Why can't Yankees use the metric system like the rest of the civilized world?

Answer 1

Well I personally think that too many of us have been out of school far too long to learn new ideas in math...
It would mean every cook in the world would need new measuring tools, and every manufacturer would now have to print up new directions for cooking, and measurements in cookbooks would all have to change, and throw out all the old cookbooks and packages of food and buy new ones...
All chefs would have to be taught the new measurements and all food prepared a different way from before...
Stoves would need to be reset in temperatures and heating and air conditioning thermostats would all have to change...
All the maps and highway signs across the nation would all have to change from miles...
All engineering parts would have to change for cars and homes...
That sounds like a financial investment to me in changing everyone's old fashioned ways...

Answer 2

Whoa! Now hold on there, bobalouie!

Many countries in the "civilized world" are not 100% into metric.
E.g. The UK. They still use miles for distance, stone (or sometimes pounds) for weight, yet they will use Celsius for temperature. In Canada, though technically is a metric country, apples are sold by the pound, and if you ask anyone on the street how tall they are, 9 times out of 10 they'll tell you in feet and inches. The 1 out of ten will tell you it's none of your business! :)
Other EU countries such as Germany, and Denmark not not 100% metric.
Do you know how much energy you had for your last meal? Was it in Calories or Joules? Calories is not metric either!
I'm not trying to justify the American system with gallons, Fahrenheit, etc. I think they need to put more pressure on the scientific community to make an official change.
NASA had egg on it's face because one of their landers had a miscalculation due to human error on the imperial system, the the lander crashed!

I don't buy into "Can't teach an old dog new tricks". The European countries are much older than the U.S.A., and they showed they could change. Switzerland as a country has been around since the 13th century and they use metric. I wonder how many measurement changes they have had to go through over the last 800 years?

I guess that was more of a comment than an answer...

Answer 3

Most people in the United States do not use the metric system. We are taught a bit about it in primary & secondary school, but our daily lives revolve around miles, gallons, inches, pints, and degrees fahrenheit. So, when the New York Yankees give stats in US Standard measurements instead of the metric system, they aren't giving a snub to the rest of the world so much as they are conforming to the expectations of 99% of the people in the stands.

Answer 4

The last time someone asked this same question, my answer was:

They tried to start converting over in the 70s I think, but the main reason is that we've been on standard for so long, and EVERYTHING in this country pretty much is in standard units (how many feet tall are you, miles per hour, miles per gallon, etc) so it would be a tremendous amount of things to be changed in order to switch over to metric. That having been said, some things are in metric, such as medical dosages, soda bottles, etc.

Answer 5

Because the standard mesuring system is to complicated and requires thought. Whereas the metric system is set up so a person with a third grade education can understand it. How difficult is to figure any number out by using multiples of 10. I guess the rest of the world is brainless, comparably speaking.

Answer 6

The metric system Make it easier for manufactures to cheat. A quart is a quart, it is not 290 ml today and 285 next month with the customer not noticing the difference.

Answer 7

By the word yankees, I assume you are English...

You're culture invented the ENGLISH system.... sheesh.

Otherwise, I do agree. Metric is the way to go... at least from an engineers point of view... MUUUCH easier and more intuitive unit system...

Answer 8

Because we're our own country. It's also the same reason that American citizens are not subject to be tried by international courts, what right does the rest of the world have to try one of our citizens? Besides which, many aspects of American industry uses metrics and SAE, so back off.

Answer 9

We pretty much just don't feel like it. Scientists and related professions use the metric system in the U.S., but there's really no good reason to switch the whole country over.

Answer 10

Yankees? What about the Mets, or the Mariners. Yeah, I like the Mariners, being from Seattle and all that kind of Northwest-y stuff. If you're reffering to the not baseball team version of Yankee, I have to ask; are you from the South? I've not heard that phrase often other than from people who live in the South. Besides, America does that just to be a non-conformist country...and to confuse anyone who comes over from a different country. You should see the looks on their faces...