It seems like a weird point to bring up. How often do y’all convert your measurements? It’s not even a daily thing. If I’m measuring something, I either do it in inches, or feet, rarely yards. I’ve never once had to convert feet into miles, and I can’t imagine I’m unique in this. When I have needed to, it’s usually converting down (I.e. 1/3 of a foot), which imperial does handle better in more cases.
Like. I don’t care if we switch, I do mostly use metric personally, it just seems like a weird point to be the most common pro-metric argument when it’s also the one I’m least convinced by due to how metric is based off of base 10 numbering, which has so many problems with it.
Edit: After reading/responding a lot in the comments, it does seem like there’s a fundamental difference in how distance is viewed in metric/imperial countries. I can’t quite put my finger on how, but it seems the difference is bigger than 1 mile = 1.6km
Because the ability to easily convert between meters and kilometers is the only intrinsic benefit that metric has over any other form of measurement.
Some say imperial has some other benefits, like being easy to do math in your head with… but I’m skeptical that this benefit is worth much either - if it even exists at all.
The real benefit to metric is that it is standard across the world. So what the “convert to metric crowd” really wants to say is “it is inconvenient for me to have to keep converting from your units to mine - change your units for my benefit!” But that would feel rather dickish, so they make up a story about how changing your units is really for your benefit.
Not only kilometers and meters. You can also convert easily the following units to meters: gigameter, megameter, hectometer, decameter, decimeter, centimeter, millimeter, micrometer, nanometer, picometer.
Additionally, you can easily convert these units to grams: gigagram, megagram, kilogram, hectogram, decagram, decigram, centigram, milligram, microgram, nanogram, picogram.
Additionally, you can easily convert these units to liters: gigaliter, megaliter, kiloliter, hectoliter, decaliter, deciliter, centiliter, milliliter, microliter, nanoliter, picoliter.
Additionally, you can easily convert these units to areas: gigaarea, megaarea, kiloarea, hectarea, decarea, deciarea, centiarea, milliarea, microarea, nanoarea, picoarea.
Additionally, you can easily convert these units to newtons: Giganewton, meganewton, kilonewton, hectonewton, decanewton, decinewton, centinewton, millinewton, micronewton, nanonewton, piconewton.
Additionally, you can easily convert these units to seconds: Gigasecond, Megasecond, kilosecond, hectosecond, decasecond, decisecond, centisecond, millisecond, microsecond, nanosecond, picosecond.
Additionally you can easily convert these units to hertz: gigahertz, megahertz, kilohertz, hectohertz, decihertz, centihertz, millihertz, microhertz, nanohertz, picohertz.
Additionally you can easily convert these units to joules: gigajoule, megajoule, hectojoule, decajoule, decijoule, centijoile, millijoule, microjoule, nanojoule, picojoule.
Additionally, you can easily convert these units to watts: gigawatt, megawatt, hectowatt, decawath, deciwatt, centiwatt, milliwatt, microwatt, nanowatt, picowatt.
Note that those lists are incomplete. You can expand them by “inventing” new ones by adding other prefixed. Like I did because when writing all of those manually on my phone angered the autocorrect. There are also many other units.
And of course, the fun doesn’t end there. You can easily do the same for powers of those units. Like m2, m3, s-1.
And let’s not forget that you can also easily convert between those “base” units and “compound” ones:
(Kilo)gram meter to newton.
1/second to hertz.
square meter to area.
Cubic meter to liter.
(kilo)gram to liter (of water).
Joule second to watt.
If you want to convert 74962 feet to 95 yards or whatever, you do you. I’m going to keep using metric, because it’s not only better for me, but it’s also better for you.
It doesn’t matter if I tell you a distance in meters or kilometers, you only have to remember what that means in feet so you can convert it to whatever imperial distance you want. Just multiply/divide by 1000 afterwards by moving the decimal point. If 53 meters is 863 yards, 53 kilometers is 863000 yards.
However, it does matter what unit you choose to communicate with me. I know that 1 inch is about 25.4mm/2.5cm, but if I’m unlucky and you decide to say it in feet, I’m going to need to Google the conversion.
Read those last 2 paragraphs again, and tell me what is more “dickish” (to use the same word you used).
see my post[s] above
How much does 1 cubic yard of honey weigh is it’s density is 11.5lb/gal. In metric it ia 1.4 tonne to the m^3 even if I only know the weight of 1 L of honey.
Fuck trying to do that i US or imperial units
I will switch to metric for all my daily needs as soon as I find a cubic yard of honey I need to know the weight of
The other benefit is that physical formulas usually work out easily
For example
1 Pa = 1 N / m2
or
1 bar= 1 N / cm2
while “pounds per square inch” is nothing but insane. I couldn’t stop laughing for three days when I heard that for the first time.
Honestly, metric does have some benefits over imperial, it’s just I so often hear the one place it really doesn’t. It being a standard is useful! Rockets have exploded because of the US’s stuff being imperial, because they didn’t convert it to metric before sending it off. I don’t remember the exact story, admittedly
That probe died because of a lack of oversight. If they didn’t have a proper system verifications in place for something that obvious and simple, wtf else is NASA cowboyin’ up, Shuttle Solid Rocket Seals? Oh, yea, they did that one already. Or pure oxygen crew cabin and a door that takes minutes to open with no emergency release? Oh, yea, did that already.
If I pulled a boner like not having multiple external validations of some math I need to do, my team would laugh me out of the room when shit broke. I’d probably get a nickname for such an amateur thing.
Yeah, that was definitely a multi-leveled failure