Pierre Abbat wrote:
Referring page: http://www.nctm.org/about/content.aspx?id=6346
The explanation offers no reasons why the customary units should be taught.
The circle:
1. Customary units are taught because state education standards say they
should be taught. Metric units are also taught, but as an academic
rather than as a practical topic. This, coupled with prevalence in daily
discourse (see item 2) causes public knowledge of metric units to wither
and die soon after school, except where they appear in everyday life
(e.g., 2 L pop bottles, street drugs, pharmaceuticals, etc.)
2. State education standards say that customary units should be taught
because those are the ones prevalently used in everyday lives -- as
witnessed by news stories, TV shows, books, magazines, prominence on
packaging, ads, daily conversations, federal legislation and
regulations, state legislation and regulations, local legislation and
regulations, and the like.
3a. Federal legislation and regulations favor use of customary units out
of disregard for the amendment to the Metric Act of 1975 by the Omnibus
Act of 1988 and disregard of Executive Order 12770. This is induced by
inertia in the thinking process of legislators and regulators.
3b. State legislation and regulations favor use of customary units out
of disregard for the amendment to the Metric Act of 1975 by the Omnibus
Act of 1988 and due to the example set by federal government. This is
induced by inertia in the thinking process of legislators and
regulators. It is encouraged by the need to write legislation and
regulations that work with federal legislation and regulation.
3c. Local legislation and regulations favor use of customary units out
of disregard for the amendment to the Metric Act of 1975 by the Omnibus
Act of 1988 and due to the example set by federal government. This is
induced by inertia in the thinking process of legislators and
regulators. It is encouraged by the need to write legislation and
regulations that work with federal legislation and regulation.
3d. Popular media prevalently use customary units because those are the
ones most often used in other public discourse. Public media feel little
obligation to help with public education in the use of metric units.
3e. The people who are responsible for the other items in this step (3)
say they do this because that is what the public knows best.
4. The public preferentially uses customary units because those are the
units prevalent in public discourse, legislation, and regulations. Since
they received little practical use of metric units in school and since
their everyday lives provide little practical experience in using those
units, only customary units remain in their internal sense of sizes. If
forced to justify this, they blame the schools.
5. Return to step 1. Repeat ad nauseam.
Summary:
Schools blame governments.
Governments blame the people.
People blame the schools.
Result: Excruciatingly slow progress.
Proposed solution 1 (which politically will be impossible to obtain): As
of some date certain, within the term of the session of Congress
enacting it, make all non-SI units alegal, that is declare them to have
no legal meaning. Only SI units would have any validity under contract,
tort, estate, civil, or criminal law. Allow non-SI units to mean
whatever folks want them to mean, as in "two scoops of raisins". Milk
could be sold by the yard if folks want to take a chance and buy it that
way. Without a legal basis, unhappy "milk by the yard" buyers could not
bring suit.
Proposed solution 2 (only slightly more likely to happen): Force all
federal legislation, regulations, agencies, departments, branches, or
other matters to use only SI units. Let the others wither away. States
will eventually follow suit. Then the folks will follow. Sure, one will
still be able to buy firewood by the "rick", whatever that is.
Proposed solution 3 (most likely to happen): Allow grass-roots and
industry-led efforts to continue the metrication effort. Be very, very
patient.
Jim
--
James R. Frysinger
632 Stony Point Mountain Road
Doyle, TN 38559-3030
(C) 931.212.0267
(H) 931.657.3107
(F) 931.657.3108
