2002-03-02 .....Americans have become global thinkers.....
What Americans are you referring to? Certainly not the citizens of the United States? Who are you trying to hose? What a laugh! I don't know what fantasy land you live in, but the average citizen of the USA is not a global thinker. And as long as the American media and government perpetuate the idea that America is the best that is, that was, and that ever will be, Americans will only view the world as inferior. As an example, you ought to read the comments made to the Irish times forum on the question: "Would you support the introduction of a European Constitution?" Every American comment was negative and nasty and full of arrogance. Most made rude, anti-European, smart-ass remarks. Don't believe me? Go there and see for yourself. The only interest that Americans have in the affairs of the world, is that the world follows Americas dictates, whether it be political or cultural. And damn them if they don't. Other forums are no better. Another one on ISO-8601 had some Americans insisting that the internet should use the US time/date method, because.." Americans invented the internet. Get over it!". Since the 2001-09-11 attacks on New York and Washington, the American attitude has gotten more arrogant and more self-centred. As for the Olympics; another joke. The media went out of their way to de-metricate the Olympics. Except for the names of the events, like the 1000 m this or the 1500 m that, everything else was FFU. Even the American contestants appearing on the late night talk shows, insisted on giving their speeds in miles per hour. They even bet amongst themselves who would be the first to reach 80 mph. One girl wanted to reach 81 mph, as an assurance she had officially passed 80. I even saw on TV the contestants, foreign and domestic, have their vital statistics flashed on the screen in FFU only. So, where is the exposure? I too see computer cables labelled in feet and metres, like 1.8 m 6 feet. Which length will the average American remember or even look at? I'd bet most don't even know what the "m" stands for following the 1.8. And as for education, I'm sure whatever amount of metric was taught or learned in school, it was long ago forgotten. I know people who studied 2 years of Spanish and can't remember one word. I never studied Spanish, yet I know at least a dozen words. So, learning something in school means nothing. I even know foreign immigrants who don't want to know or use metric. They are in America now and want to measure as other Americans do, in FFU. As far as the USA is concerned, we are fighting a losing battle. Our hope is in a strong, united Europe. A Europe that will assure the continued use of metric everywhere else. John ----- Original Message ----- From: "James Frysinger" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, 2002-03-03 10:43 Subject: [USMA:18507] "Units of Measurement" thread > Posted a moment ago at http://sm3b.gsfc.nasa.gov ("Talk to us"): > > Thanks for that information on NASA's internal procedures, Dave. It's > interesting that you say they typically work in terms of meters. This is > something that has educational value; due to the persistent use of statute > miles (occasionally nautical miles), feet, and pounds in NASA press releases, > many Americans are convinced that those are the units NASA works in all the > time, even for non-STS missions. As a physics instructor I often use NASA > materials regarding various satellites and those are completely metric, or > nearly so. But the average American doesn't see those pages. > > I think the time has come for NASA to realize that and are familiar with kilometers, due to the Olympics and > local foot races if nothing else. Indeed, more Americans have run 5 km races > than have rowed or sailed 5 nautical mile races. NASA's public materials have > a tremendous and valuable impact on public education and they should be > expected to be at the front edge of public knowledge. > > NASA has wonderfully taught the public about orbits, black holes, radiation, > star dust, geomagnetic storms, lunar surfaces, and telescopes working at all > sorts of wavelengths. It boggles the mind that NASA should think Americans > cannot comprehend kilometers, meters, kilograms, and degrees Celsius. This is > especially true since these have been taught in American science classes > since the late 1950s. Find an American under the age of 60 who has not used a > meter stick, a lab balance, and a Celsius thermometer! > > A quick look at our grocery shelves and computer store displays will tell us > that we buy computer cables by the meter and beverages by the liter. A > moment's thought reminds us that a 1 L bottle of water weighs about 1 kg. > We've had dual labeling on packages for a decade. Noting NASA's superb > abilities to explain arcane astronomical phenomena, I am confident that they > can use only metric units in their public materials in an understandable > manner. > > J.R. Frysinger, CAMS > Dept. of Physics and Astronomy > College of Charleston > Charleston, SC 29424 > http://www.cofc.edu/~frysingj >
