U.S. and Them, Metric System, Conventions for Dates

We are Americans who are proud to be unique from the rest of the world.  At a relatively young age of 230 years, we have figured out our own way of doing things, (with a little help from the British of course).  We stubbornly hold on to units of measurement the way we want them.  Inches, pounds, miles, feet, ounces, gallons are all things that we love as if they were sentimental heirlooms.  Metric system be damned.  Never mind that the metric system makes more sense since it is based on real things like the size of the earth and the properties of water.  It would be advantageous for us to switch to the units most of the world uses, but we mostly refuse.  We have become big enough to have our system of measurements stand on its own, and it doesn't hurt that  Britain chooses to retain units like gallons and tonnes, although they're slightly different than our gallons and tons.  It's all confusing.  Having worked in the auto industry, I can tell you that in the U.S., they have converted to metric distances for designing parts, and computer chips run at gigahertz which is based on the metric giga prefix, but when it comes to things like fuel economy and power, carmakers here have stuck with miles per gallon and horsepower because those are the units in which consumers like to hear the figures mentioned.  We are out of the loop and I think we should change, especially as other parts of the world like China and India, (purely metric) become stronger economically.  Even Canada is metric.  It is hard to "think metric" though when we have become used to U.S. units of measurement.  I try, but I have to convert in my head mathematically and that's not natural.

There is one way in which the way we do things here makes more sense though.  When we want to talk about decimals or partial units, we use a period to spearate the numbers.  This is logical because it defines the end of whole units and the next 'sentence' is decimal units.  We use commas as pauses between digits on the same side of the decimal point.  It's just like language.  On the other hand, the Europeans use a comma to signify the changeover from whole numbers to partial numbers and they use periods to go from hundreds to thousands for instance.  I do like how they use periods to break up phone numbers.  I think that just looks cleaner and I have adopted that practice myself.  Starting the week with Monday makes more sense since Saturday and Sunday are part of the weekend.

When it comes to dates, putting the date before the month makes more logical sense, but I don't find it natural in the way humans think.  Knowing the date before knowing the month doesn't help much.  Putting the month first gets you in the neighborhood of time you want to be in, then the date pinpoints it a bit more.  And the year should stay last because, in most cases, we talk about the current year.  It's sad that in the year 2007, in a global economy, we don't know if 03/09/07 is March 9th or September 3rd.  But I'm torn on this one as the Euro way does divide the date number from the year number.  I'm not sure which I favor, but following the Euro way allows for more global consistency.  (You'll have to excuse my ignorance of date systems beyond the U.S., Europe and India).  Are we ever going to change and match up with the rest of the world?  I hope it happens in my lifetime.  It will be rough, but I'm willing to sacrifice and make the adjustment.

+ Atul

Comments

[prego]

I use periods for dates, phone numbers... even my social security number. it's so much easier to dot than to dash. That's another inherent American trait - convenience, ergo laziness.

I remember the Metric push in the Seventies. It never materialized, did it?

Fortunately, our proximity to Canada gives us a taste - particularly with temperature and distance -

TORONTO 124 Ki.

[Romie]

I am so pro changing the date from the smallest to the largest number. Think everyone should do it that way. But because of the possible confusion - I always write out my dates: 2 Jan 07.

[chancelucky]

I think the fear of the metric system is a carry over from Anglo-American fears of Napoleon, though I guess the Canadians have no problem with the metric system.

fps is horrible for doing calculations, but it's fascinating to think about where the units came from. Some odd mixture of base 12, base 16, etc. The base 12 is likely Babylonian in origin which may suggest why we have such an obsession with Iraq.

[Atul]

All interesting comments.

Prego, perhaps it's time for a second metric renaissance? I'd use the dots all the time, but some webpage entry forms don't like them.

Romie, I do the same thing with date, month in text and then year, at least two digits.

Chance, If people knew where we get our system of measurements from, they might reconsider using them(?) Probably not. You'd think that we would go with the metric system, just because we're generally bad at math. I did see in London the official 1 foot length standard made of metal, I think based on one of the king's actual foot length, but I'm not sure.

Atul