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Why Don’t We Have Metric Time? | Answers With Joe

Joe Scott | August 31, 2025



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The metric system revolutionized the world and simplified how we measure things. But one part of our lives never quite got the metric treatment – time. The reason why highlights the importance of time on our lives.

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LINKS LINKS LINKS:

https://metricviews.org.uk/2007/07/16/metric-system-origin/

https://www.metricmetal.com/history-of-the-metric-system/

https://ageofrevolutions.com/2019/06/24/the-metric-system-an-enduring-revolutionary-dream/

http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20180923-how-france-created-the-metric-system

https://snippetsofparis.com/french-revolutionary-calendar/

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gregorian-calendar

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-the-Gregorian-and-Julian-Calendars

https://www.history.com/news/6-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-gregorian-calendar

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-12-11/the-death-and-life-of-the-13-month-calendar

Written by Joe Scott

Comments

This post currently has 28 comments.

  1. @TomLeg

    August 31, 2025 at 12:29 pm

    The REAL reason (in my opinion) for the origins of the metric system is that not only were there so many measuring units, but they varied from place to place. A length of wool was measured in a different way from a length of wood. Barrels of wine used different sizes than barrels of dried beef. We still use a different ounce for gold than of other things, and gemsmtones have their own unit too. The goal of metric was to have a single unit of length, a single unit of width, a single unit of volume.

  2. @DarkRendition

    August 31, 2025 at 12:29 pm

    I was looking forward to watching this, but I can’t handle this really distracting background music 🎵. Not only is it too loud, but the percussive noises ticking away, for some reason, infuriate me. Am I the only one? Probably.

  3. @finaoo1167

    August 31, 2025 at 12:29 pm

    Important point about the international fixed calendar is that the one day of the year ("year day") does not occur within a 7 day week. The day before year day is Saturday, and the day after year day is Sunday. Year day is only year day. So, every year (and every month) begins on a Sunday, and ends on a Saturday. Your birthday would be the same day of the week every year.

  4. @davidstafford-ilie6110

    August 31, 2025 at 12:29 pm

    100 seconds in hminute, 32 hminutes in a nhour, 9 nhours in a shift, and 3 shifts per day. Multiply it out and we get 86400 seconds per day, which is the same as we have today, so seconds are the same duration in either system. nhours are a little shorter than an hour, but a 9 nhour shift is the same as an 8 hour work day, so no benefit there; perhaps we can fit lunch and breaks into the shift and get a shorter work week. Digital clocks go 1-3 for shift, 1-9 for nhour, 00-31 for hminute, and 00-99 for second. 5:13:48pm = 3'1'12.28 (On clocks could show the shift as ¯-_, so _1'12.28).

  5. @someguy-k2h

    August 31, 2025 at 12:29 pm

    You said 1Kg is equivelent to 6.626 X 10⁻³⁴, which is just insane. It's not a number that is even remotely close to the right answer. An actual kg has mass following E = mc². The mass is in kg and the speed of light is in meters/seconds. When we have one Kg, E is equal to the speed of light squared (299,792,458²) = 89,875,517,873,681,764 joules. So you were only off by a factor of 1.35 X 10⁵⁰. Seeing as the universe is only 4.98 X 10¹⁸ seconds old, you can see just how ridiculous your number is. Didn't one person in 4 years point this out to you?

  6. @marveloussoftware1417

    August 31, 2025 at 12:29 pm

    What puzzled me was why do some months have an 'extra' day; 31 while there's a short month; February. Why didn't they make February 30 days and make a couple of months with 31 days have 30 days.

  7. @Thorano

    August 31, 2025 at 12:29 pm

    Back in the ’90s, I spent a few weeks working in a cheese packing factory. Every shift, we had to punch in and out, and our hours weren’t tracked the usual way—nope, they were measured in decimal time! So instead of saying I worked 7 hours and 15 minutes, it was logged as a precise 7.25 hours. A small quirk of the job, but one that stuck with me!

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