Flare Sci-Fi Forums: Chimaera's Great Pet Peeve....

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Posted by Chimaera on :

...is the imperial system of units and measures (pounds, feet, inches, acres and so on). IMHO, it is an archaic system whose time has past.

Metric is such a nice, precise system. Everything divisible neatly by 10, standard prefixes and such. But the imperial system seems like such a mess. 5280 feet to a mile, 43560 square feet to an acre and so on

My frustration comes from the fact that Canada is officially metric, but since our economy is so intermingled with the American one (which uses imperial) we're stuck in a kind of hybrid situation, using half one system and half the other. An example: As an engineering student, I am asked to calculate pump and pipe sizes. My equation yields a pump requirement in kilowatts, a pipe size in millimeters. But most pumps in Canada are imported from the US, which means they're rated in horsepower. And pipe manufacturers in Canada still make standard pipe sizes in inches, partly because they export a lot to the US. To make matters worse, we often need two sets of tools, one in inches and one in millimeters AARRGGHH! Some stuff coming into Canada that has to be in metric (because of government standards) uses the wrong units, probably due to some confusion down south from people not familiar with metric.

At least most science fiction has seen the light and now uses metric in their scripts. I really wish the US would fall in line with (most) of the rest of the world, although I know it isn't going to happen. I know they're starting to change over, starting in the scientific community, but I can only wait and hope.

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"Sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes the bear gets you."
-Commander Riker, USS Enterprise

Posted by Jeff Raven (Member # 20) on :

*LOL* Since when is the US one to follow the worlds' lead? Well, I do think Metric is much simpler, but the sentiment here, as far as I know, is that we don't necessarily need to change our ways because we are the only superpower, and who is gonna push us around?

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"You bellowed?" - Black Arachnia - Agenda

Posted by The Excalibur (Member # 34) on :

They started teaching Metric in schools here when I was in 10th grade. There was a big push to switch then, but it's never happened.(21 years ago)

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Here I Come To Save The Day : Mighty Mouse

Posted by bryce (Member # 42) on :

Just don't ever go around anything with the system on it! Oh, I'm sorry you can't do that.

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Wheeelersburg Correctional Facility
Inmate #05301999

Posted by Jay the Obscure (Member # 19) on :

Then again, maybe this thread should be in French and English.

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My childhood was typical: summers in Rangoon, luge lessons. In the spring, we'd make meat helmets. When I was insolent, I was placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds. Pretty standard, really.

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

Or just Esperanto.

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"I'll turn everything around and confuse you. I'll fix it so you can't remember what was true."
--
They Might Be Giants

Posted by Elim Garak (Member # 14) on :

What bugs me is trying to work out science stuff with mixed systems, too, Chimaera. The U.S. should switch over. this reflects badly on the country as a whole. The States, in my opinion, generally look dumb by not going with something so easy, precise, and obviously with a lot fewer flaws from a scientific point of view.

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"Audaces fortuna juvat."
"Fortune favours the bold."

Posted by Mucus (Member # 24) on :

What I find annoying is that the Imperial System has been eliminated by almost everybody, including Imperialist Europe which spread the dang thing in the first place. You'd think that the US which fought a damn war to be free of Imperial influence would have switched to metric by now...

Posted by Jeff Raven (Member # 20) on :

First of all, just because its easier does not mean its BETTER. Pretty much everyone in the US here has no problem with it. Why bother converting back and forth when the general populace in the US doesn't need to convert whatsoever. We're happy with our miles and gallons and pounds. You think we're gonna change our ways just cuz other countries complain about it? Not likely. There really isn't much to be gained since the US isn't likely to fall to foreign influences either. Oh well!

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"That is the exploration that awaits you: Not mapping the stars and studying nebulae, but charting the unknown possiblities of existence." - Q, All Good Things...

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

*shrug*

I'm hardly a scientist (I always hide under the desk when I'm asked to declare a major.), but it seems easy enough for me to use metric in some situations and imperial in another.

30 miles from here to the nearest nice restaurant, the average gravitational pull on Earth is 9.8 meters per second squared. All nice and easy.

I say that now, of course, but I'm sure someday soon I'll get the two confused and drive off a cliff.

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"I'll turn everything around and confuse you. I'll fix it so you can't remember what was true."
--
They Might Be Giants

Posted by The First One (Member # 35) on :

*watches Sol explode, even though due to confusion between litres and gallons he'd only part-filled the tank and as a result had run out just as he went over the cliff; a burning tyre rolls out of the wrecjage, in accordance with the laws of fiction*

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

Burning Tyre?

*hides in fear from the conquering Alexander and his chief eunich, Rimmicus*

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"I'll turn everything around and confuse you. I'll fix it so you can't remember what was true."
--
They Might Be Giants