quarts were not the same size. So yes, we were BOTH correct.
These types of disagreements are so much easier to resolve nowadays with the internet. Half the arguments I had in college with friends could have been answered in 30 seconds of googling. But google didn't exist yet back then.
He's another argument you might want to considers. You can't both be correct. That flaw in logic disturbs me beyond measure. So please, never say that again. But if you do, know that its a fallacy in logic.
@@krane15 did you actually read the whole comment and understand it?
@@mckenziekeith7434 Yes. And no. No both can be correct.
Please use the Metric System as all humans on this world do.
@@cosmefulanito5933 If you read the whole comment and understood it, then you would be able to see how yes, they were both correct. The problem is that they were using unstated assumptions about the units they were using. Unstated because they didn't even know that there were two different types of quart. I agree, the metric system is better. But I do still sometimes use quarts and gallons for volume.
"Went the extra 1609 meters"
This channel is pure gold
Gold, Jerry, GOLD!
I didn't pay attention to that until I see your comment, then I understand. So true it's such gold
I don't get it. Someone explain please
@@zhengyangwang214 1609 meters equal one mile
I love the "Freedom Units" sign lol
Since the US still uses metric for teaching physics, it's put me in the weird position where I use things like Fahrenheit to talk about the weather but intuitively switch to Celsius to talk about how hot it would be if you were a kilometer away from the core of the sun
i do believe it would be very hot.
Right, bc you totally know that 🙄 this is why people don't trust the religion of science
@@deusvult6920the religion of science 😂 it can be calculated using math
@@deusvult6920 bro really called science a religion 💀💀
@@deusvult6920 i mean i don't think people go around praising newton or einstein
When I was in a U.S.Junior High School in the early 1960's, we were given a lot of instruction in the Metric System, being told that somewhere in the near future we would be switching over to it. Obviously that did not happen. However, When I was in the Army National Guard, all measurements were in Metric: Weapons, Bullets, Maps, etc.Our medicines that we are prescribed are also in the Metric System. And we also have a Decimal Feet measurement used by engineers in site planning. When I was an Architect I use to wish we were using the Metric System, which would have avoided fractions when writing dimensions.
That's partially for NATO/Allied inter-operability.
I imagine that the US army does more joint operations with NATO/Allies, who all use metric, rather than Liberia - the only other nation on Earth using US Customary
Nasa is using metric. For a good reason
I grew up in the 70's in the US, and we did a bit of trying to learn Standard to Metric conversions, which as you might imagine, didn't stick. But when I became a scientist, I learned metric pretty flipping easily because that's what's used 100% in science - you learn by doing. After 35 years of using liters and meters at work and cups and feet at home, I can easily use both. One area where metric is far superior: trying to describe the length of something small - millimeters are perfect!
The argument that switching to metric would require new package labeling is laughable, as the vast majority of our packages are labeled in both ounces and grams.
But the most amusing was my mom's argument against converting to the metric system: she said she didn't want to have to throw away her old measuring cups and buy new ones for cooking. I had to remind her that she could still use her old ones for her recipes - no one was going to come into her house and confiscate her measuring cups! 🙄
I, too, often work with small dimensions, and I have no trouble at all with 64ths, or thousandths, of an inch. For what it's worth, 1/64" = .015625". I have not clue how many metrics it is, nor do I care.
What annoys me more than anything is the dumass manufacturers who make measuring rules with inches along one edge and metrics along the other. It's useless for everyone!
"This is when president Gerald R. Ford went the extra 1609 metres...."
I bloody love your humour.
2:21, I was just about to mention that joke. That was pure gold. 👌
I don’t get what the number is supposed to mean
@@suspectnutria 1609 meters is roughly 1 mile. "To go the extra mile" is a phrase meaning to go further than needed to achieve something.
@@suspectnutria he meant the "extra mile". It's an idiom.
I love his bloody humour too! And that's British humor with a U as you so correctly wrote.
Your friendly reminder that the Brits still very much use "miles" all the time. In fact, the signs going from Kmh to Mph is one of the few ways you can recognize you've crossed from Ireland into Northern Ireland.
Keep in mind (as my Irish housemate constantly rages to me) most Americans are unaware that Ireland and Northern Ireland are separate countries.
@@DomWeasel Not foe much longer.
My Canadian relatives do the same.
@@DomWeasel yeah that's not really true though. Politics around Northern Ireland are much more well known than you might think.
@XXV I realize that, but in Northern Ireland, the speed signs are in miles per hour, while in the Republic they're in kilometers per hours. I would know, I've literally been then.
Your sly humor in presenting these subjects it's the best, love your content!
I graduated in the UK as an Engineer. I started Uni in 1969 and we adopted the SI units, Metric in other words, but also had to learn a bit of BTUs and cubic inches etc.
When I got a job in industry, I had to relearn FPS. We still have our pint and cars do MPG(but not the US gallon),petrol is sold in Litres, so you have to convert to UK gallons to get MPG.
I'm British and 70 years old. In the days of £ (pounds), S (shillings) and D (pence) every school child had to learn by rote the times tables of 1x1 through to 1x12, as there were 240 pence to the pound, and of course calculators just didn't exist back then. (£1 = S20, 1S = D12). On Monday 15 Febuary 1971, we changed to decimal currency (£1 = 100NP). About a week later I found the old currency almost impossible to calculate!
what? no pieces of 8? no furlongs and hogsheads?
No. Only rods, poles, perches, chains, groats, and cloth yards. Ah, whatever happened to the old Babylonian system based on 360?
Living in New Zealand we had to make do with the system of country of origin. during the 1970-80s. We not only had Metric, Whitworth, American but also a temporary 'Unified' thread that didn't match any of these original standards. We also had liquid, land area measure mixes as we converted to SI system.
I find this fascinating!
have a bizarre non-decimal currency breakdown was a complete waste of time for everyone
They do use the metric system extensively in the US military, presumably because almost everywhere the service is expected to be fighting is going to have road signs marked in kilometers
also metric makes the maths of military related things (ballistics, energy, volume, etc) easily calculable and sharable with peers
Soldier: "Sir, I managed to intercept enemy communications saying that they were going to attack 54 kilometers south of Citytown."
Commander: "Okay excellent work....So...how much is that"
Soldier: "Idk. I thought you'd know"
Nah .. it's because NATO.
It’s in order to be able to integrate with allies who use metric, same for us here in the UK.
I prefer imperial system. Distance in kms and height in cms sounds goofy asl.
In the heavy construction industry we use what is called engineer scale or also known as "tenths scale". All measurements are based on feet, but are broken down to be a multiple of ten, hundreds, thousands etc. Like the metric system it simplifies the measurements so you don't have fractions or odd units. Most Americans use and are familiar with both American standard and metric as many products have both measurements, such as a drink would have ounces or quart, and also milliliter or liter equivalents on the labels. The one exception is Fahrenheit to Celsius and vise versa, that one still seems tough to convert in your head.
That's interesting. But it seems to me that if you're going to decimalize your measurement system, why not just adopt metric units, which are _already_ decimalized and widely used? By using decimalized feet, you're just reinventing the wheel.
@@MilescoMaybe we prefer the exact length of feet rather than meters, I honestly think it’s a more useful measurement. Your comment really doesn’t make any sense in the aggregate my guy.
@@aidanwolff3213 Actually I agree with you. Personally, I prefer feet to meters. I think the foot is a more convenient size. Meters are too large, and centimeters are too small.
But for technical / commercial applications, I think that's less important. So that's why I said that if they're going to decimalize feet to avoid fractions and twelfths, they might as well just take the final step and use metric units already. Metric units already exist, they're also decimal-based, and they're widely used throughout the world -- unlike decimalized feet, which _nobody_ uses, not even in the USA (except, apparently, the heavy construction industry, if the OP is correct).
