Good points, Paul. I would like to add some remarks on two of them: 1) Familiar enough: Most people know the (Customary) units adequately to use them, but not the "system" interconnecting them. (Please don't argue about whether it is a "system;" it may not be as systemic as SI, but something interconnects them). Most real people don't do a lot of conversions, they just use the units. The FPLA, UPLR, and commerce in general pick units such that this approach is sufficient. Even things like mixing oil and gas for two cycle engines, which should cause horrible conversions, are simplified to ounces per gallon; measure the ounces, then measure the gallons. No need to know 128 fl oz = 1 gallon. The very points we emphasize, interconnectedness and ease of conversion recall the horrors of my 2nd point.
2) Resistance to knowledge of the metric system: Whether or not they also learn some Customary, kids have learned something about metric for decades, unfortunately, due to the way it is taught, mostly bad things. In my opinion, this contributes to the resistance. In the 50's, I don't recall learning any metric until high school. In the 70's, my two oldest children learned it first, in elementary school (I had to teach them enough Customary to get by). In the 80's my youngest child learned mixed units. However, beyond learning to measure in centimeters in 1st or 2nd grade, it was MOSTLY taught as conversions. Those were conversions between Customary and metric, mixed unit story problems where they had to reason out which to convert, or problems involving scientific notation and extremely large and small numbers (how many cubic nanometers in a cubic meter). The kids come out of the school system NOT having learned that metric is simpler, but that the NASTIEST problems involve metric. Is there any wonder Americans resist. HOW they are taught metric is more important than whether they are taught metric-only or both. They need to learn about measuring in metric and practical conversions (millimeters in a meter, meters in a kilometer are good to know, millimeters in a kilometer is a little silly, and more extreme is really silly). The schools need to teach kids how to handle scientific notation and extremely large/small numbers, but the problems shouldn't be chosen to only bias kids against the metric system (how many grains in a ton, how many mils in a light year, how many dry pints in a wet barrel) ________________________________ From: Paul Trusten <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Tue, March 16, 2010 9:46:20 AM Subject: [USMA:46948] Do most Americans REALLY find the metric system to be easier to use than the customary system? Do most Americans really find the metric system easier to use than the customary system? Perhaps not! For those of us who support U.S. metrication,the ease-of-use advantage of metric has been dogma, but I find myself doubting whether or not the U.S. public finds it to be so. The public may perceive the customary system to be easier to use than the metric system because of: 1) Familiarity with the customary system. However awkward the mathematical relationships might be among inches, feet, and miles, or ounces, fluid ounces, quarts, and gallons, and no matter how much we like to say that many Americans do not know many of the details (the number of feet in a mile or the difference between wet and dry measure), a large number of the American people seem to believe that the system is familiar to them. They will even preface the phrase "American units" with the phrase, "good,old." Familiarity breeds consent. 2) Lack of knowledge of the metric system. Too often, the phrase "metric system" appears in U.S. articles and in American discourse as an object of immediate resentment and derision. It is attacked before it even gets discussed. It is like the habit of refusing to eat a food one has never even tried. It's a case of contempt prior to investigation. USMA has urged U.S. schools to teach only the metric system, but the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics has not yet agreed to this. Word is not really out about metric. 3) Monosyllabic names for many customary units. Our opponents sometimes raise this as an advantage of the old system over the metric system. I think we should pay attention to this opinion. Inch, foot, yard, rod, mile. Ounce, pint, quart. Two exceptions might be bushel and gallon. Compare this to "millimeter," "centimeter," or "kilogram." Of course, metric is far more logical and coherent, but--and I hate to admit this---logic and coherency may just not be at the top of the American shopping list for measurement needs. These obstacles to public acceptance of metrication can be overcome. Universal metric education, driven by political,academic, and industry leadership in the U.S., is the best solution. Once metric education becomes a fact of American life, the barriers to the acceptance of metric will come down. But, I think we need to recognize the obstacles. Doing so will ease our current impatience with the lack of progress. Paul Trusten, R. Ph. Public Relations Director U.S. Metric Association, Inc.
