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Why the metric system matters - Matt Anticole

submitted by Aard Vark

(oritteropo)
8 years 5 months ago

YouTube description:

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-the-metric-system-matters-matt-anticole

For the majority of recorded human history, units like the weight of a grain or the length of a hand weren’t exact and varied from place to place. Now, consistent measurements are such an integral part of our daily lives that it’s hard to appreciate what a major accomplishment for humanity they’ve been. Matt Anticole traces the wild history of the metric system.

Lesson by Matt Anticole, animation by Globizco.

(via digg)

2 Comments

aaronfr

says...

I'm completely comfortable with the metric system despite being from the US and living in Myanmar. I also recognize its clear advantages, like any rational person would.

But, feet and pounds are still intuitive for me because of my primary education. The US will only shift when they refuse to teach USC units to schoolchildren.

oritteropo

says...

Or alternatively 100 years after that once the last stubborn few have died out!

I was born a few years after Australia switched, and my birth weight was recorded in grams, but now 50 years AFTER the switch some people record their baby's weight in grams and others in lbs and oz.

If the same trend holds in the U.S., then even 100 years after phasing it out of schools there will still be some rural folks out there who don't hold with these new fangled metres and stuff and want to stick with the furlongs and fathoms that grandpappy used.

aaronfr

said: