Hi Joe, I am old enough (67) to remember our change to metric in Canada. Holy crap what a sea of resentment and anger that started! I was 20 years old and screw this, we don't need it or want it. Almost 50 years later, I have adapted. I live and work in metric. But I still think in Fahrenheit when I am setting the temperature on my thermostat. Change is just hard. Now speaking of change let's get rid of this bloody awful daylight savings time change!

@dogphlap6749

Жыл бұрын

With you all the way brother.

@CharlieTheNerd91

Жыл бұрын

^Here I am, a European who never knew Canada used to use imperial measurements

@hhiippiittyy

Жыл бұрын

@@CharlieTheNerd91 Canada does so much trade with and is so socially linked to the economic and cultural behemoth that is America that it takes a lot of extra effort to reach escape velocity from anything that America does.

@l-wook

Жыл бұрын

I wonder what the population was in Canada when we made that change, definitely 1/2 the infrastructure to swap over. Anyway, hello from Saskatchewan! The land of no daylight savings! 😂

@hhiippiittyy

Жыл бұрын

@@l-wook It happened, officially, on April 1 1975, and the population was approximately 23million.

"America is an isolated country" *Cries in Canadian*

@kmolnardaniel

Жыл бұрын

with metric system in isolation

@mellie4174

Жыл бұрын

Yes!

@felipedigre

Жыл бұрын

Always wondered why us and canada don't have a closer relationship. In Latin America we are quite connected with it neighbors

@ehulbert5

Жыл бұрын

Oh "we're exceptional".🤣

@francinesmith1889

Жыл бұрын

@@felipedigre because sometimes Canada is too liberal for even the liberal Americans. I’m specifically lookin’ at the limitations on “freedom of expression” here. F**k you, Ima say and read what I want.

I'm an engineer here in the USA. I use Celsius when I'm at work and Fahrenheit when I'm at home. I use feet and inches for carpentry work and centimeters and millimeters for metal working and laying out fret locations for guitar necks. And finally, I use microns for the LEDs I design. Numbers are good, regardless of their units. Cheers!

@joegee2815

Жыл бұрын

Same here. I'm comfortable with units of all shapes and sizes.

@amphibiousone7972

Жыл бұрын

That's the way I do it too 💪

@slcpunk2740

Жыл бұрын

Until they cost millions of dollars when you crash a satellite 🤦🏻‍♂️

@alexlail7481

Жыл бұрын

I also have an engineering background and I am comfortable with both systems... in my work experience, things that humans directly interact (buildings, furniture, equipment) with are are typical 'divisible' by Imperial- feet/inches units more readily and things humans rarely interact with frequently or things ment for precision applications are perceived easier to construct in metric with it's base 10 units

@masonjohn4433

Жыл бұрын

Yep :) Same here.

You should do a video about that time in the 70s where we almost switched. Or that's a good original short idea 😉

@b1646717

Жыл бұрын

I think we did switch. Nobody cared

@gabrielkarczewski4453

Жыл бұрын

Also it could be a fun topic to talk about the different units and the history of it, with examples like the Vasa ship

@sunshine3914

Жыл бұрын

I remember shoe stores trying to switch, but Americans wasn’t going for it.

@scottmcgowan5953

Жыл бұрын

Yes. Old enough to remember those days.

I use kelvin just to make everyone equally annoyed. 😛

@jamesphillabaum1970

Жыл бұрын

I use the Rankine scale

@BattNW

Жыл бұрын

I made up my own

@gtbkts

Жыл бұрын

I'm from Ohio but I root for Michigan every time they're playing against each other. I geel like we have the same vibe 😈

@Digital-Dan

Жыл бұрын

And by the way, if you're talking about, say, the temperature of the sun, it doesn't much matter if you use Kelvin, Celsius, or even Fahrenheit -- you won't be off by more than a binary order of magnitude plus or minus a fraction. It's in the low millions either way. It was very useful to see the Webb web site using K as the unit when it was in the cooling phase. One of the instruments had to get down and stay down in the single digits.

@gasdive

Жыл бұрын

Rømer scale. Can't beat it. Water freezes at 7.5 Rømer, boils at 60 Rømer. So obviously perfect.

A tip for avoiding confusion with temperature scales - only discuss temperatures when it's really, REALLY, cold. -40 is the same in both scales, so you don't need to specify which one. Also, when it's -40 it's too bloody cold to care which scale you're using!

@Bintangwarrior

Жыл бұрын

Similar when talking temperature of stars.........10 billion degrees.......who cares? Its freaking hot in any scale.

@TraditionalAnglican

Жыл бұрын

😂😂😂

@Nefville

Жыл бұрын

I like to use kelvin when it gets cold, everything seems hotter when the freezing temperature of water is 273 degrees.

In the UK, I think we officially switched to Celsius in 1963. I was born in the eighties and grew up using Celsius, but my parents grew up with Fahrenheit and still prefered to use that scale. When I was growing up in England in the 80s and 90s, I remember being confused by how the news would use Fahrenheit when reporting exceptionally hot weather and Celsius when reporting exceptionally cold weather. Basically, they did it because the numbers sounded a lot more dramatic. For instance, 100°F sounds much hotter than 38°C and -5°C sounds much colder than 23°F.

I think when you said "cultural inertia" you nailed it. People don't like change. In the UK we have a hot mess of different Imperial and Metric units, but we're used to them.

@elizabethsullivan7176

Жыл бұрын

Many Americans just can't be bothered to learn new ways of doing things, like the way they want everybody to speak American English because they don't want to be the ones to learn other languages. They're a bit lazy in that respect.

@MrT------5743

Жыл бұрын

@@elizabethsullivan7176 you call out how bad America is on a post about how messed the UK is. Good job!

@garth56

Жыл бұрын

@@MrT------5743 She did and she's right..🙂

@mbryson2899

Жыл бұрын

@@elizabethsullivan7176 American English varies wildly and constantly evolves, so it's definitely not a matter of being too lazy to learn or change. Through what lens are you viewing it?

@Naptosis

Жыл бұрын

@@elizabethsullivan7176 They must get it from their Dad. We're similar in the UK.

