Paul Trusten in USMA 14205 wrote:
>When I last asked my father about his feelings towards the US changing
>over to the metric system, his answer boiled down to four words which, I
>believe, are shared by the working world in all areas of the world
>recovering from non-SI usage: "I couldn't be bothered".
>Yes, I think my Dad is right. They couldn't be bothered. Those of us on
>this listserv see a standard of measurement as something that is enacted
>by law and regulation. But the people who measure things, design
>signage, and write packaging, see their standard of measurement as
>whatever is familiar to them, not by law and regulation, but by
>education and experience. This is why I must insist that national
>inspiration be the first step in the changeover to SI in the United
>States. We need to make our people care. By a blast of inspiration, we
>must first move them to change their knowledge and experience before the
>next step, formal education, begins.
Australian experience bears out Paul's thoughts. The Metric Conversioin
Board's report of May 1979 said:
"The Board considered it axiomatic that, in the main, the familiarization
wih and learning the elemnets of the metric system would be achieved by
exposure to an increasingly metric environment: that is, learning by
*experience*. This was judged better than endeavouring to teach the public
by means of an educational campaign. In areas such as industry where a
knowledge of specific metric units was required, the necessary information
was provided largely by in-house courses, but this was not as significant
an aspect of the implementation of programs as learning by exposure. With
that in view, the Board gave priority to:
(i) Education.....
(ii) Technical standards.......
(iii) Legislation....
. (iv) Activities which would have broad public impact, without
... ... introducing an element of disadvantage, to provide
early ... .... exposure of the public to the metric system,
e.g. horse .... .... racing, sporting events
and reporting of temperatures and .... rainfall."
Joseph B. Reid
17 Glebe Road West
Toronto M5P 1C8 Tel. 416 486-6071
