So what it all boils down to is that you see the metric system as just one system of measurement among many (imperial, other non-metric, metric, ...) all of equal status. The one that is used is a matter of personal choice rather like what clothes to wear or taste in food.
I won't comment any further on this for now, instead I'll wait to hear from others. Phil Hall > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Behalf Of Stephen Humphreys > Sent: 04 March 2005 14:20 > To: U.S. Metric Association > Subject: [USMA:32368] Re: kilogram redefinition > > > > > > >I'd dispute that. People carry out daily tasks unwittingly using > >mathematics > >more than they think they do. > > The word "unwittingly" is key there. > > > > >Sorry, you can't get away with it as easily as that. Your > previous argument > >implied a more detached view than this. Maybe you should substitute the > >words "personal preference" for the word "best". > > My personal preference is the same as "best" for me. > I prefer to drink orange juice to apple juice, thus orange juice > is best for > me. It cannot mean that orange juice "is the best" universally though. > > >Since we are on the subject > >of preference, obviously I prefer metric, but just because some > of my peers > >try to talk imperial to me and sometimes expect me to do the same, I'll > >never concede it's "best for me" or anyone else. > > I would never infer that, as for you - "metric" is best for you. The > trouble is, you feel that its best for your peers - but life is not that > rigid. It's not up to an individual or an organisation to dictate what is > best for people. That does not imply that individuals or organisations > shouldn't persuade people that another way is better though - that's just > human, and, democratic. > > >People can habitually do things in a certain way but that > doesn't mean it's > >the best way. It doesn't do any harm to listen to wiser alternatives. > > I know imperial and metric. I do not see either as a "wiser > alternative" to > the other. I choose lbs over kg not out of ignorance or out of > just habit > but out of choice and preference. I admit that there is a degree > of habit, > but in the knowledge of having learned both systems I can > personally claim > that habit plays a small role. Here in the UK we've been told to > go metric > on various occasions, even getting the state and laws involved in > "telling > us what's best". This has been happening for decades yet people still > choose to use imperial even when that choice becomes limited. If > I were to > be one-dimensional I could claim that that means imperial is "best" - > however, I'm not one dimensional! > > > >I'm not being emotional, merely trying to be rational. > > 'Rational' should allow opinion formation of individuals to > dictate what's > "best". Don't get me wrong, there is unfounded emotion in both > "camps". I > just wish we were all allowed choice a bit more - which would mean (in my > opinion) a greater choice in america to use metric if one should > want to and > an end to enforced metrication in the lives of my fellow UK > citizens/subjects. > >
