Hey Google, Why Won’t the U.S. Switch to the Metric | Sun May 30, 2021

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I created this journal to celebrate my 38th birthday, to force myself to write every day, and to totally copy thought expert and author Seth Godin.

We should be using the metric system. In fact, we should’ve been using it 3 decades ago way before personal computers became common household items like televisions and microwaves with the rotating glass tray at the bottom. This is an opinion by the way — just in case that isn’t clear from the use of should in the opening sentence.

To be honest, this search result lost me at “When the Industrial Revolution began…”. It’s like asking one my kids why after they’ve done something incredibly dumb and dangerous: I should’ve expected an unsatisfying answer to the question.

Seems like distance would be the most useful measurement to switch first. One of the imperial measurements is called feet! Really?

The human foot has to be one of the top 5 most varying external body parts up there with noses and ears. That should be enough of a reason to switch to the system of ten: the stupid, no pattern having, titles of the imperial measurements.

Doesn’t it feel primitive to still have to know inches, feet, and miles? I bet car manufacturers would love being done with miles. Well, maybe they would’ve been more happy to convert before vehicle computers got so fancy. But really it feels like we’re refusing to advance the entire country.

Going metric would make relevant areas of education easier

Think about how much easier maths and sciences would be if you didn’t have to memorize or calculate obscure measurements.

Who knows? Maybe it’s the imperial system that’s at the heart of why other countries kick our kids’ asses academically. I bet there’s a book or study about it somewhere — and likely written with less aggression and pretense than this post.