I really appreciate when someone does the conversion in the same sentence. When I'm watching a video I don't want to have to do math(s).

as a Canadian, i use F and C , kms and miles, feet and meters, inches and CM's. you get used to it

@castorchua

Жыл бұрын

English and French... no wonder you guys are so messed up 🤣

@BattNW

Жыл бұрын

And likely use French and English. US thinks in the imperial system but does pretty much all science and medicine in metric. This is like many cultures who speak their native language, but do business in English as one of the international standards (especially in commercial aviation). It's obvious internationally because US exports a lot of media (CNN, Hollywood, YT, TV) which is often dismissive that not everyone thinks in miles, Fahrenheit, etc.

@phoule76

Жыл бұрын

@@BattNW Good point. it's also a linguistic issue, like how I'm not going to refer to a dog or a baby as "them" when it's clearly one animal / person.

@rjf7023

Жыл бұрын

@@BattNW i dont speak a word of french. id guess the avg american speaks more spanish than the avg Canadian speaks french (outside of Quebec)

The UK has a glorious mix of Imperial and Metric. I think temperature was the only complete transitions and definitely the easiest. When I was a kid, TV weather was in F and somewhere along the way it changed. It's really only people if my Mum's generation (she's in her 80s) that still think in F. For everything else, I am very comfortable with the mix even if it makes no sense. I get my milk in pints and my orange juice in litres, my beer in pints and my wine in ml, I drive in miles but do most small length measurements in metric - except my height which is very definitely in feet and inches. I weigh myself in Imperial but differently to Americans so I can't understand what they mean anymore than the rest of Europe, I use Stones. I think Metric clearly makes more sense for science and engineering and, over time, other systems will fade as younger people taught mostly or partly in Metric grow up and that is sensible but the brain is perfectly capable of managing more than one system, just as it can manage more than one language.

@mb-3faze

Жыл бұрын

I bet your mum thinks in Fahrenheit all the way down to freezing and then switches to Celsius :)

@LostInDub

Жыл бұрын

I think this is the best comment on this I've read so far. Fairly similar story here in Ireland though we're a bit ahead of you guys in converting but still not quite there. & m b's the funniest 🤣

I like metric when it comes to most measurement (length, volume), because it has finer gradations and makes sense as a base 10. I like Fahrenheit because of the same reason, it has smaller gradations.

I'm American and I use Celsius for all of my science projects, 3D printing, and monitoring solar equipment temperatures. I use Fahrenheit when talking about the weather report.

@ku8721

Жыл бұрын

I'm American, and also a 3d printing hobbyist. Honestly HATE that they use Celsius for printing... but LOVE the millimetre!!!

@bugsfudd8295

Жыл бұрын

I like fahrenheit on my thermostat because it gives finer control... 1 degree Celsius is 1.9 degrees Fahrenheit

@freefall9832

Жыл бұрын

I live between 0 and 100, very simple

We absolutely love this channel. Every time I get a notification from this channel, I love it.

This was a great video for so many reasons! I love the logic and explanations you bring when discussing topics. Thank you 🙏🏼

I was in third grade when we tried to switch to metric. I realized immediately that it was easier and made perfect sense. My older family raged on and on why it was a bad idea. The military and business saw the value and began adopting the more sensical system.

@ku8721

Жыл бұрын

Switching to metric would have saved the USA over 327 million dollars in 1998 alone! Honestly if you don't already know check out the Mars Climate Orbiter.

I have been guilty of these types of reactions in the past. They show a lack of empathy and in some cases entitlement.

@d.shermandesantos3570

Жыл бұрын

You're probably right. I'm left wondering what kind of lives people who react like this have that this is something to get upset about. The folks I know get upset over things like people being killed, human rights being lost, climate change issues, etc. I'm trying to picture someone who would get upset over Scott's opinion or comment on word usage for temperature and I just can't imagine who would do that. Obviously there are people who will. That's a tad disturbing.

I am Canadian and here is how I remember the Fahrenheit scale. 32 is freezing, 100 is hot and you can work out the level of warmth between those two figures.

@Digital-Dan

Жыл бұрын

Right. 0 is freezing and 38 is hot, and you can sort of work out things between. You have to admit, when someone says the temperature has exceeded 38 for several days in a row, it is not as dramatic as talking about temperatures over 100.

@ku8721

Жыл бұрын

You're Canadian? Mind if I ask you how tall you are??? Please answer as you would if I asked in person. This may seem odd but I'm looking to test a Hank Yarbo theory.

@rickkwitkoski1976

Жыл бұрын

@@ku8721 185cm and 93 kg Canuck - older one . I taught myself SI when I was 12

@deadeye8843

Жыл бұрын

@@ku8721 18 hand

@tiberiusbrain

Жыл бұрын

No

Ive lived the the states for almost 10 years and I havent gotten used to the Fahrenheit system (and not for a lack of trying). Ive heard over and over again that Fahrenheit is more intuitive for understanding the weather and other day to day stuff, but to me Celsius is just way simpler. Negative numbers - winter jacket Single digit numbers - jacket Numbers starting with 1 - 2 layers Numbers starting with 2 - t shirt Numbers starting with 3 - hot Numbers starting with 4 and up - you’ll want to peel off your skin

As somebody who's originally from Europe but has lived in the states almost my whole life since 91' I fully support this message. People really do get offended over anything these days, really takes any fun left out of social media imo 😒

@bipslone8880

Жыл бұрын

I can't take anyone that uses the imperial system serious.

@castorchua

Жыл бұрын

@@bipslone8880 We use the metric system but I acknowledge Fahrenheit is probably more descriptive for the general human experience. Would still be better if we all just used metic for everything though.

@LuisPereira-bn8jq

Жыл бұрын

As someone who grew up for 20 years in Europe before living in the US for 10 years I can fully tell you that you're full of shit. Which system matches "how you feel" is nothing more than which system you've grown up with in your formative years. Same exact reason why humans find it hard to count in hexadecimal, despite it being utterly equivalent to decimal. And I actually think being "offended" at this is 100% justified, since Europeans literally feel temperatures in Celsius (having grown with the system), and this comment is nothing but an American insinuating that the way Europeans feel is fake in order for that American to feel better about the inefficient system he uses.

@Digital-Dan

Жыл бұрын

In the Gilbert and Sullivan musical "Princess Ida," one character was punished after his capture by having every want and need met with speed and grace. He almost went crazy with nothing whatever to grumble at.