Just my humble opinion. 😊
Thank you for the effort put into the newspapers. Make my day
"Nerds told 'no'" is a headline that could still pop up on a weekly basis.
- Nerds: "We should do something about Climate Change"
- Govt & Corporations: "NO".
Also, funny Elden Ring reference hidden there
The White House interior sets that change to reflect the building’s complete gutting/rebuilding during the Truman era were a nice touch. Well played, HM.
Have you checked out the spinning newspaper articles? They are worth it.
Good attention to detail!
Did anyone notice "douchebag" spelled out?
@@kennethbropson8019 where at?
@@chicagotypewriter2094 At 2:03 - 2:06 at the top of the screen.
That Gerald Ford joke was gold.
As a mid-century atavistic Canadian I use the following measures. Volume: Litres, gallons (US & Imperial), cups, quarts, fl ounces & dry ounces, grams kilograms, ton and tonne, millilitres, barrels, cubic feet and metres, yards, the tun, boxcar, 20 & 40 foot containers. Lengths: Metre, centimetre, millimetre, kilometre, mile, yard, foot, inch, furlong, rod, hand, span, fathom, cubit.
Now how to use some of these measures. Some of these are specific to my form. My thumb ~1 inch wide, foot ~0.75 feet, my little finger tip ~1 centimetre wide, sternum to fingertip just shy of a yard, fingertip to finger tip just shy of a fathom, fingertip to fingertip to far wrist=10 feet, 1 hand~6 inches, 1 mile ~ the distance that 20-20 eye sight can distinguish left truck headlights from right ones
Did you use 'chain' as a measurement in length? The chain (abbreviated ch) is a unit of length equal to 66 feet (22 yards), used in both the US customary and Imperial unit systems. It is subdivided into 100 links. There are 10 chains in a furlong, and 80 chains in one statute mile.
Some states in Australia still roods and perches when measuring land: A rectangle that is one furlong (i.e., 10 chains, or 40 rods) in length and one rod in width is one rood in area, as is any space comprising 40 perches (a perch being one square rod).
I think one of the reasons it failed in the 70s is because gas prices were so volatile and people thought it was a trick by the government to charge more for gas, since nobody knew how many liters were in a gallon.
Lol, that would be pretty funny. "I don't understand this system, must be a scam", it's a miracle progress was made at all
Americans also always use fixed showers.
America moment
@@ilyatoporgilka That’s not true every shower I’ve ever been in is adjustable
It is always impossible to “put off”.It is unmovable(stationary).
As a Romanian, the paper article about Metric promoting cannibalism because Transylvanian vampires eat humans is hilarious
That is like when there was a fight dominance in US for AC or DC use of current systems between Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla was a for AC which was far more energy effective for using it on longer distances over DC, Thomas Edison who was for DC current (he manufactured more products for DC) tried to do public example of how bad AC current was by doing a public lab show where he exposed an elephant to AC current in which during the show elephant died, and he was like: "See? This is what AC current could do to you!"
You're right' Everyone knows that vampires don't eat people, they suck peoples' blood. Zombies eat people. I'm glad we could clear this up.
@@Resnicanin Not saying Edison was right in any way, but the elephant fact can be taken with more than a grain of salt
The elephant in question was Topsy, who under a horrible life in the circus had squished 3 handlers to death. One of those "savaged her with a pitchfork" and another had "tried to feed her a lit cigarette"
And at the time, electrocution was seen as a "humane way of disposing of a living being." In fact, the ASPCA gave Edison two thumbs-up to kill the pesky pachyderm this way.
And had fed the elephant half a kilo (460 g) of potassium CYANIDE that day, mixed in with carrots
So yes he did execute it, but AC wasn't the only thing that killed Topsy
(I reread this comment & realised I switched the names & currents originally - whoops!)
@@chicagotypewriter2094 I’d say you missed the point about Edison being an opportunist and a showboater. AC can kill you just as dead. It isn’t the “how the elephant died” that we care about, it’s the gain Edison wanted to get from it.
@@509Gman That's very true and a good note to remember as well!
America is essentially the only country in the world that does not use the
metric system (other than a few small exceptions). It is also the richest country per capita in the world (other than a few small exceptions). Perhaps there is a connection?
Lame nonsense, exceptionalism based on narrow mindedness isn't admirable..
How about your life span expectancy, which is valuable measurement of a nations success?
@@lisette2060I’d prefer 70 rich years over 80 poor ones my dude
that's not even true, USA is in 8th place
I appreciate the information and education, and the videos always make me chuckle. I love the Easter eggs in the newspapers and elsewhere.
The articles on the newspaper at 1:40 are just amazing, hats off to your history matters, hats off
Vampires!
"Thou art maidenless" lol
Lol the last two were *chef’s kiss*
I laughed myself
I started to use metric then found myself shopping for "To Serve Man".
I like how soda bottles and milk jugs tell the story of metric in the U.S. very clearly. Your typical pop bottle is two liters, because you can sell it across borders without too much fuss. Milk jugs, on the other hand, carry a gallon of milk, which is so heavily regulated by local jurisdictions that it can't even be sold across state lines!
American pop is 2L? How much sugar percentage wise is in it?
Well, it probably has around 200 grams of sugar. Assuming that the 2 liter soda is the same as its canned version (let’s say coke), a 12 oz or 335 ml soda is 39 grams of sugar. Times that by 6 and you’d get 234.
Some stats might be wrong and I used coke since it is probably the most popular soda, but I should somewhat close at least.
@@Toxicin2 You don't drink out of a 2L bottle, you use it to fill glasses. The bottles you drink from are smaller.
@@ruprecht8520 I have seen many people drink out of Two liter bottles and it looks strange but they do it in the summer time just siting outside at party's etc.
@@peters1127 Yes it happens but I didn't want Toxicin2 to think that's the common way.
I LOLed at 1:39 at your New Jersey Tabloid frontpage 😀
It’s not just about decimals like
Distances : mm - cm - dm - m - km
Mass: gram - kg
If you intend to study physics you should set your mind to the metric system because all physics units are derived from the metric system.
Force : 1 Newton (N) is the force that gives an object with the mass 1 kg an acceleration of 1 meter per second square
Energy: 1 Joule (J = Nm) is the unit of energy, equal to the force of one Newton acting through one meter. 1 Joule is ALSO equal the electric energy unit Ws (Watt second) !!!!
Power ( Energy/ time): The unit of power is Watt (W) which is the same as joules per second (J/s).
So the electric units are nicely connected to the mechanical units with the added unit Ampere for current !!!
If you intend to study science you must get used the units defined as SI (MKSA = Meter, Kilogram, Second, Ampere )
In 1976, I was a student and I subscribed to an electronics magazine in the USA. The figures were in Imperial with metrics in brackets. A few years later, the figures were in metrics with the imperial equivalent in brackets. In 1980 (IIRC), the metrics had totally vanished.
I, too, measure my amperage with good ol American "zaps per square inch".
Reagan was my wake up call as an early adult. I really didn't know much about Nixon, but when Reagan announced the Ketchup packet as a serving of vegetable for the American student lunch, I started realizing just who cared about what. And, just how lazy we were to become.
I am.sure Ronnie Reagan didn't know a liter from a lamppost - he just attracted the kind of people around him that foreign concepts were to be squelched and foreign countries were to conquered or cowered.
Science articles in the US are also often written with both units
It's quite distracting and it makes you lose focus on the content
@@MichaelJohnson-vi6eh So remind me what countries Reagan conquered? I bet you like his killing inflation and economic boom from 1982 on….
