Oct 19, 2007 8:23 AM GMT

Of course penis measuring might get a little more interesting. hahaha

DiverScience saidNah, we won't.
But I use it all the time, without thinking about it. 'Cause it's habit for a scientist.
dc415 saidIt's true that metric is easier to do conversions with, but a lot of metric units are really inconveniently sized. Here are some examples:
1. Weight. A pound is a really convenient unit to measure by. One kilogram is kind of a lot. In mainland China, even though they officially use metric, they still use the "catty" (一斤) for most weights (though for convenience they've set one catty == 0.5 kg).
2. Temperature. In Fahrenheit it's easy to tell how hot it is outside. If it's 100, it's "really hot". If it's 0, it's "really cold". If it's 50, it's in between.
3. Length: a foot is also a convenient measurement. It's convenient to carry around a foot-long ruler... meter sticks, not so much.
YourName2000 saiddc415 saidIt's true that metric is easier to do conversions with, but a lot of metric units are really inconveniently sized. Here are some examples:
1. Weight. A pound is a really convenient unit to measure by. One kilogram is kind of a lot. In mainland China, even though they officially use metric, they still use the "catty" (一斤) for most weights (though for convenience they've set one catty == 0.5 kg).
2. Temperature. In Fahrenheit it's easy to tell how hot it is outside. If it's 100, it's "really hot". If it's 0, it's "really cold". If it's 50, it's in between.
3. Length: a foot is also a convenient measurement. It's convenient to carry around a foot-long ruler... meter sticks, not so much.
I think in a way, you've really hit on something here though.
Metric is a measurement for an age of reason and data, whereas imperial was more daily human scale. Maybe it says something that as a species we're moving to a system of measure that makes data and analysis more transparent, even if the units themselves are unwieldy in reality.
Of course, it is also a decimal system. One could also just gravitate to centigrams or decimeters for such physical day to day interactions.