Regulating Without Specs

[paul bruesch]

Very exceedingly well stated, Alan!!

One addendum... instead of directly and "accurately" converting 65mph
or 70mph speed limits to their precise metric equivalents (as was done
with the dual-measurement signs, e.g. 65mph/104.6kph or
70mph/112.65kph.) 65mph should become 100kph or 105kph, depending on
safety considerations.

I think that the ridiculous sense of equivalency is a big part of what
ruined the changeover last time.

When my kids started learning measurements a few years ago, I groaned
when I saw inches/feet/miles/ounces/gallons/etc. Having to know
12"/ft, 3'/yard, 5280'/mile, like, how ludicrous is THAT??

Paul Bruesch
Stillwater, MN

On Feb 5, 2008 9:00 AM, Alan Barnard <pianotuner at embarqmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> As a recovering mathematics teacher, I'm always interested in this topic.
> People resist metrics mightily because they think they will have to spend
> the rest of their lives remember complicated conversion tables, etc.  Sigh.
>
> The ONLY way to drag the USA, kicking and screaming, into sync with the rest
> of the universe would be to (a) Require schools, starting in kindergarten,
> to teach NOTHING BUT metrics. If the parents want to confuse them at home,
> that's their business. (b) Offer courses for out-of-school people, make them
> simple, make them fun. (c) Change--within a VERY short period--all highway
> signs, markers, maps, and speedometers to have ONLY metric measurements (not
> dual, ONLY metric) and, most important, (d) Require that all construction
> and manufacturing, rulers and tape measures, other tools, all specifications
> be NOTHING BUT metrics.
>
> We've tried educating people first so we could make the change. Didn't work.
> The change would have to be forced and enforced and done virtually
> overnight.
>
> The full and complete change would probably take about 3 years, and the
> school kids would lead the way in asking the parents why they still hang on
> to the dumb old systems.
>
> Having said that, these measures would be heavy-handed government
> intervention, to say the least. People (probably including me) would fight
> them for that reason and also because of the anxiety of relearning, sense of
> lost tradition, and flat-out cussedness of not liking to be told what to do.
>
> Therefore, though science and much of industry has seen the light, the rest
> of us are likely to be stuck with hectares and furlongs for a very, very
> long time.
>
> Kinda sad. Black market yardstick, anyone?
>
> Alan Barnard
> Salem, MO
>