American reacts to 'Why the metric system matters'

hello how are you today I a simple stupid American I'm gonna react to why the metric system matters I don't know because it's not made up of arbitrary stupid random units let's see what Matt Auntie Cole has to say it's a tedded to dead what does the French Revolution have to do with the time NASA accidentally crashed a 200 million dollar Orbiter into the surface of Mars nothing actually everything that crash happened due to an error in converting between two measurement systems U.S customary units and their SI or metric equivalents so what's the connection to the friend that's embarrassed and Revolution Let's explain 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 and different regions didn't just use varying measurements they had completely different number systems as well by the late Middle Ages the Hindu Arabic Decimal System mostly replaced Roman numerals and fractions in Europe but efforts by Scholars like John Wilkins to promote standard decimal-based measures were less successful with I am still impressed like I still don't understand how the whole world uses the same number system now I mean he just kind of breezed over that but that's kind of that's just shocking to me given how many different languages and crap there is at least we all count like in base 10 and stuff with a quarter million different units in France alone any widespread change would require massive disruption and in 1789 that disruption came the leaders of the French Revolution didn't just overthrow the monarchy they sought to completely transform Society according to the rational principles of the Enlightenment when the new government took power The Academy of Sciences convened to reform the system of measurements why does it seem like people used to be smarter back in the day at least people in charge I don't know it just sounds that way like this doesn't sound like something that would happen these days it's like politicians used to actually be smart old standards based on arbitrary Authority or local not that these are necessarily politicians but they have to be in cahoots with them right to to pass this kind of stuff Traditions were replaced with mathematical and natural relationships for example the meter from the Greek word for measure was defined as 1 10 millionth between the Equator and North Pole and the new how did they measure that metric system was in the words of the Marquis De Condors say for all people for all time that's all standardizing measurements had political and that just be cool to have been part of Designing that system for all people for all time all advantages for the revolutionaries as well Nobles could no longer manipulate local units to extract more rent from commoners while the government could collect taxes more efficiently and switching to a new Republican calendar with 10 day weeks Republican calendar ten day week reduced Church Power by eliminating Sundays adoption of this new system wasn't easy in fact it was a bit of a mess at first people used new units alongside old ones and the Republican calendar was eventually abandoned when Napoleon Bonaparte took power he allowed small businesses to use traditional measurements redefined in metric terms but the metric system remained standard for formal use and it spread across the continent along with France's borders I'm curious what the time time was there something to do with the time can I speak correctly I don't know I don't know how to say that in a sentence what's the time is there a different unit they tried to do for time I forget while Napoleon's Empire lasted eight years its Legacy endured far longer some European countries reverted to Old measurements upon Independence others realized the value of standardization in an age of international trade after Portugal and the Netherlands switched to metric voluntarily other nations followed with colonial empires spreading the system around the world [Music] and I mean like this is way way before the internet and everything so it's amazing to see I don't know it's just amazing how humans work that some system that some dude made over here could spread throughout the world as France's main rival Britain had resisted revolutionary ideas and retained its traditional units but over the next two centuries the British Empire slowly transitioned first approving the metric system as an optional alternative before grad how crazy is it that Britain transitioned but we didn't usually making it official however this switch came too late for 13 former colonies that had already gained independence the United States of America stuck with the English units of its Colonial past and today remains one of only three countries which haven't fully embraced the metric system despite constant initiatives for metrication many so do they use like feet and Miles Myanmar and Liberia embrace the metric system despite constant initiatives for metrication many Americans consider units like feet and pounds more intuitive and ironically some regard the once I mean it's intuitive because that's what we grew up using evolutionary metric intuitive as a symbol of global conformity nevertheless the metric system is I think when it comes to like um measurement units it's okay to have some Global Conformity almost universally used in science and medicine and it continues to evolve according to its original principles for a long time standard units were actually defined by carefully maintained physical prototypes but thanks to improving technology and precision now they use like freaking atoms and stuff and it's these objects with limited access and unreliable longevity replaced with standards based on universal constants like the speed of light 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 and just as it arose from a political revolution the metric system remains crucial for the scientific revolutions to come [Music] that was very well done good job Ted Ed go check them out they're small and up and coming coming Channel mm-hmm that was actually very interesting I really enjoyed the history there foreign but it all boils down to yeah the metric system isn't just stupid arbitrary units made up by the king's foot and that's why the rest of the world uses it in America um and apparently Myanmar are special or at least we think we are thank you for watching I hope to see you again tomorrow remember stay curious goodbye

Channel: Ryan Wuzer

Views: 168,931

Keywords: american reacts to europe, american reacts to the metric system, American reacts to 'Why the metric system matters'

Id: BuuxyT6U01M

Length: 8min 8sec (488 seconds)

Published: Thu May 25 2023