Dear John and All,
This message 'bounced' inexplicitly, so I apologise if you have received it
previously.
Dear John and All,
on 2001/12/27 05.23, kilopascal at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
(Re: [USMA:16882] Re: Euro:Swedes & Danes regret)
> 2001-12-26
>
> That is good. Sometimes it is better if certain core economies are the
> first to go. Then once the dust settles, others can hop on the band wagon
> more smoothly.
Years ago, when I was reading ethnographic literature, I came across the
'hundredth monkey principle'. This was an idea based on monkey observations
where researchers introduced a new concept to a group of monkeys (typically
a new food), which was ignored by almost all the monkeys except for an
intrepid few.
If the new concept helped the courageous few, then slowly � painfully
slowly � some others would join them in the new practice until approximately
one hundred monkeys had adopted the new ways. Following the acceptance by a
hundred monkeys, all of the others would immediately change to the new
condition. This sudden change became known, in ethnographic circles, as the
'hundredth monkey principle'
As I have noted on this list previously, I believe that major factors in the
change to SI are not logical or rational but emotional and social.
In the case of the Euro, the non-adopters (such as in Denmark, Sweden, and
the UK) will observe the change � they will see that it went smoothly � and
then they will join the movement fairly rapidly and painlessly. Maybe twelve
nations is the human equivalent of one hundred monkeys; I hope so.
As a side issue, here in Australia, we changed to decimal currency in 1966,
and despite all the whingeing from the pro-pounders and the foot-draggers,
this change was achieved smoothly and quickly. This success with decimal
currency was then used by the metric promoters as a major argument to have
Australia adopt the metric system from 1970. Maybe the promoters of SI in
the USA can use the smooth transition to the Euro in Europe (and in the
world financial community) to argue how easy these major changes can be.
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
CAMS - Certified Advanced Metrication Specialist
- United States Metric Association
ASM - Accredited Speaking Member
- National Speakers Association of Australia
Member, International Federation for Professional Speakers
--
