I suspect this is because they (the Americans) were immersed in metric and had no choice but to learn it. After that is usually quite clear which is the more practical and simpler system. This is the reason why the US must make one swift and total conversion to metric at the first possible opportunity. I'm sure our Australian friends on the List will agree with this approach. Most Canadians have ample opportunity to continue to use Imperial or American units (such as in the lumber industry) and thus have never bothered to even try to learn or use metric. Many of our young have converted to using Imperial/American simply because there is no opportunity to use metric. Our height, weight/mass, lumber, and home furnishings, are still Imperial. Our farms, businesses, and industries are still mostly Imerial. Many of our elders still speak only in Imperial. In my opinion, it is much easier to get by using nothing but Imperial units than exclusively metric units in Canada. Sure you have some confusion when buying gasoline or prepackaged goods, but heck, most people don't even bother reading the quantities they buy, just the price. Most of this is because we didn't complete our metrication efforts in the 1980s. greg >>> "Han Maenen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 2000-11-25 01:50:38 >>> I met some of them some years ago in Ireland. There was no better country in the world than the USA and what the heck, why do they use that irrational Celsius scale in Europe? I stated that the USA was a decent democracy, but that she was no better or worse than other Western democracies. I also said that I far preferred Celsius to Fahrenheit. If I had let loose about ifp, telling them what I thought of it, they would probably have exploded. There is also another side to it. In 1972 a brother of mine married. Another brother had taken an American girl home who lived in Amsterdam. She was very different. And when she expressed a measurement she used metric. She said to me: "Metric is easier than English count". I now wonder whether she was a member of the USMA. I have met more pro-metric Americans in Erope. Han 6:04 Subject: [USMA:9310] American vs. Foreign > 2000-11-23 > > Even though this sounds like a good idea, I doubt the US will ever adopt it. For one reason, it is a foreign idea.... <snip>
