While the US is often prone to stubbornly "go its own way", I don't
actually see that as a big part of the equation here.
I think this is mostly about most folk in the US being unable to stomach
the thought of changing to some "weird" new units that they're
unfamiliar with. They live their lives thinking solely in terms of
pounds, gallons, ounces, miles, feet, and inches. Kilograms, liters,
kilometers, and meters are positively Martian to most people in the US.
I'm not sure how well those who don't take a good sampling of science
courses really get introduced to SI units, much less their compelling
nature. Even among those who are, many don't see them in use enough to
/think /in terms of them. [It helps when you're into things like
cross-country skiing where measurements are primarily in SI units --
even in the US.]
Then there's the investment required to switch unit systems across a
country the size of the US. Is the investment worth it? Certainly. But
US politics are heavily skewed against national investments. One
political party is all about starving the government of tax revenue and
spending and investing in nothing (except for corporate welfare in
various guises). The other is primarily about preserving and fostering
government entitlements that account for most of the country's
discretionary spending. Everyone wants more government than they're
willing to pay for and no one puts enough priority on investments -- but
rather just kicks the can down the road for the future. This is true
for things ranging from the metric system to public infrastructure
(sewer systems, bridges,...) to education and research.
On 1/23/2013 5:56 AM, Casper Bang wrote:
Name calling aside, it *is* a little funky how the US prefers to go
their own way rather than converting to the standardized metric
system. Yes it's going to confuse old and conservative people for a
time, just as it has in the past other places, but just get it over
with once and for all. Unfortunately I did not hear this item in
Obama's inauguration speech (but it was nice and unprecedented to hear
about green energy).
We probably all remember the famous software bug* that caused the
international Mars Climate Orbiter probe to crash into Mars, due to
NASA issuing thrust instructions in lbs rather than newtons:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter
*Technically this was not a bug nor a lack of specification, but a
human error based on culture, however it would not have happened if
everyone agreed on the primary quantities/units.
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "Java Posse" group.
To view this discussion on the web visit
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/javaposse/-/Ane7WVyow8UJ.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
[email protected].
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en.
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Java
Posse" group.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
[email protected].
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en.
