Oh Carl, we certainly need more people like you. Rational, level-headed and sensible.
Well done. Mike ----- Original Message ----- From: "Carl Sorenson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, October 23, 2002 10:33 AM Subject: [USMA:22884] My response to recent postings | I agree with what several of you said about keeping posts culturally | sensitive, intelligent, non-offensive, etc. Here are my thoughts. | | 1. I suppose that many Americans do tend to have insular or less | cosmopolitan attitudes than Europeans, due to geographic, demographic, | political, and economic realities (such the fact that the US is one big | country, rather than dozens of countries next to each other). | | 2. This is entirely their prerogative. | | 3. The purpose of USMA is not to make the US more "global" or "nice to | Europe" or anything like that, as agreeable as those things may be. Its | purpose is to encourage metrication. | | 4. We will make progress toward metrication by a) educating and helping the | public accept, understand, and use SI, and b) influencing key political, | educational, and industrial leaders to make helpful policies, legislation, | and products. | | 5. In order to influence the public and its leaders, we need to have a | worthwhile message and a reputation as a rational, intelligent, | professional, and mainstream organization. I think that most USMA members | (and certainly its leaders) understand this, but a few people on this list | aren't convinced yet. | | 6. Since our purpose is metrication, it doesn't matter if countries drive | on the left side of the road, use dollar bills or coins, or write the date | and time in various ways. Insisting that everyone does everything a certain | way is unnecessary, distracting, and detrimental to our public relations. | PR is, I think, pretty much the main point of USMA. | | 7. Inflexible rigidity and obsession with inconsequential minutiae is | called extremism. We will be marginalized and people will leave if we become | extremist. | | 8. The vast majority of people are not engineers. They don't want to be | and they don't need to be. SI is obviously the best system for scientific | purposes. Although it is best for everyday life, too, people won't be | convinced of that if we just call them stupid or irrational. They will | respond much more positively to respect, tolerance, patience, and cultural | sensitivity. What may be obvious and important for scientists and engineers | will not be that big a deal for the public. By contrast, grammar and | punctuation are important to linguists, but not every engineer considers | them important. A healthy person tries to balance things in life. | | Carl | | | | | |