@castorchua

Жыл бұрын

@@LuisPereira-bn8jq I grew up metric but theres no denying there are more whole round numbers in Fahrenheit to describe typical temperatures humans experience in the weather

Hey, as a Canadian I use both. Temperature and speed are metric and height and weight are usually imperial. Then there is baking which I use cups and teaspoons still! Use what you like, most of us have small computers in our pockets that can translate on the fly so what does it matter. :)

@inomad1313

Жыл бұрын

My car speaks imperial with a Canadian accent. 😂

@tigershirew7409

Жыл бұрын

@@inomad1313 LOL

@hhiippiittyy

Жыл бұрын

And then there is distances and locations. If it's in a car, we measure it with time, a direction, and a landmark. "Where did you go this weekend?" "Oh... to my buddy's cottage. We were ice fishing. It's about two hours (time) east (direction) of Ottawa (landmark)."

@andrewdonatelli6953

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, almost everything we have in Canada has both on it. Rulers, speedometers, thermometers etc. I'm comfortable using either one, except when it comes to height and weight. I just can't get used to thinking about my height and weight in metric. Not sure if my bathroom scale can even be switched over to metric.

I remember as a young kid in the late 70's when we tried to change to metric. I was taught metric in school. I still use metric measurements (except kilometers) over the imperial system in my daily life. It's SO much easier. I think the expense is the biggest obstacle.

@ivorjawa

Жыл бұрын

Imperial makes more sense when you’re using hand tools for something like carpentry. 10 is divisible by 2 and 5. 12 is divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6. I speak both. So does every American who has any technical training. Why do Europeans dis us for being monolingual when they can’t handle two systems of measurement. It’s a lie, anyway. The British may feel temperature in metric, but they drink in pints and drive in miles.

@panman1964

Жыл бұрын

@@ivorjawa many of us Brits (especially of a certain generation such as myself & @Johanna above) are very much hybridised when it comes to measurements and possibly (speaking for myself) also just about remember using pre decimalisation money!!. Also the US Imperial System is not exactly identical to the UK Imperial system, take gallons for example. Our Pints are bigger than yours ;o)

@ianswopeexhibits5289

Жыл бұрын

I’m about the same age. I think it’s identity politics. As I remember it, it was during the Carter administration when we tried to go metric. Regan came in and imperial was solidified.

@sageslarres

Жыл бұрын

@@ivorjawa it doesn't it only gets you to what I call fraction hell where all your measurements are suddenly 3 and 5/8ths inches etc. It's only easier for you since you are biased and all your tools and lumber comes in imperial sizes. Also why would we need more than one system of measurement? We know the one that is based on science, not the one based on how many acorns could fit in a flowerpot

@johannaverplank4858

Жыл бұрын

@@ivorjawa lol yeah. I make jewelry and trying to measure very the small is so confusing with fractions of inches.

Fame at last! Thx for the shout out Joe... Especially like my accent... Haha BTW, it is infinitely more confusing here in the UK where we kind of half embraced metrication and then thought... Nah... So now we have a foot in both camps. We buy a litre of coke in the shop and go next door to buy a pint of beer in the pub. We measure our distances in miles and smaller things in cm & mm. We fill our cars with litres and yet our dashboards give our fuel consumptions in miles per gallon... This place is madness... Here be dragons!!!

While in Spain, I noticed that Google maps has standardized their zooming distances to the number not the distance. What this meant for my experience was that three units, as expressed through a zoomed in map, would be way faster than anything I experienced in the States because the kilometer is shorter than a mile. That mixed with the unfamiliar locations of street signs meant that I was constantly looking at my phone while walking around, and I felt like an idiot

I grew up with imperial and in my teens Canada switched to Metric. Cue several years of learning the conversions and here’s the kicker. In groceries stores we still use both, $/lb and $/kg or just listing both. Just to muddle it up. Personally I don’t care what you use, I’m a big boy I can convert. Also reminds me of a bloom county cartoon about being offended , then people being offended at being offended at (? Is that a sentence?)

As a South American, I have the same issues, including having to do a lot of conversions in coordinate processing systems because all of them works in metric, and the user (a very american company) wanted everything stored and exposed in imperial.

@Digital-Dan

Жыл бұрын

Just stay away from Mars rocket engineering and we'll be OK.

@Puerco-Potter

Жыл бұрын

This is the problem for most people, Americans are usually the ones that don't want to do the conversion themselves and they cost us time.

My Grandfather and I talked quite often during my late teens and twenties. I was already deeply into auto mechanics and embraced the late model vehicles, their computer controls and metric fastners. My Grandfather, a Pipefitter for 40 years a month and 12 days as he so often reminded me, gave up his chance at the "Pawpaw" relationship with me to correct me and help me have disciplined character and it took time to see he cared and not that he believed I was capable of the stupidity of mistakes he would help me avoid. I'm glad I realized why. Grandpa would tell me, "I don't know why we (meaning USA) can't be happy using the imperial system. We've built the greatest country in the world with it. Seems like a good enough way of reason to me." At the time I didn't have the means to articulate to him why it was a poor ideal to maintain the imperial standard, only I liked that the newer cars only had one type of faster. Since losing him those words have came to me and countless times I have pondered the conversation with myself and I would have responded to him with.. "Grandpa, because we are the greatest country in the world is exactly why we should be using the metric system." With puzzled silence on his face I would go on to say, "Most countries engaged in the world economy, albeit friend, foe, competition or both, use the .etric system. If the USA wants to compete in those markets or against those who wish us harm we should be using the most common, therefore most competitive system of measurement. The imperial system, that has served us so well and allowed us to become the country we are today, has served its purpose for the world it was part of and as you say its a different world, a different way is needed" In my mind the conversation ends and what happens after I don't know. Grandpa would always listen and even admit when a better way came along. Sure do miss him. I owe much of my character to Grandpa's and so much more. Hopefully this story will pass along some of who he is and was to you. Thanks for reading.

@barrydysert2974

Жыл бұрын

Thank You for sharing !:-)

@pendantric6902

Жыл бұрын

Firstly, Thank you for sharing it was a lovely bit of history. Secondly the line your grandpa said about "We've built the greatest country in the world with it", that's the reason everyone from Europe gets angry at Americans. America, by every global metric isn't even close to being the best country in the world and it offends us when Americans make that claim as it's objectively false. This isn't meant as any sort of jab at your Grandpa, just to clarify, I'm sure he was an absolutely wonderful man, I'm just pointing out that that line specifically is what makes Europeans and us here in the UK so annoyed at Americans.

