excuse me? that stupid are Aussies?
man, up to my knowledge I should be God in contrast to them :-D and I am just 19! ----- Original Message ----- From: "Pat Naughtin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, June 27, 2002 4:44 AM Subject: [USMA:20681] Re: Benefit of L/100 km vs. km/L Dear John and All, I have interspersed some remarks. > People in North America can not even do the simplest of math. They NEVER > calculate any form of fuel consumption, whether it be L/100 km, km/l or mpg. > They find out what the mpg rating is from some other source and when asked > just repeat that same number. Sadly this is also true in Australia. I recall a survey of adult numeracy that was carried out in the mid 1990s. This survey revealed that some 60 % of adult Australian could not add three items from a lunch menu (such as $4.60 + $5.90 + $4.45) to check that the total was correct. This level of innumeracy moved up to around 90 % when the people were asked to add 10 % on to this bill for a tip or to take 10 % from the bill as a discount. > It makes no difference if their car doesn't get that number, or their car is > older and doesn't perform as it once did. Once xxx mpg, always xxx mpg. > And to calculate the fuel needed to drive 250 km, they don't care and would > never do the calculation. Either 'would not' or could not' do the calculation? I think that people simply get a number memorised and then use it for all purposes. It is not unlike baby masses in pounds and ounces; you simply remember one number and then no further calculations (that are very embarrassing to an innumerate person) are required. I suspect that the solution to this problem is the same as the baby mass issue; once people know that the average baby is born at around 3.5 kilograms and that small babies are 2.5 kg and big babies are 4.5 kg then they can come to terms with their new baby's mass of (say) 3.6 kg. In fuel consumption terms you need to know: that a very small economical cars use about five litres of fuel to go 100 kilometres, that large uneconomical cars use about twenty-five litres of fuel to go 100 kilimetres, and that the average is about ten litres of fuel per hundred kilometres. > The same is true with women's dress sizes. Once a size x, always a size x. > Even if she has turned into a Buffalo. The clever dress makers, just change > the size 9 to match the customer. That is the beauty of FFU. If you don't > like the length of the inch, just change it to what ever you want. And don't forget the computer industry with their 90 mm disk at 3 1/2 inc and their short inches to measure screen sizes. Cheers, Pat Naughtin CAMS Geelong, Australia
