Some European: Why don't you Americans use the metric system?
Me: Because we don't want to.
Some European: But the metric system's better than the Imperial!
Me: I'd much rather use something that I can understand than something I can't.
Some European: But the rest of the world uses metric!
Me: That doesn't make me understand it better.
Some European: uncivilized pig!
I didn't care before I came to Europe, but I've been involved in that conversation more times than I can count! It annoys the crap out of me that people will defend the metric system like it's some sort of god!
I got news for you metric worshipers about the metric system:
It's flawed!
The whole idea behind the metric system is that you work in groups of ten. That's easier because we use a decimal counting system, but easier isn't always better.
Apparently nobody noticed, but there is a machine invented in 1946 called the computer that everybody uses. It can only work in binary (ones and zeros, a base-2 counting system). Ten in binary is 1010 (one in the eights column, and one in the twos column), but the problem is when you divide by this number. Computers divide by multiplying with the number's reciprocal. In other words, to divide by 10 they multiply by 1/10.
See if you can figure out 1/10 in binary. Give up? You can't; it's continual, just like pi.
Now, I know that Imperial isn't too much more easily translated into binary... so I present case 2: Use of decimals.
The Imperial system is designed so that you have to use fraction: 1/12 feet to an inch, 1/3 yards to a foot, etc. The metric system is designed to be used with decimals: 0.1 centimeters to the millimeter, 0.01 meters to the centimeter, etc. Even though decimals are convenient, they too are flawed.
Take the theoretical value for 1/3, 0.333333333... you get the idea. I'll call it .33 for now. 3 * 1/3 = 1, right? What's 0.33 * 3? 0.99. You're a bit off from 1.
Removing fractions gives you a false sense of security, and then you biff up and send a million dollar Mars rover too strong into Mars' orbit and it goes hurtling off into space, wasting all our money.
Now, before I get a bunch of e-mails saying, well, the Imperial system isn't perfect either, I didn't say Imperial's perfect. I said the metric system is flawed. I've gone and proved that point, which has brought us to the conclusion that the two systems are even in usefulness. So now for case 3: Imperial was here first.
I've grown up learning Imperial measurements all my life. You tell me someone is doing 45 mph in a school zone, I know he should slow down. However, you tell me someone's doing 45 kph in a school zone, I get a blank look on my face while I try to figure out if that's fast or not. I realize that other people have grown up with it the other way, and that's cool for them. But I don't want to spend forever trying to learn another measurement system when the one I got is just fine for me.
Having another measuring system even exist has caused problems. For example, there was a NASA Mars exploration project where the calculations were done in metric. Then the programmers programmed the launching stuff using the same numbers assuming (naturally, since this is America) that they were imperial. Needless to say, NASA lost that project pretty fast! If nobody had created the metric system, the programmers couldn't have even made that mistake.
So do me a favor, Europe: keep your metric system for yourself. I don't want it in my home country! Imperial works just fine for me!