@cabbage9999

Жыл бұрын

@@pendantric6902 cope harder

@pendantric6902

Жыл бұрын

@@cabbage9999 😂😂😂. No

@LG123ABC

Жыл бұрын

@@pendantric6902 Yeah, like that time Europe put a man on the moon...Oh, wait...

HOW DARE YOU.. to be so funny and on the point.. now i have te reassume al my assumptions.... lol... love ya

I am an Australian in my life time we went from Pounds, Shillings and pence to Dollars and Cents, went from inches feet and miles to millimeters, centimeters and kilometers and from fahrenheit to celsius, this made school exams really interesting, my children will never know the struggle so one generation and its all history

@bilindalaw-morley161

Жыл бұрын

I'm a sixty yo Aussie and learnt both methods usually by rote. I still remember that theoretically one thousand white rods fit in a big coke bottle(they were only a litre) and I can still recite ounces pounds stones etc. Btw if you remember the rods for maths in grades one n two, I wonder where they and that scheme came from? B/C they were definitely metric. And whilst I know it happened after I was born I don't remember us having shillings etc. I do know that my father was once trusted with the shopping when I was a newborn and spent the entire housekeeping of ten bob on a saucepan set! I read a lot of English fiction as a kid so I always "sorta" knew the old currency. Also I think I remember the drapers shop in our tiny country town having decimal n metric, and yards n shillings n pence on the bolts of fabric. PS they used the saucepans their entire lives so I think Dad won that one on points although my Mum was still stroppy about it that whole time! Sorry for the essay.

My pet peeve is with American recipes (cups of grated cheese / diced carrots / chopped spinach / BUTTER!!! I bought a set of American cup measures so I use those for flour / sugar / liquids. That's OK, I can work with this. I heard that, up until the "Dustbowl Era" American recipes used ounces and fluid ounces. However, it was a lot easier to pull out cups rather than scales and weights when they stopped to make camp while migrating to greener pastures so the cup measurements returned. Think,..."The Grapes of Wrath".

@getyourownshoe

Жыл бұрын

Yes! Volume can be very different from weight, and also, should I account for the gaps between my chopped carrots? So confusing.

@kerriclarke66

Жыл бұрын

And tablespoons of butter! I only recently learned that American "sticks" of butter have tablespoons marked on the wrapper. Til then, I could never understand why anyone wold scoop butter with a tablesoon. 😄

@shirleysavoury5638

Жыл бұрын

@@kerriclarke66 If you prefer weighing butter, here's what I use... 1 tablespoon = a light 15 grams = 1/2 once 1 cup = 225 grams = 8 ounces

I am from a small town in Iowa. I was taught the metric system when I was a kid in the 1970s. I am shocked when working with young people in their 20s now that don't understand the metric system. How is that possible?

I love the response 'you need Celsius to tell if water is boiling or freezing' because they somehow can't tell without a thermometer?

@sageslarres

Жыл бұрын

I see why you love it. It's as stupid as using the imperial system

Would love to see a main video about the United States being Isolated culturally, can mention geography too (in terms of proximity to other countries as that likely would play a large part in shared regional culture) Think it would be an interesting topic.

Everything you are saying is TRUE!. I remember the 70s and how we almost changed over. Also, I was in England 11 years ago, and it was amazing how fast I caught on the meters, pounds, and Celcius

@Digital-Dan

Жыл бұрын

Pounds as in shekels, that is. Of course, mass is in kilos.

Ive always wanted to learn and use the metric system; but as you said, it would almost be pointless here in the US until more people were using it. Nobody would understand and I would have to do 1000 conversions daily just to talk to people.

@KidaRosado

Жыл бұрын

I would loathe learning it but once I did Im sure I would like it much better than imperial with the possible exception of temperature.

You can’t please everyone. 😅 Love your work!

I use a system of temperature called WIFDT, it is based on words that I personally feel describe the temperature. Like today the WIFDI is "gah" as that is the sound I made when I went outside in winter with the wind blowing.

I saw this on Instagram and from what I could tell the responses there were a lot less "serious" in nature (yes I did respond, hope it came across that it was very much not a serious response, I thought the meme was quite clever but couldn't resist). To the people who actually decided that they'd be offended by the meme, I don't get it? It's a meme, it's not supposed to be taken too seriously

@peter1745dev

Жыл бұрын

Also I don't think most people realize just how difficult it would be for the US to transition to the metric system (and celsius) from a logistical standpoint

@Lethgar_Smith

Жыл бұрын

Europeans are very defensive about the metric temperature scale for some reason. Perhaps they sense that it doesn't really make sense and that our Fahrenheit scale is far more intuitive and easy to understand. It is strange. They admire us from afar but at the same time hate to admit when we've done something better.

@misob

Жыл бұрын

​@@Lethgar_Smith dont think that is the reason. As a canadian born in europe I am exposed to and worked with both systems. You are correct that the fahrenheit system doesnt really make sense, because IT is not at all intuitive nor as easy to understand vs Celsius(along with the metric system). Feet and inches are easier to use in construction i will admit, but the metric system is used anywhere where precision is very important, in sciences, mathematics and physics

@Lethgar_Smith

Жыл бұрын

@@misob The boiling point of water has what to do with the weather, exactly? Your argument has no justification. Zero to 100 is a scale anyone can understand because we all intuitively know where all the digits in between roughly fall. If I say 48 degrees, you know that's about halfway between really cold and really hot, but in Celsius the midway point is...where? I have no idea unless I was very familiar with the scale and had used it all my life, but I haven't.

@chitlitlah

Жыл бұрын

I'm not offended, but I don't really get it. Either scale is just numbers and neither is intuitive at all. A warm day doesn't feel any more or less 95 than 35. Water at that temperature is also no more or less 95 than 35. The only practical difference between the two is Celsius set 0 and 100 as the melting and boiling points of water instead of the less even numbers 32 and 212. Other than that, it's completely about what you're used to.

Well said Joe. I would also add that being isolated at the size we are is also a hindrance to change. I believe we are still the 3rd most populated and that's a lot of people and industries to change at once. Although I think we have made some slow progress toward metric over the last few decades and if we ever do change more I think it will be a more of a snail's pace. More machines are metric than they used to be and if they are the most frequent bolts to turn tend to be a crossover size. (like 19mm to 3/4"). Little things like that along the way are a big help to use mechanics

You "are" not an isolated country. You want/made an isolated country. Big difference

Not just Europe! Try "The rest of the world"!

