Gustaf,
You have been had by the BWMA propaganda. If what they claim were true, nobody
on the globe would be using the metric system. It would be far too illogical
and unusable. Napoleon made the same claims, and he nearly brought it down.
Yet, it survived, and now it is being used by the large majority of nations.
Some comments throughout the text, preceded by an *,
Han
From: Gustaf Sj�berg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date:Fri, 02 Mar 2001 15:36:07 +0100
From:Gustaf Sj�berg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [USMA:11409] metric and huge numbers of tiny meaningless quantities
To :"U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The text below comes from bwmaonline.com.
They have some interesting opininons about metric quantities and their
disadvatages, and I have to say that I partly agree with them.
This is an addition to the old deci - centi - discussion. It is obvious
that pro-metric people stab theirselves in the back when they say that
1000-multiples should be the only allowed, and which they unfortunately
still are.
...
The experience of metric demonstrates that it provides anything but
understandable information. This is owing largely to the abstract nature of
metric units:
* Strange, indeed, that almost everybody outside the UK and the US understand
metric perfectly well.
Metrication results in huge numbers on food packaging (185g, 375g, 425g, 440g,
etc). This vast increase in the size of numbers occurs because metric units are
much smaller than customary units; 28 grams to one ounce, over 450 grams to
one pound, 568 millilitres to one pint, and so forth.
<snip>
* A lot of ' metric' numbers on packages are in fact soft converted, that means
they are hidden ifp. in Canada they sell 3.78 L ( = 1 US gallon) cans of paint.
Is the metric system to be blamed for this nonsense? If I accept the BWMA line,
yes, that is an inherent defect of metric, and thus, metric must be destroyed.
I do not accept their propaganda, however.
Metric fails to produce consistent or easily understood sizing scales. Unlike
the 16oz pound that is geared to multiples of two, the kilogram cannot
comfortably accommodate successive halving.
* BWMA-rubbish. Why then, is metric understood in mainland Europe and in many
other countries?
*This canard of successive halving is a medieval concept. We do not need it to-
day; it is maintained by force of habit. Dividing by half and quarter would be
enough, if you need it, that can be done with meters, kilograms and liters, and
many material weights and measures do that. The French law of 1795 established
decimal series of material weights and measures AND series of double, entire
and half units. This was a convenient marriage of the old and the new.
Thus, while some metric packaging builds up as 100g, 200g, 400g, etc, this will
not integrate with one kilogram meaning that other packaging progresses as
125g, 250g, 500g, etc. Other packaging uses 75g, 150g, 300g, etc while others
still use 110g, 220g, 330g, 440g, etc. A large variety of packaged foods has no
identifiable sizing scale at all, for example, tomato ketchup and brown
sauce.
* The metric system should not be blamed for the handiwork of producers, who
create this proliferation of sizes to confuse consumers. If we had quantities
in multiples of 100 g, that would be enough.
* Metric is also accused by the BWMA of being a tool of downsizing. I am
convinced that downsizing happens independently of the system used. It has
happened many times, that packages of 16 oz were downsized to 14 oz, but the
price remained the same. Sometimes the package is inflated to cheat the buyer.
The above factors have contributed to a general failure of metric units
to find common acceptance by British people for food and drink packaging.
Technically, metric indicates quantity as accurately as the customary system,
but it fails to convey meaning or value. Whereas six ounces of cheese actually
sounds like a quantity of cheese, 180g of cheese is just a very large number.
* For people in metric countries 200 g (a rough approximation to 6 oz) is
understandable enough. We do not drink beer out of 568 mL glasses either, we
use 0.5 L glasses in such cases.
DON'T BE HAD BY BWMA PROPAGANDA!
