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 >
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