One of the first and most horrible arguments my ex husband and I ever had was an argument over the US changing to the metric system. It was in the 1970s and the US was supposed to be switching to metric. We were on our way out to a romantic dinner and there was a billboard along the beltway touting the switch to metric. I commented on the billboard stating how I thought it was a great idea, for the US to use the same system used elsewhere in the world, how I thought it would simplify science, eliminate possible conversion errors. My ex was in a field that it would've impacted his daily work. I thought he was being selfish by considering only himself and not considering the greater good, the benefits for many. I silently curse my ex now everytime I have to do metric related conversions. I should learn the metric system before he or I are no longer alive, just to win. Lol That argument paled in comparison to our later very heated verbal altercation over radon gas.

@Aengus42

Жыл бұрын

Ooooh! Radon gas is nasty! In 1987 the whole UK was given dosimeters to check for it. Our house was OK but a friend's house (made from, and built on, Dartmoor granite) had to have extraction fans installed. It used to be thought of as healthy & invigorating FFS! You could get radon gas to make ☢️🫧 soda water 🫧☢️ with! Then people started dropping dead from cancer! ☹️

@hawkdsl

Жыл бұрын

Thank for explaining why he's an "ex". My God.

@hannakinn

Жыл бұрын

@@hawkdsl we once restored and lived in an old cabin that had a crawl space. We lived in an area with a known high incidence of radon gas. I wanted to get a radon gas detection kit because I wanted to know if we needed to take steps to make sure no radon gas was entering the cabin through the crawl space. I felt as if we should address the issue if there was one. He insisted the radon gas scare was all part of a government conspiracy and he proudly proclaimed that he didn't believe in anything he could not see. I stopped that part of the argument by pointing out to him that meant he didn't believe in oxygen. Lol We've been divorced forever, but talk a few times each week now that he divorced wife #2. We're not best friends but we check up on one another. We share a son and grandchildren so it's good that we get along in our senior years.

@WatanabeNoTsuna.

Жыл бұрын

@@hannakinn Well, I guess he couldn't "see" himself keeping a wife...🤷🏻‍♂️ 😂

I grew up in the US, so I am always using Fahrenheit and other imperial units. However, my STEM education made sure I am used to using metric as well. I moved to NZ three years ago, and while I have no trouble using the distance or weight units for everything, I still have some trouble using Celsius for anything outside of work. That said, even before I moved, I quickly learned a simple shorthand for swapping between them and coming up with rough estimations whenever I look at a weather forecast, and it has served me well. As long as you remember just four temperatures in Fahrenheit and Celsius, you can get by. These are: The freezing point of water: 32°F, 0°C Room temperature: 77°F, 25°C Human body temperature: 98.6°F, 37°C The boiling point of water: 212°F, 100°C

Simon Whistler broke this down in a video on one of his 200 channels. It's prohibitively expensive.

No Joe come on now. There are rehabilitation centers for that sort of thing.

My husband has a hypothesis: the main reason we haven't adopted the metric system is that we only teach it as a unit conversion problem, and people therefore have negative associations and dislike it. If we taught Celcius and *not* Fahrenheit (like Europe chose to do), it wouldn't be a unit conversion problem anymore and that negative association would go away fairly quickly. We just jump cut to using metric and it's fine 99% of the time. The only context where I can't use it is driving because of MPH. The only weird side effect of that is not being able to use a non-American Siri voice as my default because I'd need to use MPH while driving. (Irish Siri is the best Siri.)

@thinkabout602

Жыл бұрын

and the law makers are OLD

@jasonstinson1767

Жыл бұрын

Yes I use metric units as intuitive measurements not units to be converted to imperial as I also have intuitive use of imperial measurements. In my head for a needed conversion its always X=Y with no constant used or needed in the thought process.

@alexlail7481

Жыл бұрын

While I don't think he's necessarily wrong. Here's a slightly different hypothesis.... while a lot of countries either had or were already in the process of officially changing over from whatever there traditional units were to metric most of the world was physically ravaged by WWI and WWII while we were effected very minimally by physical destruction. So most of the other countries infrastructure and other throw backs to the old sytems of measure were gone after the wars it didn't happen in the US. Even looking at the UK and Canada which changed over more recently still reference the Imperial system for various things. The UK did suffer destruction but it didn't wipe the slate clean quite like the main land so it did not have the same level of destruction.

@jasonstinson1767

Жыл бұрын

Great observation that is rarely considered yet likely still influential today. Seems like it could be the totality of many circumstances including important adversarial and allied relationships with other countries as well as our pride in the American way post world war II.

@DeirdreSM

Жыл бұрын

@@jasonstinson1767 I also find it useful to find a common physical measure for things. 10 cm = 4", but most people don't really have that internalized. My hand happens to be about 10 cm wide (above the knuckles). I try to add context when using a metric measurement in a conversation with someone who's not as fluent. That way, someone who only has imperial internalized has something to latch on to.

This deserves a full video in the main channel. Why Americans should adopt the metric system.

It is interesting how the imperial system works well when relating it to the human body i.e foot is close enough to an adult's male foot, a yard is equivalent to a stride, 4 in is the width of a hand, so when you're building stuff, it does make more sense than the metric world. Funnily enough, when I go and buy a piece of lumber, it's quite amusing how we still cross imperial with metric and order timber in metric length, but imperial width and depth i.e 2.4 mtr of 4"x2" 😁.

@mellie4174

Жыл бұрын

A yard is also the distance between your nose and your longest fingertip... Aprox.

@zaphodsbluecar9518

Жыл бұрын

Yes, but in actuality, you haven't been buying 4" x 2" for a long time...

@matthewbrown435

Жыл бұрын

@@zaphodsbluecar9518 too true, everything these days are smaller portions😉

I'd never really thought about it that way before, but I suppose Americans are more isolated (and you could probably define "isolated" multiple ways here... but I'm guessing "not as likely to travel to another county" when compared to the average citizen in Europe may be true). Probably a lot to do with the fact that the average American doesn't get vacations, paid time off, etc. Our work "culture" is just so different here (at least, from what I'm told). Healthcare is certainly part of it too. I could barely afford to take off work to get a much needed hysterectomy this year (fibroids, endometriosis & adenomyosis). Traveling abroad seems completely impossible until perhaps retirement. Hopefully I'll live that long (I'm 37 and that seems a very long ways off lol).

