2002-01-06 Kelley,
What "units of custom" are more appropriate then an SI unit. SI was devised to create a harmonised and coherent system of units that can be used for all instances of measuring in the most simplest of form. 'Units of custom" appeared over time in a haphazard manner, in many cases by traders to have an advantage over their customers. By creating more then one unit to describe virtually the same thing as an SI is not progress. It invites misunderstandings, division and confusion. It appears that the only people who feel a need to continue to use old units are Americans and those British with a nostalgia for a dead empire. The plethora of units in the US has made the nation virtually math and science illiterate. The joke is, as a nation, we teach the metric system in schools, use the English system on the streets, and can measure in neither. It is very clear from the results of tests given to school age children what direction the nation is headed, and it isn't up. Is this progress? We go out of our way to make things harder on ourselves. And in the long term we will pay a heavy price for that. Be a part of the solution, not the problem. John ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kelley L. Ross" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "kilopascal" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, 2002-01-06 20:44 Subject: Re: Binary Prefixes > Dear John, > > Looking forward means making things better. If some units that result from > custom are more appropriate than the SI units, then it is not clear what > direction one is headed in. > > KR > > At 04:26 PM 1/6/02 -0500, you wrote: > >Using old units may be a sense of pride to some, but to me it dates that > >person. It makes me feel their knowledge is stuck back in time. That these > >people are not up on new ideas. That these people are plain and simple > >Luddites. I laugh when ever someone describes frequency in "cycles" instead > >of hertz. I have to ask them if they are a part of the 19-th century or the > >21-st. > > > >I want to look forward, not backwards. In which direction are you heading? > > http://www.friesian.com/ross/ >