The things you learn. I thought Imperial had been around...always. Didn't know it was that comparatively young. I'm British and grew up in the 70's and only got taught metric in school. But imperial has never quite died out here.
"...never quite"? Imperial is dominant in the UK. Everything is miles, yds and Lbs. Did you missed the bit where the EU tried to force metric on us and people got pissed off so they U-turned? 🙄
Car speed, people's height and babies weight only thing measured in imperial in the UK. I'm in my 40s and have no idea how many ounces in a pound as have never used then once in my life.
The imperial, unlike the empire, doesn't die
@@Jin-Ro they were pissed mainly because the French invented the metric system
In the UK it would probably be more accurate to say we use an odd hybrid of both system. Where there are something that we specially measure in one and other things that we often measure in the other.
Your videos are gold!
0,5 History Matters video = 1 education
They totally should switch to metric!
I think it needs to be said here that the biggest reason is because it took 20-30 years to standardize measurements across all states. The US was one of the first country to have a standardized system across all territories. So when Metric became a thing across Europe in the early 1800s. Many Americans simply didn’t want to go through another 20-30 year period of standardization since at the time the federal government had limited means to enforce it.
You do realise that measurements were standardized in Europe way before Metric was invented ?
@@stevii3940 lol no. France itself before their revolution had 3000 kinds of weights
@@manofcultura sounds like a nightmare XD
@@stevii3940It wasn’t standardized as the way your thinking it to be.
There was different standards for each European country but each country had there own versions standardized within there own borders.
@@manofcultura lol yes. Just England as an exemple/ It was standardize since Henry the 8th. of course it wasn't precise, like was the Metric system at it's strat but it was a standardize system
In the Philippines, we use both systems (metric and imperial) all products have metric (LARGER TEXT) and imperial (smaller text) measurements. But in schools, we rarely use imperial.
I don't think we ever used it at all if I recall correctly (The Imperial System).
Yeah lots of countries still use lots of native units every day
We have it here too, but it's usually like this:
Imperial (Metric)
Everything is dual-labeled in the U.S too. We are officially metric, it's just that in everyday use folks favor the customary units.
It's never usually taught in schools because the Philippines officially uses the metric system since the Spanish Era. We only ever used imperial because of the Americans (even though under their rule we still officially use the metric, under Act No. 1519, s. 1906)
The question shouldn’t be „why they didn’t do it“ rather should be „when do they update“
1:40 I LOVE that news paper
Your username is cool
We honestly take for granted how good quality these videos are and how accessible it is.
Bro shut up
You should thank James Bissonette and Kelly Moneymaker for supporting History Matters.
Americans also always use fixed showers.
As an American engineer i'm completely fluent in both systems. There is one caveat I will point out, technically the US uses the metric (SI) system in several ways:
1) Our military is largely metric (partially to facilitate NATO interactions)
2) Our measurement system is actually defined in terms of metric units.
3) We use the standard hour/minute/second system like the rest of the world which is part of the SI system (even after France tried to decimalize it)
4) Virtually all goods bought in the US have both metric and customary units on the packaging.. i.e. a coke shows both ml and ounces.
Also, The dollar is decimal based so may not be metric but follows the same idea.
Fun Fact: The US measurement system is basically the same as the revolutionary war period UK system. The UK actually changed after the fact when the "Weights and Measures Act 1824" was passed. This is why the British commonly use a "stone" as a unit of weight especially when weighing human type critters whereas we don't. Also, our gallon and the UK gallon are different volumes which makes for interesting gas/petrol mileage comparisons.
I never used metric in the military.
And a lot of scientific fields in the US also use the metric system/SI, with more following every day. It's ironic how the US uses the metric idea for the dollar and yet something completely weird for everything else. When 12 inches is a foot and 3 feet is a yard that becomes a bit annoying to work with.
Also I didn't know that part about the US vs UK gallon! Interesting.
@@rearin9560
12 inches is the best part.
12 evenly splits into 2,3 or 4. It makes 10 look like a chump. Lol
@@rearin9560 A US gallon is roughly .83 of a UK gallon.
@@A.J.1656 I was referring more to the equipment itself rather than the people. A lot of it is designed specifically to be interoperable with allied equipment.
i'm terrible in math so when i started to learn carpentry i had a very difficult time seeing and understanding what i was seeing on a tape measure .
eventually i saw the fractions as visual size differences and could easily navigate the tape layout but this took a longtime .
Then later in my life i moved to europe and was working on the house i helped build . i went to buy a tape measure and immediately panicked thinking i would never be able to figure this out. But after about ten minutes, i realized everything was in
multiples of ten and it's been easy ever since .
I perfectly understood his freedom units of measurement he put at the end
From my experience in the midwest and government jobs, metric is used for most professional environments, and in standard conversations we use imperial. This is not the case in the south and professions like construction, but growing up we were taught metric alongsode imperial and most know both here.
I think it's fair to say that most Americans "know" both systems. The issue is that Americans often don't know how to apply the measurements as well as in US Customary.
Living in the midwest I never encountered metric outside of a science class.
I must know both fluently now... many reasons... but yeah...
@@morewi yeah maybe it is less a regional thing, but I think we know it better than we let on, no evidence to support, just my hunch and experience.
I'm from the South and we were taught the metric system in school, but I have never used it since.
I’m an American graphic designer taught to measure in inches. I studied in Switzerland and was introduced to the metric system. I returned to the USA and again worked in inches. I now live in Japan and work in the metric system again. I actually prefer the metric system as I feel it is more precise and looking at paper sizes the whole concept of taking an A3 size sheet of paper folding it and it becomes an A4… again it becomes an A5 and so on. It’s just a great concept. Working in inches feels like I’m going back in time when the rest of the world is metric.
Fun fact : the proportion of paper sizes is defined by 1 thing : sqrt(2). Do 29,7/21 or 32/24 (both being A4 format) and you get sqrt(2)
@@Spido68_the_spectator This is trivial mathematics. AND - DIN A0 is exactly 1 square-meter. The DIN formats were invented in Germany - we love bureaucracy.
@@rainerausdemspring3584 France : invents the SI / metric system for international language of numbers
Germany : Yeah, bureaucracy !
(Although the DIN format is proper genius)
@@Pandemonis "International language of numbers" - Ugga Agga
That’s because metric is designed for science and mathematics while imperial is designed for human measurements. Each serves a different purpose but imperial is undoubtedly superior. You’re just not use to it.
The chalkboard at the end killed me.
As someone from New Jersey, I love the "New Jersey Tabloid" telling the nerds that we won't be using the metric system! In reality, everyone understands the metric system because it's used for many things. We just like our own system better for ordinary day-to-day things.
I dipped my toe into the manufacturing field for a bit and it's amazing just how much we'd have to change in order to fully convert to Metric.
I'd imagine it would be a phase in process that would happen over a decade or two. That would require new products to be explicitly metric though.
What's amazing is how much it wouldn't matter too. Everything is measured in decimals in manufacturing. If your DRO is showing you the right numbers, it doesn't matter if it's metric or imperial
It's not like you'd have to invent everything. Literally every other part of the world uses SI in all their processes. All the tools required already exist and are waiting in warehouses across your own country.
@@Barnaclebeard At this point it would just feel like giving up. Im fine with clinging onto it till the day we perish.
Not really. almost all standard ball bearings are metric. All vehicle tires are metric. All of the products the we buy from China are all made to metric (SI) standards - you just don't know it because you probably never worked on any of them. I was a machine designer for over 45 years and learned to work with both. Linear dimensions are easy to convert to close approximations from one to the other.
