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
I used it a few times with measurements around the house but sure, it’s not a daily occurrence.
What most annoys me about imperial are the recipes. Why the fuck do you not weigh your ingredients? Instead you have to put everything in these measuring cups, shake it or even press it in so it sits flat. How many carrots is 1 cup of diced carrots? With experience you will know but if it said grams, you could weigh the whole thing in the store and be done with it. It doesn’t need to be very precise with cooking but you get the idea.
But don’t get me started on baking recipes…
I think a lot of that is tradition, since imperial almost certainly predates scales being an everyday item. Annoys the shit out of me, too, though, so I use metric in the kitchen, because I have a scale xD It does depend on the recipe, though. For pancakes I just use a jug, put the egg/butter/salt/etc in, then fill up to the 2 cup mark, then add in half cups of flour until it looks right, but at that point it’s not really measuring anything beyond the total liquid content. Easy recipe, though, and good pancakes.
The crazy thing is that for some recipes it doesn’t even matter the exact amount, but for others it does.
When I was taking chemistry, we had specific instructions to indicate that it didn’t matter exactly how much of something you used, verse when it did matter.
Cups were invented by the pioneers. It’s easier to carry a cup around than to carry scales and a whole bunch of weights around. There is little no reason to still use cups.
TIL.
Crafty buggers