Debate/Poll: Metric or English?

[Sir Goulum]

Which one do YOU think is better? The simple and easy everything-has-to-do-with-powers-of-10-Metric System or the confusing random-numbers-English System?

I say Metric! Canada is superior

[Davros]

You may just as easliy ask Aluninum or Aluminium - I don't think you are going to get the other side of the border to change.

As a Chemical Engineer we are taught all sorts of fantastic measurement units(anyone know what a slug is ) and often have to do the conversions in our head. I work for a multinational based in the US, so when I participate in a technical review of one of the American plants I have to work in gallons per minute, faranheit, and BTU's per square inch rather than kl/h, celsius (or Kelvin), and Watts per square metre. The decimal system is much easier to memorise and manipulate, but you get equally proficient at either.

[Davros]

Oh, and as to Canada being superior - earth to planet SG - please define context - your assertion is kinda wooly at the moment [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Draten-Master of Fire and Ice]

Slug?!

Small slimy thing that hates having salt poured over it.

Next question. *grins*

[TheCrimsomBlade]

Actually it is Metric and American standard because the English use metric and have for a long long time so don't call it Metric and English. Metric is a measurement and English is A Language and A People.

American standard beats the hell out of Metric in my opinion but I'm an American so I have used it for 50 years and it is automatic in my thinking and measuring. It is based on the number 12 same as all of europe used until they let the Japaniese dictate math to them and since canada always follows mother England they adopted it in 1965
sorry I can't vote on your poll because they are both a vote for metric and the reason you think that metric is better is because you have the same problem with the Language. You have no Idea what you are talking about. Next time Please try to get your facts straight before you try to make a poll thank you and now you can go out and play in the snow, you know that cold white stuff.

[ 12-25-2002, 12:18 AM: Message edited by: TheCrimsomBlade ]

[Night Stalker]

As an American, I say neither. It's what you are used to. I've used both, and apply both to different areas. Fortunatly, the Electrical Eng professsion decided to use SI units so it makes calucations much easier (*shudders* slugs and psi). But tell me it's 22 deg C and I think that it is a nice comfey 72 deg F (where as 22 deg F is friggin COLD!).

Like Daveros said you get used to it. Just think about how everyone measures time - a base 60 system, but you have no problem seeing that 3600 sec is just an hour (60 min x 60 sec/min).

[Night Stalker]

Hey Crimson! Give the kid a break!

You might want to check you own facts before you rant. While this is America, the measurment system used is English, just like our language (though I'm sure some Britts disagree that we speak English). The Britts may no longer use the system they started, but the units came from England. A foot, before standardization, used to be the length of the sitting King's foot - literally.

Chill out.

On a side note, could anyone imagine buying a 1/7th HP lightbulb (close to the standard 100 W buld)?

[Yorick]

Originally posted by TheCrimsomBlade: Actually it is Metric and American standard because the English use metric and have for a long long time so don't call it Metric and English. Metric is a measurement and English is A Language and A People. American standard beats the hell out of Metric in my opinion but I'm an American so I have used it for 50 years and it is automatic in my thinking and measuring. It is based on the number 12 same as all of europe used until they let the Japaniese dictate math to them and since canada always follows mother England they adopted it in 1965 sorry I can't vote on your poll because they are both a vote for metric and the reason you think that metric is better is because you have the same problem with the Language. You have no Idea what you are talking about. Next time Please try to get your facts straight before you try to make a poll thank you and now you can go out and play in the snow, you know that cold white stuff.

Actually it's Metric and Imperial.

I guess it all depends on the country you're in Crimson. In Australia, part of the old Bristish Empire, it's Imperial, in Canada it's obviously "English" and in America, you've said it's American. Slagging a Canadian isn't going to help matters

Regarding what is better? Well Imperial/English/American has been replaced in most of the nations it was prevalent in, by metric. Metric hasn't been replaced by Imperial/English/American anywhere. So I guess if the world was a democracy...

It's just that it costs America too much to convert from Imperial to Metric, and to convert to Celcius temperature reading (which makes more sense also.. freezing point is zero for example. )

Finally I believe Metric is French, not Japanese.

Metre? Kilometre? Decimetre? Milimetre? Centimetre? French words. Like Litre. Except you Americans decided to change all the French words to spell Liter, meter etc.

The beautiful thing is the word tells you what the measurement is.
100 centimetres make a metre
10 Decimetres make a metre
1000 milimetres makes a metre.

Easy.

It matches our 10 based numerical system.

[ 12-25-2002, 02:34 AM: Message edited by: Yorick ]

[Davros]

Crimson - the other two have already been on your case ......... but I'll still join them - you're wrong .

Imperial is the best description, and I can tell you that the speed limit signs in GB are all in miles per hour, and it is on;y the slow "Europisation" that is now seeing kilos as well as pounds on packaging (at least that was what was in vogue when I last spent much time over there (2001). Great Britian has had temperature on the celsius scale for some time know, but is still a miles, pounds, gallons country - well at least if it's not, my good pal Donut will take great pleasure in pouring a pint of cold frothy Fosters all over my preposition .

If you go ou tto buy an air conditioner or a fridge tomorrow at the Boxing Day sales, they are probably all rated in efficiency in BTU's - you do know what that stands for don't you

[LennonCook]

Metric. All base 10.

Milimeter = 10^-3 metres
Centimeter = 10^-2 metres
Decimeter = 10^-1 metres (rarely used)
Metre = 10^0 metres
Decameter = 10^1 metres (rarely used)
I forget the name for 10^2 metres... (*never* used that I know of)
Kilometre = 10^3 metres.

And then the prefixes stay the same for volume most common are the mililitre (mL) and the Litre (L).