@Digital-Dan

Жыл бұрын

No, it's mostly the money. And the travel time, which is either very slow (cruise ship) or very uncomfortable (long air flight).

@256k_

Жыл бұрын

you can literally get a cheap train ticket and in 2 hours be in a completely different country/culture/language in lots of places in europe. but in north america the cheapest flight to europe would cost over 1000$ and that doesn't count accommodations and stuff. plus the trips is long as shit so you cant go for a weekend or even just a week. it's just not financially feasible

@inomad1313

Жыл бұрын

I grew up in DOD schools. It wasn’t until the 7th grade, when I attended a public school, that I realized how “isolated” we were as a nation. Most of my class mates had never been outside the state. Only one or two had ever been more than 300 miles from where they were born. Worse yet, most had no desire to travel any further than they had. (I had already been to 4 European countries, Mexico, lived in 4 US states, been in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Gulf of Mexico and met people from many different cultures and countries.) I spent three years in that school system that consisted of three towns and the surrounding farm lands. My freshman class was the largest sense 1952 at 27 students.

@187raum

Жыл бұрын

Is the idea of "isolation" seriously being discussed on a global website on a global network?

Also transitioning is a lot harder then it's made out to be. Despite how much they make fun of us for it I have seen TONS of British people still using imperial and some saying they don't know metric. And up until recently they had all their speed signs in MPH (and got really mad when they changed over).

@hhiippiittyy

Жыл бұрын

The difficulty for individuals is, imo, way less influential than the difficulty for industry.

@RRW359

Жыл бұрын

@@hhiippiittyy Probably but it being hard for industry perpetuates it being hard for individuals.

Funny you mentioned Australia at the end of the video and it’s true we are very similar. We relate more to the British from the past but these days are much more allied with the US. We did change to the metric system in the late 60’s I went through school using both but much prefer metric, base 10 is so much easier than base 12! We do have some strange things happen though for example car tyres are still always measured in inches. What I find strange is the US jumped into decimal currency earlier on but stayed with imperial measurements.

@paulhaynes8045

Жыл бұрын

Actually base 12 would be mucsh easier than base 10, as 12 can be divided by 2, 3 and 4, 10 only by 2 and 5 (try working out a third in base 10). But what we had under the Imperial system wasn't base 12, it just used more 'natural' numbers - like 12, 20, 360, etc (it was still base 10 - i.e it uses digits from 0-9). But, unfortunately, we were borm with 10 fingers, so we're stuck with base 10 - whichever measurement system we use...

Intuitive tweet. Thanks for sharing.

I know there's a lot more to our infrastructure than building codes but, as a contractor, all the measurements in building codes is in English measurements. My property lines are in English measurements. Just rewriting building codes and redefining property lines would be a monumental task.

@gabrielkarczewski4453

Жыл бұрын

What are the English measurements?

@drewharrison6433

Жыл бұрын

@@gabrielkarczewski4453 Feet and inches. Imperial measurements. As in the Empire of England.

@gabrielkarczewski4453

Жыл бұрын

​@@drewharrison6433 hm okay, but it was actually the British Empire, not English/of England and I think calling it British measurements is a bit confusing since the UK implemented SI

@drewharrison6433

Жыл бұрын

@@gabrielkarczewski4453 Hmm. Okay. Sorry my terminology isn't historically correct. I'll be willing to bet that it is a common usage. Usage isn't always technically correct.

@gabrielkarczewski4453

Жыл бұрын

@@drewharrison6433 no worries mate. Is it a common usage in the US? I haven't heard that one before.

I am Australian. We use Metric. Do I care that you use an inferior measurement system? Not at all. :o) Seriously though, I grew up during the Great Conversion, so I can convert in my head. You do you, Joe.

"America is isolated" - Laughs in Australian I do love having a conversation with Europeans about travel times, blew one guys mind that it's a 3+ hour flight from Perth to Sydney, he just couldn't fathom it.

First thought, when I saw the title... Friendship over!😅 But really, I could never dislike you. 🤓

Blaming people for their measurement system is like blaming them for their language. It’s something we’ve grown up with… You wouldn’t judge a German person for speaking German, even though it’s not the international language! Thank you for talking about this. I recently had this exact conversation with some Europeans. It was mostly friendly, but they were nettled that we had to “be different”. As though we all as individuals made that choice ourselves. Systems of measure at some point were standardized by governments, not average individuals. It is not and never was up to us plebs. We’re just used to whatever system surrounded us early on.

@nedflanders4158

Жыл бұрын

The language is a good example. BUT, plenty of countries already learn English ONTOP of their own language, so they can compete in the world's economy. This is no different. It's fine for the US to use imperial, BUT it would make sense to change over to the same units that the rest of the world uses

Жыл бұрын

@@nedflanders4158 You are kind of saying why this is different. A lot of Americans only know imperial, and don’t know metric on top. It would be nice if Americans were better at using the “Lingua Franca” for measurements when publishing stuff online, just like the rest of us do with language. Whenever I publish stuff on Reddit and the like, I tend to do both metric and imperial just because I want to be nice to people. It would be so much simpler if the rest of the world didn’t have to learn both English and imperial measurements in order to be inclusive, but alas.

@hhiippiittyy

Жыл бұрын

It's a mixed bag. The plebs aren't necessarily involved in the decisions... but there is a not-insubstantial number of plebs who defend and support the decisions made for them as though it were a team sport type of thing.

@nocomment2468

Жыл бұрын

Well, just as people learn second languages, Americans learn the metric system. But when describing something tangible, such as temperature or distance, we have physical associations with Fahrenheit units. I know how to dress for 72F or what it feels like to walk 2mi. Of course, conversion is always an option. So it doesn’t really signify which units anyone uses, so long as they’re part of a system that can be translated!

@keco185

Жыл бұрын

@@nedflanders4158 most Americans understand metric units reasonably well just like most Germans will probably understand English pretty well. Obviously a native speaker is more likely to be more familiar but it’s not like an American hears “1 meter” and thinks it’s a mile long

I'm an American and I took the time to learn about both systems. I think it's important to be literate in both or otherwise risk looking foolish. Having said that, I think it's important for people to be sensitive of the customs of other cultures, and even if that custom is using a stupid and out of date unit of measurement. I'm sure there are plenty of things in other countries that should be changed but are kept around just because of tradition or other weird reasons.

