Imperial System making a comeback?

[Firefly]

TLR

OMG are you a remainer by any chance ? You seem to have missed out on the good things, poor you.

Lloyd

Not at all, but one poster implied that younger generations shouldn't have to learn imperial. As you rightly say, it wasn't hard for us to learn metric, so what's so tough about the other way round ?

Jackie

[TLR]

TLR

OMG are you a remainer by any chance ? You seem to have missed out on the good things, poor you.

Lloyd

Not at all, but one poster implied that younger generations shouldn't have to learn imperial. As you rightly say, it wasn't hard for us to learn metric, so what's so tough about the other way round ?

Jackie

No, I missed out on nothing and loved so many things about growing up in the good old days, but that doesn't blind me to the bad old days and I honestly believe that life is far better for the vast majority of people today.
But one thing i must admit.....nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

[Dominic]

Not at all, but one poster implied that younger generations shouldn't have to learn imperial. As you rightly say, it wasn't hard for us to learn metric, so what's so tough about the other way round ?

Jackie

The WHOLE point about the metric system was that it was easy to learn. That's why it wasn't hard to learn. That doesn't mean the reverse is true.

I wouldn't say imperial was hard to learn, just unnecessary.

Mind you, I've never understood why some westerners insist on using chopsticks when eating at a Chinese Restaurant. Not strictly on topic, but I thought I would put that out there...

[Lofos-5]

... , I've never understood why some westerners insist on using chopsticks when eating at a Chinese Restaurant. Not strictly on topic, but I thought I would put that out there...

I use chop sticks because it slows me down and as a result I can enjoy the food for longer. Does that make sense?

Maybe I should start to do that with my breakfast cereals too .

[ApusApus]

The idea is that you eat smaller portions over a longer period instead of shoveling it down with a knife, fork or spoon & enjoy the food better! But eating Rice Crispies with chopsticks could take all morning


Shane

[Dominic]

So why not use chopsticks all the time?

And having travelled in Asia fairly extensively, and witnessed prolific noodle consumption on my travels, I have to say it doesn't slow them down much.

[ApusApus]

Soup could be a problem if you did!


Shane

[ApusApus]

Anyway, back on track! Most of my business life has been spent using both metric & imperial systems interchangeably so I have no problem with either but without doubt the metric system is the easier to learn, especially for children growing up!


Shane

[Jimgward]

Unless you were of the 2 or 3% who could live outside poverty, the good old days were simply exploitation and being kept in serfdom by those who made fortunes on your labour. Happiness was a state of mind of children but being shielded from horrors by parents who would be lucky to live beyond 50 and would bury a good percentage of their children. Life was simple, but certainly not better.

[Jimgward]

I had the usual happy childhood, knowing I was loved and not having anything other than my circumstances, within my area, I didnt feel underprivileged or poor. It was as it was.
My parents, on the other hand, lived in abject poverty. Like almost everyone around them. Grandfathers were Miners who lived to their early 50s. Most of their siblings dying in childbirth or under the age of 50.

Yu must have lived in privilege, Hudswell.... good for you....

[TLR]

I suppose I had a privileged background (even though I did have frost fairies inside my bedroom window) but even as a small child I could see the grim conditions which affected the vast majority of the population in post war Britain.
And even the most privileged were not immune from illness and disease, children died from measles, pneumonia (and that was in my own family), medical treatment although free after 1948 was primitive and many people lived in housing not much better than slums.
And to refer to another thread on here today, there was plenty of crime (including child murders), but without much news media it rarely impacted unless it was in one's own neighbourhood.
Today isn't perfect, but neither were the good old days.

[Firefly]

I too had frost on the inside of my bedroom window, so did everyone else. Central heating was an unknown to us, ( in spite of the Romans having it, how ironic is that ) but we had heaters dotted about, and a roaring fire in the kitchen. We didn't think that we were hard done by, we could play out all day without fear of molestation, only going home when we were hungry. We didn't have a TV, telephone, computers, play stations, our play station was the street. I had my first bike at age eleven, and spent many wonderful hours cycling all over with friends, lunch in the saddle bag. Our main meals were made by Mother, no fast food, just good honest healthy meals, unlike today. I could go on, but it would become boring.

