On 2008/11/29, at 3:34 AM, Ziser, Jesse wrote:
Liters are the first metric units most Americans will willingly
switch to. Clearly, soda and
drink companies are the reason. My mom is kind of set in her ways
and doesn't adapt to new things
easily. I haven't yet convinced her to make the switch (or even
that she's capable of doing so).
But on Tuesday she asked me to bring over a liter of soda for us to
drink with Thanksgiving
dinner. I gladly did, and later pointed out she had already gone
metric in drink sizes. She
replied that she guessed the switch could be doable "one unit at a
time".
Even some of the "difficult people" can be brought around with time
and a little help from
industry.
Dear Jesse,
I suspect that one of the reasons why the switch to metric for volume
measures such as liquids is so successful in the USA is relatively
simple. If the amount is under a litre (1 mL to 999 mL) the numbers
are almost always expressed in whole numbers. There has been no
dithering between other possibilities such as decimal litres (such as
0.345 litres), centilitres, or decilitres (even though these are quite
valid metric SI units).
Note that I use the word dithering in a more or less technical sense.
If people are given two reasonable choices during a metrication
transition, some will plump for one of the choices and others will
settle upon the other. This usually happens according to well
established divisional lines, such as management/labor, male/female,
doctors/nurses, or republican/democrat. The original measurement issue
is soon forgotten while people get on with the business of hating each
other and using the metric system as their basis of division.
Dithering does not happen when needless alternatives are not placed
before the participants. The choice of millilitres is one example
where the fact of no choice made the metric transition simple,
relatively smooth, and faster that many other attempts at metric
transitions. There are many other examples of smooth, rapid, and
economical metric system upgrades where dithering was not in evidence.
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
PO Box 305 Belmont 3216,
Geelong, Australia
Phone: 61 3 5241 2008
Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has
helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the
modern metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they
now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for
their businesses. Pat provides services and resources for many
different trades, crafts, and professions for commercial, industrial
and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and in the USA.
Pat's clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST,
and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA. See http://www.metricationmatters.com
for more metrication information, contact Pat at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
or to get the free 'Metrication matters' newsletter go to: http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter
to subscribe.
