It’s hard to imagine that people hold strong opinions on how they measure the contents of a can of soda. Are you about to drink 12 fluid ounces or 355 millilitres? The debate about which system of measurement can be considered better is an old one. Although some people are vehemently opposed to one system or the other, it is not difficult to see that both ways have their own merits and downfalls.
The metric system is perfect for scientific calculation. There is a single unit for every quantity that is scalable by simply adding prefixes and multiplying by a power of 10. For example, a meter is the basic unit of length. A centimeter is is simply a hundredth of a meter, while a kilometer is 1000 times one meter. These prefixes allow for quick conversion by simply moving the decimal point, since the arabic number system also happens to be in base 10. On the other hand, the imperial system has a bunch of different units for measuring length: inches, feet, yards, and miles. Let’s not even mention the more obscure units like fathoms, chains, and furlongs. The conversion between units seems rather haphazard as well. There are 12 inches to a foot, 3 feet to a yard, 2 yards to a fathom, 11 fathoms to a chain, 10 chains to a furlong and 8 furlongs to a mile!
While the metric system is great for calculating scientific data, it does have its disadvantages. Some call the imperial system more “human” and natural than the metric system. It is easy to visualize and approximate imperial units mentally. For example, if you look at a piece of paper, it is rather straightforward to imagine an inch or a foot and approximate its length. Using the metric system, visualizing units does not come easily. A centimeter is far too small to measure most things, while a meter is much too big. The ideal unit here would be decimeters (one tenth of a meter), but no one really uses decimeters. Another issue with the metric system is that because of the units being powers of 10, they are not easily divisible into thirds or fourths, which makes it rather impractical for everyday use. You are more likely to want to use a quarter cup of sugar to bake a cake, rather than 60 millilitres. Ultimately, it is most practical to use a system of measurement that suits your purpose. It is certainly convenient to have freezing point of water at 0 degrees Celsius and the boiling point at 100 degrees Celsius. This is useful for scientific interpretation, but is rather meaningless in day to day life. The average person will probably never experience temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius, and below -30 degrees Celsius. It makes sense to use degrees Celsius to measure temperature in Canada since the freezing point is of huge relevance. Conversely, if we look at the weather data of a coastal city with little weather variety like Singapore, it seems rather foolish to use the Celsius scale. The temperatures in Singapore fall within an 8 degrees range throughout the year, so it may probably be better to use the Fahrenheit scale that uses more finely tuned gradations. Perhaps it is even better invent a new system of measurement entirely!
An important point to understand about systems of measurement is that they are completely arbitrary. One day, someone simply decided that a certain length would be the standard, and that norm was perpetuated. That standard may not be perfect, or even practical for that matter. However, once something becomes ingrained in our minds and established as a norm, it is nearly impossible to change. Humans are creatures of comfort. We will continue using whatever we are most comfortable with, no matter how illogical it is. and there is nothing wrong about that.