Many of today's children are obese, they spend most of their time texting or playing games on their I-pads, would I like to be a child growing up now ? No I would not.

Jackie

[josef k]

Josef

"Yearn for a past that never was", what on earth are you talking about ? We did have a past, and it was much better than the youth of today have, believe me, I was there.

Metric ? we have always bought a half of or a dozen eggs, still do.

Jackie

Of course you had a past, as did I. However, it wasn't so great. Some people would have you believe it was a time when summer lasted all year and life was as described by Rupert Brooke "Stands the Church clock at ten to three? And is there honey still for tea?". However, it was a time when men ruled the roost and women knew their place in the kitchen. A kitchen devoid of modern appliances to boot. Winters were cold inside and out, and summers were wet. A time when the rest of Europe used a common set of weights and measures, and Britain did it's own thing like the fat boy playing on his own in the playground.
No, it wasn't better than today, it was different and often worse. Just remember, nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

Enjoy your eggs.

[josef k]

JK is that the same young people that cannot read an analog clock and an exam board had to stop the exam and change the clocks to digital ones?

Yes, those are the ones. The ones that no longer use log tables or a slide rule, the ones who don't know how to make up emulsion paint from powder, the ones that can't list the countries that were in the empire. They are the ones who have the skills and knowledge needed today, not yesterday.

[Dominic]

The youth of today do indeed have a different focus. If members of the older generation don't understand it, they should at least remember how they felt when their elders dismissed their actions when they were younger.

Our daughter sometimes does collaborative art projects with other kids based all around the world, where they each chip in to add bits to a complete picture. All the collaboration is done online, using social media portals most of the older generation has never even heard of, let alone used. But on their own initiative, with no help from grown ups, these sort of projects are springing up all over the place. They are fantastic. They also scare the hell out of me, but that's because I don't understand a lot of it.

[PolemIan]

I notice in the UK newspapers they are already using the Fahrenheit scale for weather for reports of extreme weather.
It is a much bigger number if they say the heat it will be plus 95 degrees today

Trev, I don’t know if it just me, but it seems to me that’s when it’s cold people talk about centigrade, but when it’s hot, Fahrenheit. I’ve heard loads or people say “it’s nearly 100 degrees” when hot, but never “it’s 32” when it’s freezing. We are a funny old lot!

Ian

[Devil]

summer lasted all year and life was as described by Rupert Brooke "Stands the Church clock at ten to three? And is there honey still for tea?".

Several decades ago (over half a century), we did go to Grantchester for tea, exactly as described by Brooke, except for one thing he did not mention in his poem: WASPS!

[trevnhil]

I notice in the UK newspapers they are already using the Fahrenheit scale for weather for reports of extreme weather.
It is a much bigger number if they say the heat it will be plus 95 degrees today

Trev, I don’t know if it just me, but it seems to me that’s when it’s cold people talk about centigrade, but when it’s hot, Fahrenheit. I’ve heard loads or people say “it’s nearly 100 degrees” when hot, but never “it’s 32” when it’s freezing. We are a funny old lot!

Ian

Yes you are right Ian, they revert to centigrade then

[trevnhil]

I certainly agree with you about times tables learnt Parrot fashion. In my brain now it is just like a nursery rhyme ...

[Rita Sherry]

Dominic wrote: "The whole point about the metric system was that it was easy to learn" ???
Not for me it wasn't. When it was first introduced into my school (remember I am ancient) I found it a lot of mumbo jumbo and asked why I had to learn something which I would never have to use - got a 100 lines after school for that little outburst. Did pick it up but was right for a good many years and I can still remember my tables without difficulty and mentally convert imperial at times even now. Times move on as they say.

Rita