this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2025
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It's my go-to controversial opinion when I want to practice arguing against a consensus. Most people who have an opinion on the matter think that they are being rational about it, but in my experience people have strong emotional responses to feet and inches because of the psychological trauma of math tests in primary school.
You think about feet and miles, and you probably think of a worksheet with word problems, with Henry and Jessica travelling on two trains going in different directions. Or maybe your mind goes to a detailed chart you have on a refrigerator magnet for how many pints of milk you need to buy for 16 guests if 60% of them put two tablespoons in their coffee every day for a three day weekend. You're probably angry just reading that sentence, and I know it raised my blood pressure writing it. You don't actually need to do that math, you just buy a gallon of milk and run to the store if you need more. It's not even really easier if it's liters of milk and 35 mL per coffee.
And that's for people who live in the USA. I've also found that people outside of the US resent Americans for using such an objectively inferior system. It reinforces the perception of an arrogant, impetuous, lazy and selfish nation of obliviously uneducated consumers forcing the rest of the world to accommodate our obstinate fat-ass ignorance.
So either way, people who have an opinion probably have strong emotional reactions to that opinion being challenged.