Fun Fact - metrification has made massive inroads in the USA via the automotive industry. Bolts, nuts and other fasteners are metric due to the globality of the automotive supply chain. So in US Measurement country, its automotive technicians are using metric sockets n spanners, excepting for quite old vehicles and some unicorns.
You can't begin to understand how much it pisses me off when I'm working on a vehicle and I find that some of the parts are in Imperial, and some are in Metric. I'm just like, pick one or the other!
Quite old meaning early 2000s and unicorns meaning most vehicles ever made.
@@MrFarmer110 I had a Jeep once. Two bolts on the starter. One was SAE one was metric. That took a long time to figure out while under the vehicle.
I mean, Metric bolts and nuts, but when we're torquing a bolt, we still use Ft-lb compared to Nm.
Also obligatory magic 10mm socket growing legs and walking away.
@@MrFarmer110 That was an issue in WWII, some planes used both imperial and US customary units for fasteners and such. So the bolts would have different threads, you'd have one set for the engine and one set for everything else.
2:23 "went the extra 1,609 m ... " (love it!)
Most of us use both. There are some things that imperial makes more sense to measure with because the increments are useful. I know celsius and farenheit but prefer to use F because it conveys more detail. I know it's not quite the same as volume and weight metric system, but just as an example
Ironically, the USA, Liberia and Myanmar have also benefited immensely from the metric system because now they only have to convert their imperial units to one international system to work with the rest of the world rather than to dozens of different local systems.
Fucking spam bots in these comments
Aka somewhat using the metric system :p
....I think you're missing the point here. Sure, metric eliminated "different local systems", but now US is one of the "local system" from the outside world.
Our measurements are all standardized in terms of metric units. Actual stem professionals have been using metric this whole time
As an *American* , I say, you know America, maybe there's a *reason* most of the rest of the world adopted the Metric system.
And in Canada since our largest trading partner was for sure going metric we did. Sort of. Nowadays you are 6'3" tall, 165lbs, buying gas in litres to put in a 5 gallon jerry can, getting in your 1/2 ton truck with a 5.7L engine and a 38 gallon tank that makes 400hp on 35" tires and heading home at a little over the posted 60km/h limit while drinking coffee from a 16oz travel mug. Returning to your house that is 30' wide made of 2x6s on 5 acres of land and 12km from town (you live an hour from the nearest city of >50,000), you get your chainsaw that has a 42cc engine and 16" bar and cut 4 cord of wood. It's 24C in the house when you turn your oven (propane from a 500lb tank) on to 400F and put in an 18" pizza that weighs 1.6kg before going to your 20cu/ft fridge to get a 2L bottle of pop, don't forget to wash your hands in water heated by a 60 gallon tank with 2400w elements in it. Since it's winter your boat that will make 75 knots is in storage but the 110mph snowmobile is a go, just make sure any ice you cross is >5" thick. You need to live here to understand our measuring system.
I had thought Canada was fully metric until I went to a Canadian grocery store
Yeah, the untold story is that a lot of the British commonwealth is only sort of on metric, having failed to make the transition in one place or another. It is really hard to get adults who can vote to change their measurement system.
When I was a kid growing up in western Canada, everything in the store had a label in French and English and was measured in Imperial and Metric. For the longest time, I thought Imperial measurements were just the French translation of the metric ones.
If you tell me someone is183 cm tall I have no clue how tall they are, but if you say someone else is 6' tall I know exactly how tall they are, even though they're the same height.
Nobody made you go metric. Except your government, which didn't give a rat's ass what the Canadian people wanted. Plus Britain was going metric so it was vital for Canada to imitate everything England was doing. That has always worked out so well.
Back in the 90s my state tried but when building roads and bridges the old guys were foreman's. We built bridges based on 150mm=6 inches and 300mm=a foot. A foot is 304.8mm and 6in=152.4 so problems happened. 16mm=5/8 so they thought they were the same because a wrench would fit the smaller wrench sizes but the numbers diverged more than they thought.
No wonder so much US road infrastructure is now falling apart....
Great content!
This is an odd one really. Here in Britain too both the imperial and metric units are used. Although distances on roads are in miles, kilometers are sometimes used, whilst for fuel-petrol/diesel it is in litres, although it used to be in gallons. Thank you!!
And the weather too is measured in Celsius-formerly Centigrade-rather than Farenheit, which it used to be also.
Thank you!
When you see a distance on a road sign, does it clearly indicate miles or kilometers? Otherwise those who are not familiar with the region might be surprised, it takes 50% more time to drive 20 miles than 20 kms. And what about the speed limits and car speedometers?
@@jfrancobelge Nope there's usually nothing on road signs in the UK that signify whether the number you're looking at is miles or kilometres but it's gonna be miles like 99% of the time. Speed limit signs are the same but again very rare you would find a speed limit sign in KPH in the UK and if you did it would probably have both MPH and KPH on it.
Our car speedos are in miles per hour but most cars have a second row of notches and numbers for kilometres per hour as well.
The UK is really all over the place with it's adoption of Metric, like most drinks come in millilitres or litres but milk is still in pints. If you buy a bottle or can of beer from a shop it comes in like a 500ml bottle but if you buy beer in a pub it's gonna be in pints. Yet everything else in a pub (wine measures, shot measures) are done in millilitres. People (mainly older people) talking about the temperature will flip-flop between celsius and fahrenheit depending on which one sounds more extreme (100F sounds a lot hotter than 38C for example).
TV screens are measured in inches still, a person's height is measured in feet and inches, weight in stones and pounds. Cooking weights however are usually done in grams, kilograms, etc. Blueprints or furniture measurements usually have both feet/inches and metres/centimetres on them. Honestly there's way more things that I'm forgetting but I just wish we'd pick one and stick to it lol.
@@jfrancobelge Speed limits and distances on public roads in the UK are measured in miles. There may be some exceptions, where the same is also given in km./kph near ferry ports. As for speedometers, most dials these days are marked in both kph and mph - or have a supplementary display showing kph (as in my Skoda) - or are digital and can be set either way.
I'm from Canada. We use the metric system officially but in real life, it really is a 50/50 thing.
Road distances are measured in kilometers, but short distances/measurements (houses' sizes, lot sizes, distance from one street corner to another) are in feet. Same with height/weight of people : we use feet and lbs.
We use liters for fuel and some bottles (ex : 750 ml of wine), but no one buys a 1.44 l bottle of whiskey. They buy a 40 oz.
And it's a completely *different* hodgepodge of metric and Imperial from Britain, because nothing makes sense.
Yeah, unless you are in Quebec which has civilized units of measurement. But in Ontario we use imperial units for that nonsense because we ship so much of the building material to the US.
As a designer is also annoying though amusing, especially when some builder has to convert my metric into some ungodly fractional inch.
Interesting. It's almost the same case as us here in the Philippines. We're officially metric but I'm reality we're more like 50:50, in almost the same way as you have described.
I suspect many other countries are the same way too. It's just that the internet likes to come up with any excuse to ridicule America.
It is a strange thing indeed. We tend to say temperature in Celsius but cook in Fahrenheit. Though colloquially we use feet and lbs for weight/height, my ID says my measurements in metric. You'd think it would make us Canadians good at converting between the two but I find I'm not quite that great at it.
@@BeedrillYanyan the Philippines were formerly ruled by the USA, so it is kind of understandable
I once heard an eight year old ask, "Why do we have to learn about the metric system in school?"
"Lots of reasons. For one, we're practically the only country left in the world that doesn't use it."
"So why can't every other country just go back to the old way?"
Based kid
I make things using fabric and wood. I switch back between metric and imperial measurements. 3/8 inch is the same size as 1 cm.
I also crochet. A size 1.9mm hook is my go-to when using #10 crochet thread, 1.40mm with #20 thread, 3.5mm with #3 thread.
