Think Metric

The Rules

Don't be Whiny

We advocate for metrication.  Do not complain about obstacles and slow progress unless you also have ideas for solutions.  Note that criticism and insults directed towards imperial units are just fine. 

America, Fuck Yeah

We do not tolerate whimpering and sniveling about Americans being too this or that to understand metric.  Ain't nobody got time to listen to tankies, bootlickers, and jihadists cry about the U.S.  If you live in a democracy, the U.S. Navy's Freedom of Navigation Operations might just be the reason you still have a democracy. 

NASA used metric for the Apollo flight calculations thus making America the first and only nation on earth to use metric to land a human on the moon. 

America, Fuck Yeah!   🇺🇸🗽🇺🇸

No Unit Conversion Tips

Doing unit conversions is like driving a rusted out Yugo or Trabant.  Sure, you can do it, but why?  Unit conversions hamper intuitive understanding of measurements and harm numeracy.  Unit conversions are a distracting waste of time. 

Do Not Debate Spelling or Pronunciation

In America we spell and pronounce some metric words, like kilometer, differently than in other countries.  That's fine — variety is the spice of life.  Do not debate spelling and pronunciation.  Being pedantic and annoying makes all metric advocates seem like dweeby jerks. 

The same goes for spaces and commas.  Official science and engineering documents should put a space between the numerical value and unit symbol in order to consistently adhere to SI rules.  In casual writing, however, dropping the space often looks better and is perfectly acceptable. 

Also, we Americans use a comma as the thousands separator, and this is great for clarity.  1 234 is confusing and causes formatting errors.  1,234 is clear. 

Don't be Pedantic

Following SI (International System of Units) rules correctly is important in professional domains such as scholarly publishing, engineering specifications, government regulations, and business contracts.  However, SI rules are not helpful when casually communicating about things like your height and weight or how far it is to your favorite burger joint. 

Colloquialism is essential for full metrication. 

Adherence to the precise details of SI rules is a separate discussion from metrication. 

Don't Lie About Elephants Being Imperial Units

A frame of reference, such as the weight of an elephant or the length of a school bus, spices up storytelling.  Authors incorporate frames of reference to create interesting visualizations, and communication would be more bland without such tangible comparisons.  An elephant is neither imperial nor metric, so do not claim that a frame of reference is a way to avoid metric. 

Pugnacious SI Reform Advocacy is Prohibited

A pernicious subculture has developed amongst a very small but vocal group of metric pseudo-experts to reform SI to match their excessive concern with formalism.  For example, the crazies want to ban the metric ton and force you to only say megagram (Mg).  That's not going to happen.  Use what's best for your situation. 

Likewise, their obsession with hating centimeters and renaming the kilogram muddies the waters and slows metrication. 

Pugnacious SI reform advocacy is not welcome here. 

Metric Clock Gibberish is Prohibited

Metric clocks are a goofy idea that have nothing to do with metrication.  A tenth of a day is a useless time interval, so the whole idea of a metric clock can never catch on.  The base SI unit for time is the second, and the other units of time, like minute and hour, are just convenient derivations of the second.