Bad analogy. The units are not changed, it is just spelling, like harbor and
harbour, or tire and tyre. Someone from the UK might read tire and think of
the wrong definition but will figure it out from the context. Some Americans
would not even know what tyre means, but again, it can be figured out from the
context. No big deal.
Al Lawrence
Date: Fri, 23 May 2014 19:19:22 -0500
Subject: [USMA:53871] RE: Phil Chernack's message
From: mwhensch...@gmail.com
To: usma@colostate.edu
CC: usma@colostate.edu
Would you teach people English, and then say you don't care if they say "I
ain't got none," or "He be going?" Would you teach people math and then not
care if they say two plus two is five or three, as long as they are doing math,
it is ok?
I think the responsible thing to do is to point out to people that a 5K race is
in fact a race using metric units, which many people don't recognize as metric
since they see no relationship between K and kilometer.
I understand why people just want people to use SI and not care so much about
the rules. But it is the very rules themselves that make SI useful. Since the
rules are the same all over the world, regardless of if someone is speaking
Hebrew, Chinese, Russian or Arabic, the beauty here is that the symbols and
pronunciation are truly international. What if the German symphony decided to
play concert A at 420 Hertz, The British at 440 Hertz, and the Americans at 46
Hertz. Beethoven would sound different in different country's orchestras.
An international system ceases to be international if different countries can
use different symbols for metric units in their countries and no body cares
about following international standards.
Mark
On Fri, May 23, 2014 at 11:43 AM, <cont...@metricpioneer.com> wrote:
I also share this sentiment. Thanks for sharing that perspective with us.
----- Message from "Ressel, Howard R (DOT)" <howard.res...@dot.ny.gov> ---------
Date: Fri, 23 May 2014 12:59:12 +0000
From: "Ressel, Howard R (DOT)" <howard.res...@dot.ny.gov>
Reply-To: howard.res...@dot.ny.gov
Subject: [USMA:53868] RE: Phil Chernack's message
To: "U.S. Metric Association" <usma@colostate.edu>
My thoughts exactly.
From: owner-u...@colostate.edu [mailto:owner-u...@colostate.edu] On Behalf Of
Harry Wyeth
Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2014 5:23 PM
To: U.S. Metric Association
Subject: [USMA:53860] Phil Chernack's message
I second what Phil wrote about not worrying about the minute; 5 K vs 5 km or 5
KM or whatever. Or weight vs mass. Or KG vs kg or kilos. Or liter vs litre.
Or however you want to pronounce kilometer. Or "a half liter" vs "500 ml". It
may be nice to debate these fine points here, but it makes no difference
whatever to what the USMA is trying to promote because no one outside this
forum gives a hoot about these points.
If someone wants to talk about running 10 K races, great! I use the term
myself frequently when telling people distances because I know that it will
probably be understood better than the full word. I would sound silly if I
referred to people "having a mass" of xyz.
I have said many times that if we can just get people to deal with liters,
meters, and kilos, we would be home free. All the rest is techie stuff to
almost everybody.
HARRY WYETH
----- End message from "Ressel, Howard R (DOT)" <howard.res...@dot.ny.gov> -----
David Pearl www.MetricPioneer.com 503-428-4917
