[USMA:36550] Re: the preferred system

[Mike Millet]

While it's true that many Americans when pressed may know what a meter is, I've found varying levels of comfort with SI. For example, anyone I talk to who has gone to school outside of the state I currently reside in is very quick to recognize SI units, mainly because the states are putting more and more emphasis on it. Here in Idaho where I'm currently living the schools teach SI but they do it as fast as possible and only brush over it rather than spend time teaching it in depth, even though the state laws say to teach with an emphasis towards metric only. I've even heard of some science teachers here allowing inch/pound units in science projects that were supposed to be SI.

So yes I think it's true that most Americans have a passing familiarity with SI, however I think that varies considerably across the country. I was talking with a gentleman the other day who actually argued quite eloquently that the US switching to SI would be awful as it would "blanket the world in a uniform standard of measurement and help erase more individuality" or something along those lines :). I didn't go for it but it was interesting to hear. He even managed to equate it somehow to Nazi death camps where they forced everything to conform to their standards.

If they do manage to amend FPLA and at least have voluntary metric labeling it would go a long way towards increasing Americans familiarity with SI, but we may have to wait on that even longer than we had hoped. It also raises the question once we have metric only labeling what the next step would be because the government hasn't indicated it's willing to be progressive and move towards full metric conversion, only that it's willing to allow it in bits and pieces as time goes on.

Mike
--
"The boy is dangerous, they all sense it why can't you?"