Metric versus Imperial System for Diving?

[agilis]

It was coincidence, because meter was chosen to be 1/10000000 of half of Earth meridian. It just so happened that 10 meters of water presses roughly as one atmosphere, "roughly" - not exact. But the approximation is good enough for practical reasons.

Actually, 1/10,000,000 of the distance (as calculated in the late 18th Century) from the Equator to the North Pole on the meridian that passes through Paris.

I like the hybrid system used in the UK. It has a particularly British eccentric charm. Surely I'm not the only American who gives his answer in stones (14 lbs.) when asked for his weight, or estimates moderate distances in chains and furlongs. That almost nothing useful is communicated is irrelevant. Pragmatism is overrated.

I learned this essentially obsolete system when I lived in Jamaica, which was officially committed to the metric system even back then. Nobody used it, though, certainly not the farmers and fisherman in the coastal village where I lived.

 

[mrdre]

The UK did a poor job of transitioning too and they're system is even worse because people talk in hybrid.

It's an expensive operation to adopt a new system of measurement. Just think about the the cost alone of having to replace every single road sign in the country that has a distance or a speed on it..... School books, computer programs, product labels... you name it. This is the reason the UK failed to make the transition and I think their example is a good one. If you don't have the money to do it right then you're probably better off not doing it.

To my way of thinking the US missed the window in which they could have made the transition without incurring astronomical costs for a project that would, for all intents and purposes, deliver a zero-sum benefit.

If I had to make the decision I wouldn't do it either and certainly not now when you're up to your lips in debt and deficit and there are bigger fish to fry.

R..

There is always going to be dept and there is always going to be war. Debt is good for business. The costs to change are astronomical and so are the costs of not changing. Probably 200 years ago Congress couldn't convince farmers to measure their farms in kilometers and the same arguments were given "it works for me and I don't wanna change". Even today it won't cost too much to teach children both systems, no need for drastic changes. Science and military in the US use metric anyway. Why not learn both? It will improve math skills at least.

I, honestly, don't know about problems in UK. I haven't heard too much complains from them, but I never lived in UK, so I don't know. I don't see any problem using hybrid system. Canadians seem to be doing fine. One thing I know is that you don't have to change the road signs, as people don't actually measure the distances. These are just numbers "it takes 20 units to get from here to there" - it could be anything.

 

[dfx]

So here's a question for those who oppose adopting the metric system in the US.

Independent of what you personally use, what you personally prefer and what you personally are used to, would you agree that, all other things being equal, the metric system is easier to use, makes more sense and is more intuitive?

If you anwer no: why not?

If you answer yes: why are you opposed to making things easier for future generations?

 

[agilis]

So here's a question for those who oppose adopting the metric system in the US.

Independent of what you personally use, what you personally prefer and what you personally are used to, would you agree that, all other things being equal, the metric system is easier to use, makes more sense and is more intuitive?

If you anwer no: why not?

If you answer yes: why are you opposed to making things easier for future generations?

There must be other possible answers besides a flat yes or no, especially when the no answer requires a cringing justification while a 'yes' stands alone shining with truth and purity.

 

[dfx]

There must be other possible answers besides a flat yes or no, especially when the no answer requires a cringing justification while a 'yes' stands alone shining with truth and purity.

Either it's overall easier or it isn't. What other options could there be?

 

[JohnN]

Either it's overall easier or it isn't. What other options could there be?

How about Celsius sucks? Not nearly granular enough for me.

(outside of that the Metric system makes most things easier), although from my previous posts, you already know I'm a big fan of Furlongs per Fortnite

 

[dfx]

How about Celsius sucks? Not nearly granular enough for me.

(outside of that the Metric system makes most things easier), although from my previous posts, you already know I'm a big fan of Furlongs per Fortnite

Unfortunately it's an all-or-nothing situation. Plus, this is a complete nonsensical point, something that only someone who doesn't actually understand the metric system would suggest. Because you can always add a friggen decimal point! (Not that I even expect you to be able to tell a 1°F difference in anything...)

 

[mrdre]

How about Celsius sucks? Not nearly granular enough for me.

(outside of that the Metric system makes most things easier), although from my previous posts, you already know I'm a big fan of Furlongs per Fortnite

In decimal system you can add decimal points. INFINITELY MANY decimal points. So the Celcius is infinitely granular. "Metric people" wouldn't even understand that problem, because moving "up and down" to the scale is tought in elementary schools and comes natural. Moreover Celcius was chosen very logical. 0 - when water freezes, 100 - when the water boils under 1 atmosphere. Fahrenheit chose his "zeroes" absolutely arbitrary, then tried to tie up some physical properties, trying to justify the choices. Moreover when dealing with absolute zeroes scientists use Kelvin - it's just same Celcius minus 273. "Fahrenheit people" have to relearn Celcius when doing any scientific research.

People who live in imperial system have to deal with things, that don't exist for metric people. "Granularity" problem doesn't exist in metric system. You don't have to use fractions of inch when measuring small things. There is no need to memorize the fractions, no need to deal with 13/32 and 27/64. In metric you compare 3mm and 2mm. You need go smaller? go nanometer, go picometer. You NEVER use fractions. Just move the decimal point left or right. Going from inches to feet to miles is painful. The numbers are awkward. People who say "it works for me" never do any actual calculations, never do any scientific research, never deal with military tasks. When you do - the imperial system becomes so much trouble, that you will switch to metric whether you want it or not. In everyday life people don't convert things, don't measure things. They can live in "no system" and will do just fine.

 

[EFX]

In everyday life people don't convert things, don't measure things. They can live in "no system" and will do just fine.

I beg to differ. People in everyday life do measure things if by that we mean intuitively. Ask someone to approximate the distance to the nearest store or school and they'll respond fairly quickly in miles. Ask them to give it to you in km and you'll get a long pause and less accurate answers. A switch to the metric system will have most people converting measurements at least for awhile until that becomes intuitive with practice. I find myself converting km to miles because km's aren't hardwired into my brain.

 

[Mike]

If America converted to the metric system how would I instantly get a read on an apprentice carpenter's skill level if I could no longer use the ole reading the tape measure test on them? Metric would be too easy and myself and every other owner in construction would lose this quick and easy barometer!