| > But the fact many Americans are unable to do that is, in itself, evidence the imperial system doesn't work that well for them. The set of anecdotes you have put forward about Americans you know could be evidence of any number of things. You hypothesis is that the US customary system doesn't work well for them. An equally valid hypothesis is that public education doesn't work for them. You keep asserting that your anecdotes are broadly indicative, but multiple people are telling you the opposite (and presenting an equivalent level of anecdotal evidence with similar limits in broad applicability). For my part, I've lived in several parts of America my entire life and never met another American: * who says "six pound five" for weight. * who doesn't know that water freezes at 32°F. * who would express length/distance as tenths of feet (e.g. 1.3). [1] But I wouldn't therefore conclude anything about Americans generally. In fairness, you could probably take a camera and get an 'average man on the street is dumb' effect if you looked hard enough and cut a bunch of disparate interviews together. I suspect you are encountering selection bias. All the people who are bad at math (independent of measuring system or educational background) have found and glommed onto you for help. All the people who don't have trouble with unit conversion (who possibly outnumber the former group) don't trouble you with their unit conversions. [1]: I have seen halves and quarters (X.25, X.5, X.75) of feet expressed in decimal. |