People are quick to point out that the system of units used in the US is not imperial units but US customary units, but in the interest of brevity I shall refer to them as imperial units. I don't have a beef with the metric system per se. What I am opposed to is the campaign to make the US swear off imperial units altogether and switch to metric. "Like the rest of the world." For starters, I don't think anyone really cares what the "rest of the world" thinks about matters that really only ought to concern Americans. (For the record, "rest of the world" here refers primarily to Europeans. People in Asia, Africa, and other parts of the world are generally too preoccupied with their own problems - grownup real-world problems - to have time to bitch and moan about trivialities like this.) Secondly, Europeans have a well-documented tendency to reach their long, double-jointed arms around their bodies to pat themselves on the back. In fact, I understand it is a common sight in many European cities to see people patting themselves on the back nonstop throughout the day, showing no signs of tiring. They have elevated it to an art form. Here are some of my diffusely written thoughts and observations on the matter of metric units. Any Europeans reading this had better tighten the straps on their diapers at this point.
1. Americans do use metric units when appropriate, such as in science and engineering. And if they don't (such as in the SAT, which was appropriately stripped of its expansion when they realized that it wasn't scholastic, didn't say jack about your aptitude, and could be only termed a "test" in the loosest sense of the word), then they ought to.
2. The metric system isn't inherently more "logical", unless logic is taken to mean "that which fills the hearts of Europeans with the warm fuzzy feeling of superiority", in which case I understand where they're coming from, even if I don't approve. Losing all their numerous colonies around the world is bound to have engendered bitter feelings of depression and inadequacy in their hearts that they have learnt to sublimate into seeking out increasingly creative ways to feel good about themselves. Sure, the fact that the centigrade scale has 100 demarcations deserves a footnote somewhere; and the fact that water freezes at 0 degrees and boils at 100 degrees may have a wealth of applications at children's parties. But to suggest that the centigrade scale is inherently more logical than the Fahrenheit scale is delusional at best. If you're used to using the one, then you're used to using it; if you're used to using the other, then you're used to using that. And if you truly need to use the centigrade scale, then by all means, use it. Just don't attempt to start a revolution and replace readings in Fahrenheit with readings in centigrade overnight. (Notice how I didn't use the word "Celsius" anywhere. It drives the Europeans nuts!)
3. In the logic department, there is perhaps something to be said for 1 milliliter of water weighing 1 gram blah blah blah. As with everything else, if you need to use it, by all means, do so. Just don't expect to be met with sympathetic ears when you find yourself holding up a long line of people at a checkout counter, trying to use that argument to persuade the cashier that milk ought to be sold in liter bottles as opposed to gallon bottles.
4. Same with feet and inches vs. meters and centimeters. It depends on what you're used to. And for everyday purposes it doesn't matter at all. Personally I find the enormous gap between the meter and the next smallest (commonly used unit) to be too wide to aid in any meaningful way in eyeballing distances and sizes. The foot is a lot better for this purpose, and it's easy to visualize how many inches make up a foot. Of course, Europeans tend to be naturally gifted at eyeballing things, and their shifty little eyes are constantly darting to things that shouldn't concern them.
5. Europeans like to name obscure imperial units like the "fathom" and the "chain" for distance, and laugh and pat themselves on the back when the American struggles to convert from the one to the other. Of course he's struggling, doofus! No one uses those units anymore. There is no requirement to subscribe to ALL imperial units just because you subscribe to a few.
6. Maybe someday the United States will switch entirely to the metric system, like the "rest of the world"; but until that day comes, I see no reason to expend enormous amounts of money in changing road signs, replacing mile markers with kilometer markers, manufacturing cars that display speed in kmph as opposed to mph, etc., etc. For everyday purposes, using the imperial system is no more "logical" than is driving on the right-hand side of the road. (The small-minded Briton will insist that driving on the left-hand side is more "logical". He probably wants the UK to remain in the European Union, too.)
7. Judging by the dark clouds that have begun gathering in the horizon over the Atlantic, I think it is time the Europeans changed their diapers.
1. Americans do use metric units when appropriate, such as in science and engineering. And if they don't (such as in the SAT, which was appropriately stripped of its expansion when they realized that it wasn't scholastic, didn't say jack about your aptitude, and could be only termed a "test" in the loosest sense of the word), then they ought to.
2. The metric system isn't inherently more "logical", unless logic is taken to mean "that which fills the hearts of Europeans with the warm fuzzy feeling of superiority", in which case I understand where they're coming from, even if I don't approve. Losing all their numerous colonies around the world is bound to have engendered bitter feelings of depression and inadequacy in their hearts that they have learnt to sublimate into seeking out increasingly creative ways to feel good about themselves. Sure, the fact that the centigrade scale has 100 demarcations deserves a footnote somewhere; and the fact that water freezes at 0 degrees and boils at 100 degrees may have a wealth of applications at children's parties. But to suggest that the centigrade scale is inherently more logical than the Fahrenheit scale is delusional at best. If you're used to using the one, then you're used to using it; if you're used to using the other, then you're used to using that. And if you truly need to use the centigrade scale, then by all means, use it. Just don't attempt to start a revolution and replace readings in Fahrenheit with readings in centigrade overnight. (Notice how I didn't use the word "Celsius" anywhere. It drives the Europeans nuts!)
3. In the logic department, there is perhaps something to be said for 1 milliliter of water weighing 1 gram blah blah blah. As with everything else, if you need to use it, by all means, do so. Just don't expect to be met with sympathetic ears when you find yourself holding up a long line of people at a checkout counter, trying to use that argument to persuade the cashier that milk ought to be sold in liter bottles as opposed to gallon bottles.
4. Same with feet and inches vs. meters and centimeters. It depends on what you're used to. And for everyday purposes it doesn't matter at all. Personally I find the enormous gap between the meter and the next smallest (commonly used unit) to be too wide to aid in any meaningful way in eyeballing distances and sizes. The foot is a lot better for this purpose, and it's easy to visualize how many inches make up a foot. Of course, Europeans tend to be naturally gifted at eyeballing things, and their shifty little eyes are constantly darting to things that shouldn't concern them.
5. Europeans like to name obscure imperial units like the "fathom" and the "chain" for distance, and laugh and pat themselves on the back when the American struggles to convert from the one to the other. Of course he's struggling, doofus! No one uses those units anymore. There is no requirement to subscribe to ALL imperial units just because you subscribe to a few.
6. Maybe someday the United States will switch entirely to the metric system, like the "rest of the world"; but until that day comes, I see no reason to expend enormous amounts of money in changing road signs, replacing mile markers with kilometer markers, manufacturing cars that display speed in kmph as opposed to mph, etc., etc. For everyday purposes, using the imperial system is no more "logical" than is driving on the right-hand side of the road. (The small-minded Briton will insist that driving on the left-hand side is more "logical". He probably wants the UK to remain in the European Union, too.)
7. Judging by the dark clouds that have begun gathering in the horizon over the Atlantic, I think it is time the Europeans changed their diapers.
2 comments :
lololol
Diapers lulz.
:)
Too much?
Post a Comment