Do you think Americans rejected the Metric System because they didn't create it?

Question

so... 95% of the world, including very poor nations, was able to do it, yet the US (supposedly the richest and most "able" country on Earth) cannot do it?

Answer 1

It's tough to teach an old dog new tricks.

Answer 2

NO - This country was completely ensconced into a measurement system that was very adequate, when it was propositioned to change over to metric. You will have to sit down and concentrate on what you think it would take to change the measurement scale on every piece of equipment in this country that designed, manufactured, inspected, or measured for recipe or flow etc, then get this new system into everyones head simultaniously.
At the time, it looked like we would be able to do this if we just shut down the entire country for a week or two for installation of the newly manufactured scales on everything, recalibration of the known universe, and the education of millions of people.
Needless to say, those billions were spent on other more important things, which are beyond the scope of this answer.

Answer 3

First they inherited the English system (would you believe that America was once part of the British empire).

It would be extremely costly to replace all scale, rulers and other measuring devices in the united states. Also the millions of people who have finished school and are out there working would need to be retrained.
Several state highway departments tried the metric system and most are going back to English. The possibility of a large expensive error is great when the construction workers have been accustomed to working in feet and inches over a number of years. I have been working construction for about 40 years and all that I have learned of the metric system is that 1 centipede = 100 feet.

Answer 4

The U.S. system of units is similar to the Imperial system which was used officially in the United Kingdom until 1995 (and which still has official usage there for a few purposes, and unofficial usage for many others). Both systems derive from the evolution of local units over the centuries, as a result of standardization efforts in England; the local units themselves mostly trace back to Roman and Anglo-Saxon units. Today, these units are defined in terms of SI units.

In the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, the United States government designated the metric system of measurement as "the preferred system of weights and measures for U.S. trade and commerce". The legislation states that the Federal Government has a responsibility to assist industry, especially small business, as it voluntarily converts to the metric system of measurement. This process of legislation and conversion is known as metrication, and in the U.S. is most evident in labeling requirements on food products, where SI units are almost always presented alongside customary units.

However, metrication in the United States has been less forcefully imposed than in other countries,[1] and has encountered more resistance from industrial and consumer market forces, so customary units are still widely used on consumer products and in industrial manufacturing; only in military, medical, and scientific contexts are SI units generally the norm. (Mars Climate Orbiter crashed on Mars because one team used newtons and the other used pounds-force.) Since everyday weights and measures are mostly non-SI, children in U.S. public schools are generally taught customary units before SI, although many schools are now attempting to teach SI units at an earlier age.

There are anecdotal objections to the use of metric units in carpentry and the building trades, on the basis that it is easier to remember an integral number of inches plus a fraction than a measurement in millimeters[2] , or that inch measurements are more suitable when distances are frequently divided by two.[1]

Other countries had (or still have, unofficially), customary units of their own, sometimes very similar in name and measure to the U.S. customary units, since they often shared the same Germanic or Roman origins. Frequently, however, these units designated quite different sizes. For example, in different countries, the mile ranged from one half to five US miles, and even foot and pound had varying definitions. Even within the USA, at least through the 19th century, the customary units of measure were sometimes just as variable. Eventually, most countries, including the United States, redefined their customary units in terms of SI units like kilogram and meter. Often, though, unlike English units, they were rounded to "nice" SI values, leading to their use in colloquial speech, alongside SI terms, into the present day.

Historically, a wide range of non-SI units have been used in the United States, and on the British Isles before that, but many of these have fallen into disuse. This article only deals with the units commonly used or officially defined in the United States.

Answer 5

Did they invent cars? Tarmac roads? Rubber tyres? The computer? the TV? Beer?

Certainly didn't reject those. OK, so they did reject beer.

Answer 6

No....it is the human resistance to change. This trait among us is universal and is hot wired into our brains.

Answer 7

No. Americans had a perfectly good system for weights and measures. Also a good system for money.

Why should they change all that? If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Answer 8

I agree with you. They probably did.

Answer 9

NEVER DUE TO HUMAN PERSEVERANCE TOWARDS DEVELOPMENT.