@JohnnyWednesday

Жыл бұрын

Ironically all American measurements, every last one of them, is officially declared as a conversion ratio from Metric units - only the metric units are based upon the structure of reality.

I think the fahrenheit scales perfect for home heating and cooking sometimes you need more degree of measurement nobody wants to fool around the decimal point

Thank you, Frameworks!

Why don't we all speak one language while we're at it.

@phoule76

Жыл бұрын

Exactly. Or wear the same shirt and get the same haircut and listen to the same shitty pop songs.

@Digital-Dan

Жыл бұрын

I will admit that when someone reports that another human language is dying out, I have trouble mourning the loss." Or "Fersniggle frinderFrossik," in one such language.

@samdaniels2

Жыл бұрын

Well, think of how many people speak English around the world now, not only how many as a first language but the sheer amount of countries that have it as a second language

@BBDoesTheThing

Жыл бұрын

@@samdaniels2 oh it would prob not be English lol

@samdaniels2

Жыл бұрын

@@BBDoesTheThing It would definitely be English

Bro, you don’t need to apologize for being the best

Didn't NASA destroy a mars orbiter just by using imperial units? Powerful stuff!

video idea: west virginia bridges. just heard something like 1 in 5 bridges in WV is classed as 'structurally deficient'. im sure you could dive into that in an interesting way.

Hi Joe, American expat here living in the UK. I was taught as most American are that in regards to Celsius, Zero degrees is freezing and 100 degrees is boiling. But what I wish they would've taught us in 8th grade Science class was that normal body temperature in Celsius is ranged between 36.1º and 37.1º . (Incidentally,37.8º Celsius Is equivalent to 100º Fahrenheit.) After trying to covert in my head back to imperial for so many years, and failing. I ditched Fahrenheit. Anyway, hope this helps.

One argument for Fahrenheit is that it’s more precise technically. Obviously only 100 degrees between freezing and boiling in Celsius. With Fahrenheit there are 180 degrees between freezing and boiling (32 to 212). So yeah, F has almost twice the precision a C. So there, haha

@sven-erikjohansson2484

Жыл бұрын

Ever heard about 14.2C° or 23.6C°. That makes for 1000 between 0 and 100. 😉

@chrisscruggs2545

Жыл бұрын

@@sven-erikjohansson2484 obviously, but whole numbers are a lot easier when your just talking about the weather or something. For anything technical or scientific, C all the way. But for everyday use, F is fine, and more precise

@ado6693

Жыл бұрын

Bro what 🤣

@gabrielkarczewski4453

Жыл бұрын

​@@chrisscruggs2545 well, I don't think we need such precision for weather - it's usually difficult to feel a 1*C difference, except for the differences between -1 and +1, but here Celsius is better anyway

@lh3540

Жыл бұрын

Yes. This. If I'm running a half marathon and it's 54 and dropping, I need to plan on a windbreaker. If it's 55 and rising, I'm going out cold and maybe stripping some layers. "It's 19.4466238432" degrees isn't a thing for practical weather.

0 is the freezing point of a specific concentration of ammonium chloride brine... It just makes sense! (The world's filled with such wonderfully brilliant silliness, and even though 97+% of the world has successfully moved passed it, the bizarre Fahrenheit scale still exists as a part of that silliness.)

I remember elementary school, back in the 70's, our teacher telling us that America was switching to the metric system. They gave us the formula to convert Fahrenheit to Celsius, and that was about it.

Sheesh Europe why so sensitive???

@samdaniels2

Жыл бұрын

Bruh, it isn't just Europe , it's Asia, Africa, Oceania, South America, Europe and even fellow countries in North America such as Mexico and (mostly) Canada. It's pretty much the whole world

Are you in America? If so , don't apologize ....

Hey Joe, would love to see you make a video that delves into imperial/traditional units and measures. The metric system may be logical on paper, but the imperial system is based on scales that are more relatable and organic. A lot of the "metric is better" arguments fail to recognise the relevance of inches and feet to the size of the tools and objects we use everyday. Stones and pounds are far more meaningful than grams and kilograms, and everybody knows what an ounce is, if you get my drift 😉

@zaphodsbluecar9518

Жыл бұрын

Even Stoners know what a gram is, so that blows your argument... And 'stones' is a U.K. thing anyway.

I completely agree, if we switched over to metric I would be fine with it. Yes, there would be a period of adjustment but we would live. As a cyclist I already have the KM to miles calculation down to where it is almost automatic. I will also say that being the largest economy in the world buys us a bit of insulation. If we were a smaller country then we would almost have no choice but being the 800lb gorilla (sorry there is no conversion for that term) we can get away with holding out.

I lived in FRG (west Germany) for 4 years. I adapted to the metric system fairly quickly as well. I found traveling to different countries within Europe to be equivalent to traveling within the USA. Why go to Europe when we have it all here. I adapted to the area I was living in. Other countries should be more open to such ideas.

Yeah, i agree with your original statement. I can't convert F to C when it comes to knowing intuitively how i'll feel when i go outside in December.

I'm getting up there in years, and the frequent C/F conversions I do in my head is helping to stave off dementia.

I'm from the UK. Temperatures are in Celsius, but when we have heatwave, the headlines are 'it's over 100F', though the record broken this year will be known for being 'over 40c for the first time... Distances are in miles, but we measure shorter things in metres, or feet, or centimetres, or inches - I can swap and change quite freely, though younger people are definitely metric, except for the miles, though we can do kilometres too when needed... I'm 6ft 5, or 195cm, I weight 20 stone, or 127kg - rarely is it in lbs....we buy milk in pints, but pop (soda) in ml or litres.....and it all sort of works. Sort of. We're used to it.

30 is hot. 20 is nice. 10's getting cold. 0 is ice. That's all you need to know to calibrate for Celsius.

Weirdly though, temperature seems to be the one that people get worked up about. A lot of places will still use the imperial system in some instances. But rarely for temperature. Maybe because it's slightly harder to do the conversion in your head too, with different zero points? It seems to go both ways. I lived in the US for a bit, thinking in miles or inches was natural, but I had to convert temps. My American neighbour over here was the same. She preferred metric, but not when it came to temperature. Still thought in fahrenheit & insisted it was better.

