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I’d be grateful if the US even switched to metric for weather. Trying to compare the level of deep freeze with american friends is always a hassle, nevermind I’ll see someone post about it being 40 degrees and assume they’re boiling to death.

I have worked in both systems for decades. Neither is inherently superior. It depends on the application. As well, Neither does a good job addressing unitless or fundamental constants. For example, Avagadros number is ridiculous in both. Consider pi or e.

Wow, those are some weird quoted arguments. That really don't stand true since other countries (hello from Canuckistan!) managed the switch from imperial to metric. It's most definitely not like a new language... that's just idiotic.

The thing is, most US trades people (unless residential construction) are already fluent in metric and sae, and I'm guessing use metric for the majority of their work. How many vehicles, which are sent the world over, would use imperial size fasteners? I'd guess that mechanics are only breaking out the sae for older vehicles.

The fact that it was introduced in the US, but done so poorly from an education level upwards.... and then just given up on is crazy. USA, Liberia, and Myanmar (Burma). And Myanmar, they've only not officially switched to metric. Fluids are mostly sold in litres. New speed limit signs have been posted in km/h for almost a decade.. etc, etc. Government publications contain a lot of metric.

Since Canaderp is officially metric, but obviously our largest trading partner is the US, plus the fact that we simply have residual imperial practices floating about similar to the UK, we can basically switch from one to the other without issue. And agreed that one isn't better than the other, though metric is obviously very much simpler in regards to math since it's base 10... it just would be nice and easy to have a universal standard. That would be like being unilingual.

The really annoying thing is that most of the world seems to kind of know approximate values to convert metric to imperial, so when we're talking to Americans (and Liberians I guess) they'll understand the reference. Meters to feet, celcius to farenheit.. etc. Can do quick approximately accurate conversions on the fly. I have never mentioned celcius in conversation with an american however and had them understand. Not even have the slightest idea of the general conversion, as if I had stated a temp in kelvins. Watch some YouTube channels that are non-american and comments will be "what's that in normal temperature?".

Apologies. That was not meant to be a bashing of Americans (and I've really stereotyped here, where obviously there are many Americans who are fluent in metric). Your governments for the past 50+ years are to blame. The world is getting smaller, and borders mean less and less (well, not the southern US one apparently) as we deal with, trade, watch, and interact with people the world over on a daily basis. That's a statement that has become more true every decade for many, many moons, far before the internet. The rest of the world speaks English (I mean this as: English is generally accepted as the standard international language), so you're set on that front in the global communications line in not having to learn, but please, get your shit together and at least learn the basics of metric! It's aboot time.

Angry responses start..... now:

I think the big difference in the USA with regard to Metric units is that, although they are official, there is usually no legal requirement that enforces their use by parties who wish to transact based upon the old units. If the farmer at the market wants to advertise that her produce costs a certain amount "per pound", they may do so, and if "per kilo" that is fine also according to the law. Where laws exist that insist upon display of measures, such as 21 CFR 101, they require both the currently common and the S.I. units.

So no "Metric Martyrs" in the USA, they have the liberty to describe distances in "smoots" and speeds in "furlongs per fortnight" if they choose to do so.

Also the need to standardize for commerce (and calculating tarriffs!) that existed between pre-metric European states doesn't exist so urgently because of the vast size of the US market with its pre-existing standard of measurement already settled.

I find any efforts to describe a country's traditional units as "arbitrary" and SI units as "scientific" as pretty amusing. In many cases it is a Chesterton's fence issue - for example the Fahrenheit scale has a unit size that is equivalent to the "just noticeable difference" in temperature of the average human and the range of 0°F to 100°F is adequate to describe outdoor temperature in all but the most extreme weather in populous places. There is often a lot of cultural knowledge and utility buried in tradition.