As an American, I loved the “freedom units” at the end and can confirm that the conversion rates shown are accurate
Americans also always use fixed showers.
clearly it’s 10 freedoms per constitution, as clearly stated in the bill of rights
@@ilyatoporgilka How many more times are you going to post this pointless comment? You were refuted above. Enough already. Your use of "always" is enough to have discredited you from the beginning.
@@TheDoctor1225 LMAO, right? And if he thinks this random, and very incorrect thing, about our showers, imagine how his brain will explode when he finds out we **DO** use the metric system.
Like, do these people seriously think we sent a man to the moon using imperial measurements? Lol. You can’t even go to the doctors without being weighed in kg, and when you pick up a prescription from the pharmacy, it’s always in mg or some other metric measurement.
Sure, we talk about the temperature in Fahrenheit and our height in feet, but when it comes to anything with science involved, we use the metric system.
Honestly videos like these that perpetuate lies are very annoying.
We adopted Metric in Canada in the 70s and there are old people who are still furious about it.
I used to have to take a patient's blood pressure before his temperature because if he saw his temp in Celsius he'd get pissed off and spoke his BP
Rebel Canadian
My car gets forty to the hogshead and that's the way I likes it!
-Abe "Grandpa" Simpson
In the U.K. they’ve tried to impose the metric system on the population. But most people still prefer and use the imperial.
Thus the British news channels will say “ there will be 3cms of snow tomorrow”. But none of us know what that means. We still hanker for “2 inches of snow will fall tomorrow.
It’s great when we visit the US and everything’ in imperial. 🙋♂️👏👏🇬🇧
Well done with the script, drawings, humor and focus. But the dialog is read so fast that it sometimes slips into a jumble of words. Slow down a bit. Thanks.
As a construction manager here in Canada, I can tell you most trades still work in Imperial. Often construction plans for public projects are in metric, and I spend a good part of time converting everything so that the workers understand what it is they're supposed to be doing. 3.28 and 25.4 are my mathematical friends.
Nice! I like that! Metres to feet, mike-mikes to inches!
I’ve read that private stuff and most tools are in Imperial. Aside from Quebec, ofc.
@@friskjidjidoglu7415I find most tools are in both tbh.
Even working in central Europe I have frequently to convert mm in inches for our US customers.
Even from Australia, which officially is metric since decades, I received drawings for new buildings formally in metric, but obviously designed in imperial units and then converted.
I have the impression the building industry is one of the most conservative branches.
I worked at American Airlines for 20 years mainly rebuilding aircraft engines. I transferred to the docks (working on live aircraft) & was assigned to the Airbus a-300 line. All the dimensions for layouts of upgrades were in metric. All the mechanics working there went to the laborious chore of converting everything to English measure (which most Americans call "American measure). I went out & purchased a Stanley metric tape measure and avoided the constant and aggravating use of the calculator. Co-workers treated me like a traitor even though I could work faster in metric than they could making all the calculator moves. When using a calculator you end up with a decimal answer anyway so why not just use metric. Also, I had worked as a machinist so I could transfer decimal parts of an inch into close fractions, I had memorized down to 1/16" in decimal.
There was also that ill-fated venture in 1793 when Jefferson sent a ship to France to get the kilogram standard. On its way back, the ship ran into a storm, which blew it so far off course that they managed to get themselves and the ship captured by pirates. Long story short, the pirates got the standard and Sec of State Jefferson didn't feel he had the clout to secure funding for a second voyage. Who knows, if it weren't for that storm, the US might have been one of the first countries to adopt the metric system.
if you know the conversion formula, then you don't need the second standart, you can make it by yourself. You can also make the standard yourself using the historical first sample method. So the story sounds very American
@@Tony-. That's not how it was done in 1793. Back then, you had to have an actual bar/weight/etc1 that was copied with exacting precision from the original. Every country, when they used different measurement systems, had these stored in some secure location, and when they adopted the metric system, they had to send someone to France to get copies of the originals. Using math for this sort of thing was just something that wasn't done until the 20th century.
@@thomasrinschler6783 I agree, it's reasonable. Scientific progress was different and it was cheaper to buy an ingot than to create it at the risk of making an error. But if you live across the ocean and you have European technologies, then exceptions appear to every rule) In the same USA, they used the metric system when necessary and without any standards.
Thank God Divine Providence saved us from that ignoble fate.
Soldering in electronics assembly in the US:
1) Reflow is always degC.
2) Hand solder is always degF.
3) Wave solder can go either way.
My unit conversion app gets heavy use as an engineer in the US.
In Delaware, USA, our Route 1 uses metric for exits. The exit numbers are based on kilometers rather than miles, but there are still mile markers along the route.
Apparently everything on R 1 used to be in metric but all of it got replaced except for distance markers and exits.
I'm an Aussie, born in 1960, and I remember when Australia went metric in the early 70s. Having been taught the Imperial system during my early school years and the metric system in my later years, I'm comfortable with both. But I personally believe the metric system to be the better of the two as it's far more straightforward, being all in multiples of ten. The approach I chose to get used to metric was not to convert to Imperial in my head, but instead to familiarize myself with the intrinsic sizes of the metric measurements. For example, I wouldn't think of a centimeter as being "roughly half an inch", or of a kilometer being "about five-eights of a mile" - instead I familiarized myself with the actual metric sizes themselves.
Even so, I'm still just as likely to say "ten feet away" as "three meters away". I freely use either depending on where my mind is at the time 🙂
But I can understand why the US doesn't go metric at this point in time. The Imperial system is simply too entrenched there, and changing everything to metric would not only be a colossal undertaking, but would be hideously expensive. Just think about what would be involved - all the road signage, instrumentation, labeling on products, equipment for manufacturing those products, regulations and documentation... the list goes on and on. It simply would not be a viable, nor cost-effective, course of action in the US today. It was doable in 1970s Australia because we had a fraction of the US' population at the time and a fraction of the infrastructure. Had we stayed with Imperial, switching to metric today would be a daunting task for us as well.
@Markus Andrew America (the United States of America) has not converted to metric for the same reasons as why there is still discrimination here, why Christian prayer is still desired in public schools, why abortion bans are being forced on others, why citizens can buy assault weapons (or any weapons), why people voted for the Orange Julius, and on and on: because we have a bunch of idiots here.
Yes, if you work in metric use metric measuring devices and you do not need to constantly convert anything. If you are working in what you call imperial then simply use imperial measuring tools no conversion needed. Why complicate things unnecessarily?
Like you I was 11 years old when we converted to metric in Australia. I remember it became illegal for a few years at least to sell things like rulers with imperial measurement markers on them. Presumably to give it enough time to bed in the conversion. Imagine make imperial rulers illegal in the US. QAnon would go nuts.
@@mendocinobeano QAnon goes nutz practically every day so that would be nothing new.
It's easier to get 1/3 of 12, than of 10. Non-metric was optimized for everyday use, metric was optimized for scientific calculations.
I just want to make it clear to everyone who doesn't live in the US that we do rely on the metric system in certain industries. I work at a cargo agency that deals with all sorts of freight that enters the country internationally, and it is all measured in meters and kilos. Very rarely has anyone asked me how much something is in pounds or feet. I haven't worked in domestic trade, but I'm sure they know metric too.
Well here in Colorado we do kilos and have a Radio Station in Colorado Springs Kilo 94
I work on earthmoving equipment & caterpillar & John Deere use alot of metric bolts & nuts.
Yeah, it's actually non-industrial, non-professional, uneducated, people that don't use metric. Scientists, engineers, medical and military professionals, and global traders all use metric in the US.