Hi Joe , or should I say , g'day mate. I would argue that Australia is the "Australia" of the world . We changed to metric in 1974 . I was 10 years old at the time and already had a pretty good understanding of the imperial system . I am multi lingual in weights and measurements to this day , but I never really came to terms with the Fahrenheit scale. Water freezes at zero °C , boils at 100 , and you die at anything over 50 . Simple . I think one thing that helped us with our conversion to metric was that we had only recently changed to decimal currency (from pounds , schillings , and pence) a few years previously .

I agree with you. When I visit the states, I adapt to miles and fahrenheit pretty quickly.

In Canada our construction and food are in imperial (Prices advertised for food are usually in imperial so it looks cheaper until your at the till), even though we use metric units for most of everything. And the US industries use metric, especially medicine and the like...

From India here, we use a mix of both aswell. For body temperatures, doctor's use °F We use inches for waist size, we use ft" inches' for height and measuring clothes, we also use inches for some stuff like size of bandages & casts. We also use inches for a lot of plumbing supplies , we also use acres for lands. But we use kilometres for Measuring distance , for weather we use °c , for speed we use km/hr , for weight we kilograms etc.

Australia faced the same challenges in the 1970s ,the government mandated the change would start from a given date and all goods sold by weight had to be changed over to metric within a given time frame, obviously it took time to replace existing systems and road signs. You could get free stickers for vehicle speedometers and self adhesive numbers were placed over road signs, even though I was a young child it was strange for a while I can remember seeing lots of extra labels at the shops and often heard older people complaining, there was still the odd country back road sign in the 1990s to catch you out, I was a victim of one in Victoria on a dark night running low on fuel the car was spluttering as I rolled up to the fuel pump.

Well our system of measuring distance was set by the metric system when Carl Johansson created the guage block set and set the inch at 2.54cm exact.

You measure ambient air temp differently than me? How DARE you! Kidding, obviously. I'm American too. And I agree, it would be expensive and difficult to adopt the metric system but I'd be on board for it. The metric system does make a lot of sense. I just think we have bigger problems to deal with first.

I think there is a geopolitical component this discussion. I'm an American who has traveled a bit, been to Europe, the UK many times, Chine, Korea, etc. The thing is... in Europe if you drive an hour or so, you're in a different country with different cultures, languages, and so on. In the US, I can drive for days and be in an area that uses the same systems of measurement that I am used to, I don't think most of the world gets how big the US us is, and the freedom of movement that we have. NO, I am not saying this is better, I'm just saying that to experience different systems we have to get in a plane, and spends lots of money, to get out of our comfort zone. It's not that we think our system is better, it's just that we don't for most of us, we don't have a lot of reason to change it!

When did the metrics system develope compared to when the standard system was developed, and what other systems have been in use over the decades and centuries? Would make a good video.

I think it's also about problems that we should be solving. There are so many problems. Access to quality health care, racism, poverty, xenophobia, access to quality education, climate change, pollution, microplastics, terrorism, declining biodiversity, economic displacement, government corruption, the list goes on and on. Farenheit doesn't even make it into the top 100 most important problems. Yes, we should adopt metric. And there are a thousand other low-priority changes we should make. But let's concentrate on the bigger problems first.

Could you make a video about the Mysterious Boom in January 2023.

HAHA, despite many "back handed" complements to the US I liked this and you made some good points. The way I see it, when "the rest of the world" says "why don't you use the metric system?" It's the same as someone in the US asking the world why don't they speak English? Many do, just as much as many people here in the US use the metric system. Yea, its our independence but it's also another form of our language. Why use imperial units? Why speak English? Why drive on the (figuratively and literally) right side of the road? Because WTF not? Does the US using imperial units really affect your life in your metric world? (using my best Joe Scott impersonation) Does it Really? My favorite reply reply/meme to the Imperial/metric fight is "Oh yea? How many Countries that use the Metric system have put a man on the Moon?"

There are a small (or varying) number of people from all countries, cultures , religions. Even neighborhoods that think they’re better than other places. The inability to appreciate the circumstances, beauty and, yes, flaws of “the other” is our greatest flaw as humans, and it’s also understandable. Genetically, we’re tribal and paranoid of different. Here’s hoping we grow up before… Cheers, Salute, Prost, et al!

Is it true nasa used the metric system for the Apollo missions?

You rock Joe!! F THE SYSTEM! Hope your good boss! I’m in Scotland. It’s always shite weather, so I don’t care! Your contents amazing! Keep it up! Even the shorts! The only shorts i thumbs up!

Here in the UK we have no idea what we are doing. We buy pints of beer and litres of petrol. If you're old it's inches, and if you're younger it's millimetres. Yards and miles are used for the road signs. Yet percentage is used for hills. We have one foot in each camp. And it's bloody confusing.

Here in Ireland, our speed limit signs are in kmph. Our cars up until the last 10 years had speedometers in mph with a small kmph underneath. They've since switched to kmph only. I grew up during our transition to metric but my younger friends give me funny looks when I say it in miles by old habit. I think the problem we (metric countries) have with Fahrenheit in particular is that there isn't a common 0 point so mental conversion is more difficult. So maybe you guys should ditch it first... or last.. damn I dunno, just so long as you ditch it eventually 😂

In engineering environments the metric system is used most often. Also, since many of the automobiles we have in the USA are made elsewhere, those cars have metric fasteners, so auto mechanics or anyone else that works on cars usually has both metric and imperial tools. When all of the other countries made the conversion to using metric all the way there was confusion and resentment, but eventually everyone got used to it. I remember seeing an ad from Great Britain that was meant to convince the people that metric was better. It showed a young woman measuring herself with a metric tape measurer and finding her bust was 94 instead of 36.

Being a Gen Xer… this made perfect sense and the humor was right on!

Actually while there are a lot of things we use the imperial system for, we also use the metric system far more than people give us credit for. As well outside of specific situations there is no rule saying, as Americans, we can't use the metric system. I use both systems frequently myself depending on the project. Even when it come to temp. We measure a room or weather in F, but use C for all computer and electronics metrics. So.... yeah! lol

Though I am all for switching all other imperial units to metric, it would be hard to get used to using Celsius for weather temperature. A cold day being 50° F and a hot day being 100° F feels much simpler than 10° C to 37.7° C .

I''m old enough to remember during the 1970s when the Carter Administration was converting the USA to metric. Highway signs would have both miles and kilometers on them. It was a pretty cool reference even if we stayed Imperial for tourists and for educational purposes.