@@zen1647 Military uses everything. I've used both standard and metric as a mechanic, though a lot of the newer equipment tries to push metric. I'm sure other industries such as engineers and traders will use a mix of both too. The two domains which seem truly dominated by metric are science and medicine.
Most STEM industries such as pharma use metric. We are taught in metric at University
Here in Australia we adopted the metric system in 1966. I was 17 at the time and used to the old pounds, shillings and pence, half-pennies, miles, yards, feet and inches. It didn’t take long to adjust but I would still convert kilometres to miles in my head to judge distances. I still sometimes do that today but don’t really need to as I “think”metric now. Visiting the US is funny for me, the currency is metric but everything else isn’t. Measuring a plank of wood at four feet, seven and five eights is just hilarious.
I remember being quite surprised by this, as a kid. Growing up in the reluctant-to-change-to-metric UK, I knew that Americans spelled "colour" as "color" and called the second floor of the building the "second floor", etc. - it seemed like a culture of using the easier variant that didn't have leftover bits of old-fashioned complications. So, using the measurements that are broken down the same way as numbers - get to ten then start again - rather than the old-fashioned complications (12 of those, then three of those, then 1760 of them) would be what they'd do.
My UK parents grew up being taught imperial for the most part in the 1950s and 60s. They still know about all the conversion rates and pre-decimal currency is still natural to them when to me it all seems like some ancient Victorian methods of doing measurement and currency.
Actually, many areas of commerce and industry use the metric system in the US; primarily the auto industry as it is global and the US military (for the most part outside of ship navigation) uses metric. Many US machine shops are becoming "metric only". This will continue to build over time. In fact, my local hardware store has just as many metric screw, nuts, and bolts as imperial. Thanks for the great video.
Americans also always use fixed showers.
I think most of science does too.
@@ilyatoporgilkaThe fuck is a fixed shower?
@@jiraffe9600 I think it's the kind of shower with a showerhead you can't adjust the position of.
@@ilyatoporgilka I don't have a fixed shower.
Fun fact: As a kid in the 70's and 80's I was ONLY taught the metric system in school. Which was worthless outside of school, since no one used it. Right after I graduated high school, it was decided that schools would go back to teaching the old system. Hence all my education in the metric systemic is useless here in the USA, and yet, I was never taught the system we actually use.
What state were you in? I was in Maryland for late elementary, middle school, and high school in the 70s and distinctly remember teachers telling us we *had* to learn Metric, because the country was inevitably changing. But it was taught as an afterthought (I still know none of it) and gradually went away by the end of the decade.
OTOH, my husband is a physician and lives in a world where both exist: at work, it's mostly metric, and they convert without even thinking about it (pounds to KG, for example); at home, no metric. Though his learning of metric mostly started in college science classes (he's from rural Illinois and wasn't taught it at all in the 70s), so the societal move then retraction had nothing to do with it.
As someone who is not American, I have an opposite problem. Apart from inches (which is similar in length from the tip of the thumb to the first line/joint), I find myself not using the Imperial system.
I guess if America weren't so big in the world's economy, I and other Asians wouldn't be going to the trouble of learning how to convert from one measurement to another and vice versa.
As an engineer, I hate the imperial system. There is nothing better about the imperial system from what I can see.
@@chrispitterle8831 As an amateur engineer aspiring to be a real engineer, the way I see it is:
1. Measure in US Customary, so I understand how big everything is.
2. Convert to Metric, so calculations do not take long.
3. Convert Metric results back to US Customary, so I understand what everything is doing and do not hurt myself.
@@dannypipewrench533 that seems like a good approach from a napkin math side of things.
When you get into the thermal sciences side of engineering the metric system makes life so much easier. Unfortanatly there are many cases where the common measurment is not a compatible unit (kg to lb, one is mass one is force)
The converstions balloon on these so significantly, especilally when the values ahould be simple.
I remember the push in the 1970s. I hated, constant conversation I had to do on products between store brands.
I also found Celsius even though I used it at work too hard to use around the house as I grew up on Fahrenheit. 33.5 to 34.2 on a chemical bath at work was fine, but at home 75F seemed much more practical
As an American I like and prefer Kilometers to miles it’s more accurate and better at helping map out distance in my opinion, but that’s it. Everything else seems better the way we do it in the states other than that one.
Ah, yes! I'm glad your video cites the "Banjoes/Bigfoot Compromise" - it is a *pivotal* milestone from the 1980's in our diplomatic relations with Canada, vis a vis determining how many players Canada is allowed to field in the NHL.
For anyone curious, the amount of players Canada may provide to the NHL is "all of them, except a handful of Russians and Swedes".
Loved reading that New Jersey Tabloid ...
"Such calls were immediately dismissed as promoting cannibalism." And then it goes on about vampires.
And the feeling woman responding to a survey during childbirth just put it over the top!
Nice attention to detail, well done!
What? No entiendo. Explique, por favor.
@@Svensk7119 Pausa el video en 1:39 y lee el periódico que ves.
@@CosmicCleric Ocho harasho! Spasiba. Tusen takk. Sheh-sheh! Y gracias por la respuesta in Español! Necesito practicar mas.
@@Svensk7119 You speak English well (per your other comments), so I don't know why you originally asked me in Spanish, but you're welcome.
P.S. In case you are a bot, could you please respect my time and leave me alone? I would appreciate it, thank you.
@@CosmicCleric I have never heard any speak so politely to a potential 'bot before...
I am a living, breathing human being, so, no no, I haven't been 'bot.
I spoke in Spanish for I wanted to speak it. I never get enough practice. And your Spansk was excellent. Spanish. Your Spanish was excellent.
The table at 2:58 is hilarious. 🤣
I also remember the “big conversion” movement to Metric in the 1970s. It was supposed to happen in conjunction with the World’s Fair scheduled for Knoxville, Tennessee. Knoxville had already converted all the traffic signs for speed limits and distance to Metric from Imperial. Banks, etc., that had electronic signs flashing the time and temperature were converting to Celsius.
And, of course, the bottom fell out. Knoxville was stuck with Metric to change back for the Fair while the rest of Tennessee and the U.S. stayed on Imperial.
You know it's a good day, when History Matters has released a new video... and new potential meme templates with it.
I nominate "Shut Up Nerds." Based on the fact that it is hilarious and the singular, actual, no foolin', honest-to-God real reason that we haven't actually adopted the metric system.
especially is they are out of the world cup in just a couple of hours
i guess not. Good for them
I mean, go to a grocery store in the US and everything you buy will have metric values on it as well for weight, volume, etc. All medicines and nutrition facts are in metric as well. We kind of have a weird hybrid, but people will always tell you their height in feet and how far away a town is in miles. It's a mess, but as I understand it, I could tell a Canadian or British person my height in feet and inches and they world know exactly what I'm talking about.
The Brits and Canadians would probably understand because (at least us brits anyway) use a hybrid system that is just insane. So many of us understand both. Although the younger generations are more accustomed to metric and have no idea what most imperial measurements are. Which is a good thing imo, at least we're getting a standard. May have taken a while, but we're getting there.
Just some of the measurement systems we use:
Weight and height of most objects, metric
Weight and height of people, imperial
Speed, imperial (although I think metric is becoming more common despite imperial still being the standard)
Distance, imperial (but again, metric is becoming more popular and is slowly becoming more common than imperial)
Measurement of liquids, honestly I have no idea. Sometimes it's litres, sometimes it's fl oz, sometimes it's pints, it depends on the day I guess.
And don't even try to look at British baking or cooking guides. Some use metric, some use imperial and some use both. Some things use both ounces/lbs and grams/kg.
It's funny. We bully the Americans for using mostly imperial and refusing to switch over to metric, yet we use a hybrid system that would confuse pretty much any immigrant or tourist that chose to come here. Never go to the uk, it's a confusing mess and none of us have any idea what is happening or why.
Canadians too also use hybrid systems. Many contractors and private building companies still use imperial out of habbit. Food prices are displayed prominently in pounds to make it look cheaper. And any human measurement is done in inches and feet because we are a bit too immature thinking a meter is too big for height measurements and centimetres are a bit too small for... other measurements.
Grocery stores... ok.
Show me anyone who sells beer or soda on "10-packs". Or a 10-pack of eggs.
Where I shop, it is always six-packs, 12-packs and 24-pack.
Now go to the Home of Metric. Look at the EU Flag. They could have picked any number of stars for their flag...
They picked 12.
Contrary to popular belief, metric is NOT a Base 10 system. It will always be infused with Seconds. And when you understand the reason why Metric Time was such a dismal failure, then you will understand the Achilles Heel of the entire metric system.
It fails when you attempt to do a division as simple as divide by three. Or divide by four. It is simply not harmonious.
And this is why there will never be Metric Music, where measures are divided into 10 beats, with octaves divided into 10 semitones...
Because it sounds HORRID.
All music you listen to uses octaves divided into 12 semitones. Just like our clocks. If it was 10, and that was forced on us, then everyone would be throwing their stereos out the window.
Metric is simply not harmonious.
Grab a six pack and have a drink to that.
@@dahawk8574 Dude what are you talking about? Metric doesn't have anything to do with counting things only by tens. French people can have three children without having to have some more to be metric enough, and they didn't have to change their tricolore to some sort of 'decimal flag'. You sound unhinged. Go spend a nice even third of a dollar on a 2-litre of Coke and enjoy having no metric in your life
@@kourii: "You sound unhinged."
Maybe you should go and try to find a Metric Watch, and go find a composer of Metric Music, and if you succeed in such a quest, then we might be able to resume a rational conversation.
But you will fail, if you try to find these things. They do not exist.
Or rather, you might be able to find a metric watch in some kind of Museum of Failed Inventions.
kourii: "Go spend a nice even third of a dollar on a 2-litre of Coke and enjoy having no metric in your life"
I've already explained how Coke is sold in 6-packs. And in 12-packs.
Have you ever seen it sold in a 10-pack? I have not.
These are HARD FACTS that I have presented. You refusing to accept them is not a problem with me. It speaks to your relationship with reality.
kourii: "French people can have three children without having to have some more to be metric enough..."
Notice what happens, biologically, when a French person has a child. Two gamete's fuse to form a zygote. This is ONE single cell. Perhaps you are aware of how this cell then develops into becoming a human being...
One cell divides, becoming 2. It divides again, becoming 4. Here is the sequence:
1 > 2 > 4 > 8 > 16 > 32 > ...
Do I need to go on?
For every country which has converted to metric, this is still how their babies are made. It is no different, regardless of which measuring system a government attempts to impose. This happens to be a NATURAL sequence which MIRRORS the system maintained in the USA. It is likewise a number sequence which fits quite well with ALL composers of music. Look at any sheet music, from Bach to Daft Punk. You will find these numbers sequenced above in their music. Daft Punk is two French dudes, and every song they have ever put out is infused with this natural sequence. Look for any Metric Sequence of numbers, and you will not find it.
Because if they attempted to do this, then they would immediately fail as musicians. Because... Metric Lacks Harmony.
Go ahead and bury your head if that's how you wish to deal with these hard facts.
Yes, I AM the problem here. I am the one who is unhinged. Sure, if that makes you feel better. Believe whatever you want to believe.
Go petition the EU to change their flag to 10 stars, and see how far you get.
Here's another item you can go out and look for, but you will NEVER FIND:
- A metric compass.
Because as soon as you divide a circle into:
- North,
- South,
- East,
- West,
That extremely simple, basic division will drive you AWAY from Base 10.
You will NEVER find any compass. Nor will you ever find any GLOBE that has been divided into slices of 10 for either Latitude nor Longitude.
And this is the ultimate irony of metric...
They set out to define the meter, with this goal of eliminating fractions. And what is the very first thing they do? The choose to divide the globe into FOURTHS. They decided to base the meter on 1/4th of the distance between the Equator and the North Pole.
This fact right there should make it clear to anyone how metric was doomed from Step 1. It contradicted its own principles from the very start. Eliminate fractions by starting with a fraction.
Now consider the units used in ANY airplane you have ever flown in. The standard here is KNOTS. Nautical miles per hour. Notice how NO ONE uses km/hr. Because it absolutely makes no sense. A unit that was defined based upon the globe is USELESS when navigating the globe.
Everyone still uses this HARMONIOUS system which was adopted from the Sumerians and Babylonians. Division by 12. Division by 24. Division by 60.
It will NEVER become metric. Because Lat/Long, compasses and TIME are all harmonious. Whereas metric is not, and cannot ever be.
Ok, you can now FILE ALL of this information into your UNHINGED (Do Not Ever Open, even in case of Emergency) bin. Promptly discard. Even better if you just never read any words that I have presented.
That is one sure way for any believer in Metric to not have their views threatened by simple facts. I AM THE PROBLEM HERE. You and your beliefs are perfectly find. Nothing to see here. Move along...
Love the US units at 2:57.
I like how @1:05 America is one of the only countries to send a letter not signed with "all oir love" or some nice remark like that, but instead its just "from America". A stark resemblence of reality.
I did some consulting work for a steel distributor soon after I got out of school the second time with an accounting degree, originally having studied math and science and thus being fully used to the metric system. I was really surprised when the business was doing everything in pounds. The real kicker is that when they ordered from China, they had to order in 100 kg batches, so it was always of question of what multiple of 220 lb they were ordering.
Americans also always use fixed showers.
@@ilyatoporgilka “fixed showers”. The nozzle still rotates, just doesn’t disconnect from the wall for most showed. That is not the case for all showers, but most.
I actually have my grandmother's measuring cups from the Gerald R. Ford period and they have markings for cups but in the bottom each cup tells you how many cL it is. Pretty neat (also really good measuring cups).
“cl” is a measurement I only see nowadays on wine bottles.
A common way of measuring car fuel consumption in SI-using countries is litres per 100 km. Conveniently, you can reinterpret the numbers as cl/km without having to do any conversion.
@@lawrencedoliveiro9104 sometimes beer bottles as well, especially in Europe. 33 cL = 330 mL (i.e. the standard amount for a can or bottle of beer).
Wine bottles (and Scotch) are metric: 750 ml. This way, we Americans have no idea how much we're drinking and no need to feel guilty!
The US did in fact start converting over to the metric system, in the late 1970’s during the Carter administration. Schools began putting more emphasis on metric measurements, and states starting putting up highway signage in both miles and KM. Seems like people were saying the changeover was supposed to be completed by sometime around 1990 (?). I don’t remember when this started to fall by the wayside, but Carter getting the boot in 1980 was probably the catalyst
Real estate in Japan is fun. Everything primarily depicted in tsubo = one tatami mat, roughly 2 square meters. I grew up with US system but lived in Europe for bouts. US system has the following advantages: average US highway speed is 60 mph, one mile a minute, no thought time speed conversions (this roughly extends to fuel consumption because you know you will burn roughly 2 gallons for a car and 3 for a truck over that distance); base 12 and base 16 counting systems have more whole subdivisions than base 10. A third of 12 is 4, a third of 10 is 3.33 etc. Biggest advantage is Pint versus half liter. US system is based on feel, what seems right in day to day life. “I’d like another half liter” can’t be said aloud with a strait face. We all still use nautical miles and yards and cables on the high seas too!
and yet, most people I know here in the US use a mixture of both Metric and US Imperial. Most science classes use Metric, but people also have to learn US Imperial to drive and stuff. And soda. Most soda cans are 12 oz cans, but when you want bottles of soda, you either have 16 or 20 oz bottles, usually for cold sodas from stores, or you have 1 liter, 1.5 liter or 2 liter bottles
Don't forget the 16.9oz bottles that have different bar codes than the 500ml bottles.
US Customary. Imperial is different.
In science we gernerally use "Non SI units acceptable for use with SI". Because most metric units are just terribly sized. So we measure energy in electron-volts, large distances in light years, atomic mass units for small things, solar mass units for large things...
And occasionally you'll see Imperial pints of imported beer, which are "20 oz" in Britain but "19.2 oz" here due to our fluid ounce being bigger.
@@danielbishop1863 You'll occasionally see metric-only cans of beer too, which funnily enough are usually in my experience from the U.S.
I like how Canada has basically procrastinated the adoption of the metric system in almost the same fashion as America has done but rarely gets any ridicule today. Canada being: if I stand still, I’ll be invisible
But they did implement it eventually
1975 to be specific
Basically we're not dicks about it.
I thought Canada use both? I lived there for a year and never had to use the imperial system.
Canada officially uses metric though. People still use imperial for certain things, but that’s in an unofficial capacity.
Same with Britain. They like to pretend they use metric, but they are almost as bad as the US about not using it.
We are actually taught both here. Every car has miles/kilometers on the dash. Most items that display F also display C. Soda is sold in liters. Bi-measurement.
As a U.K. millennial I was taught both metric and imperial at school, I use whichever system will provide the nearest to a whole number (this usually ends-up being metric).
its great especially when you work in a factory thats all in US units and are doing QC which is all mandated in Metric and your equipment is setup all in metric, you do a lot of conversions
Did your employer mention they include free brain exercise as part of the social package?
Ouch. That does suck.
I was in school in the '70s and learned it. Then it mysteriously disappeared. There is, however, one stretch of highway in southern Arizona between Tucson and Nogales, Mexico that is still metric.
It's because right-wingers are too afraid of Mexico to ever use it, find out, and complain.
There was actually a campaign by the government in the 70s (led by Pres. Ford) to switch us to metric. Your school was probably part of this program. Pretty neat.
Ronald Reagan canceled the metrification program in the first year of his Presidency.
We should bomb it for being un-american lol
When the Delaware Route 1 Turnpike (since renamed the Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway) opened in 1993, every highway sign that used a measurement (save for the speed limit signs) was in metric, up to and including the exits (as we were anticipating President Clinton signing legislation that would have metricized the entire US). Since then, the Delaware Dept. of Transportation (DelDOT) has replaced all but the exit numbers with US Customary units signs.
We could go to the metric system as follows: 1) 1 metric gallon is 4 liters; 2) A metric mile is 1600 meters; 3) A metric inch is 2.5 cm; 4) A metric pint is 1/2 liter; 5) A metric foot is 30 cm; 6) A metric yard is 90 cm. 7) A metric acre is .40 or .41 hectare.
When I noticed goods being sold in a supermarket in Santa Marta, Colombia, by the pound, I first assumed it was by the American pound/454g, but it was another way of saying ½kg.
I feel that metric is slowly becoming more common in the US. If you took any chemistry or physics classes in high school, chances are almost 100% you had to learn and use the metric system, because pretty much everything that has to do with science is metric these days. I am mostly used to and can "read" the metric system now, but part of me still prefers the old ways (kind of how learning languages work).
Science is done in metric, that's why.
That's not a new thing, it was like that back in the 90s too. But your everyday person doesn't use metric when talking about weights and measures, nor do I think they will for quite a long time. It would be a lot of time, effort, and expense to switch over for relatively little benefit.
Thing is, it takes about two generations to change from X to metric. They did it in the UK, although the left out distances and speed limits, because that would have to be paid by the government instead of businesses. (And then there are people like Jacob Rees-Mogg, who specifically told staff in the House of Commons to stop using metric, because Brexit and we won and stuff.)
The reason why this won't happen in our lifetimes is because the Americans are willing to die for their values and principles ("we just need more metal detectors in schools"), even if those values and principles are absolutely bonkers, and they KNOW that they are bonkers.
@@Top_Weeb Imagine astronauts guesstimating the distance from a planet with no point of reference. People have died because of this nonsense stubborness and pride.
@@Dephax Astronauts can make calculation errors regardless of what units they're working in. People make mistakes.
Also all this weird worrying about edge cases like scientists and in industrial applications. What about 99% of actual use, stuff like cooking? Metric blows for that. Cooking with US/imperial measures you need a measuring cup and a teaspoon and that will cover basically everything. Metric is so whack it's ACTUALLY NORMAL for people to have scales and graduated cylinders because the units are garbage. It's easy to measure a cup and a half of milk. It's harder to measure 300 something ml.
As a person who grew up in the '70s, I had to learn both in elementary school. I can use both easily and can do a mental estimate when converting from one to another. So, I kind of feel lucky in a way.
Everyone is taught the metric system in Chemistry / Physics / most sciences lol
But you don’t teach those courses to third graders. Basic math, yes. JFC.
Americans also always use fixed showers.
Monke
@@vincedibona4687 We were taught both in elementary school at least as late as the 90s.
The best time for the US to switch was early on its history since it’s such a large country with a large population, as time goes by more things such as roads signs get built with US customary units on them, it becomes more costly to switch to metric
It tried back in the 60’s when I was in grade school. I remember teachers trying to teach it.
You freedom unit measurements are spot on. So many people get those wrong!
Seriously though, when I was in grade school in the 80s I remember learning both the 'American' and metric systems and being told that by the time we graduated high school that *everyone* would be using metric all the time.
The joke is that the people who want metric seem REALLY enthusiastic about it while everyone else just doesn't care. It's like the guy who always talks about how unhealthy your food is and you're just sitting there trying to enjoy your burger and coke.
Me too. I'm just glad it never happened. Now we just need to make regulatory changes that all fasteners in the US must be imperial, and we can do away with a whole set of useless wrenches!
@Justin •••
I was taught the same, also in the 80s.
Now we're stuck with two systems.
@@THall-vi8cp Would have been easier if they had just passed a law to only produce metric stuff from that point on.
@@THall-vi8cp It wouldn't be so bad except for the two systems are integrated into almost every vehicle manufactured.
First off, great video series you have been making. I really enjoy how you breakdown these topics into easily digestible parts especially considering full grown adults have the same attention span as a gnat. Anyone who watches this should pause on the news articles and signs, they can be a great laugh. As an engineer in America, I really do hope we eventually move completely to one system or the other. Each one can be used to great affect (metric is easier, base 10 and all) but going back and forth between systems, on the same project, is torture. Just pick one system and stick to it! BZ, keep bringing us great videos!
A lot of countries use hybrid systems these days even if they claim to be totally metric. Look at Canada, they use ounces for drinks and lbs for people weight like the US. I think New Zealand also uses some hybrid measures too. The UK of course is supposedly metric but still uses miles and feet and inches and TVs seem to be measured in inches globally. I personally find the power of 10 factor for Metric measurements around the home too excessive, that's why feet and inches are still preferred I think. I would like to have seen some of persistent imperial measurements metricized though, such as making an inch exactly 2.5cm, a mile 1.5km, a lb exactly half a kg and a gallon exactly 5 litres. Still it doesn't really matter what you use these days as conversions are available at the touch of a button.
How about relating to reality, instead of assuming you're leading the game?
Only two or three countries are still clinging to your long outdated imperial system!
As a math enthusiast, I'm fluent in both measurement units. I can convert both units in my head very easily and precisely.