On 2010/06/15, at 11:42 , Bill Hooper wrote:
On Jun 14 , at 8:52 PM, Brian White wrote:
But Bill, regardless-- (1800cc is) pronounced eighteen hundred see
see. And, That's hardly a problem.
I agree that it IS done the way you say. What I am saying is, that
it is not correct SI to say it that way. Therefore, it should NOT be
said that way. Those who DO say it that way need to be informed why
it is bad practice and encouraged to use correct practice.
You seem to think a mish-mash of various SI and non-SI measures and
their expressions is "hardly a problem".
I maintain that it is a BIG problem.
If everyone makes up his or her own pet ways of using SI (by
altering the way they write or pronounce the measures) then we will
quickly degenerate into the same miserable mess we have had with all
the varieties of old English measures. Everybody wants to have his
or her own "special unit" or special way of saying or writing it.
When everybody has a different way of using/saying/writing the
measures, then NO ONE will be able to understand anyone else.
Mutual understanding is far more important than mere ease of writing
or speaking the measures.
Regards,
Bill Hooper
Fernandina Beach, Florida, USA
Dear Bill,
Well said. I agree with your thoughts wholeheartedly.
I would go further and say that the production of a local measuring
lingo (local jargon) also has a profound effect on the process of
metrication. Where guidance is given to choose a single multiple of a
metric unit the metrication is smooth, generally accepted by the
community, and fast.
As a successful example consider the introduction of the sub-multiple
metric unit millilitre. This has been generally successful wherever it
was used (in beer, wine, and soft drinks). The process worked in my
opinion because newcomers to this metric unit had nothing to discuss
and, more importantly, no decision to make – the choice of unit had
been made for them and the transition for 2000 millilitres to 2 litres
came less often and later.
I won't bother to give details here of the many, many, successful
metrication transitions that happened rapidly when the single unit
millimetres was recommended and used.
It seems to me that this sort of metrication transition aligns with
the thought espoused by Chip and Dan Heath in their book, Made to
Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. See http://www.madetostick.com/theauthors
The Heath brothers describe 'decision paralysis' as a process that
occurs when you might really want to change but at the outset you are
provided with a choice that you cannot make without possessing the
necessary resources to make that choice. In the case of beer, wine,
and soft drinks the choice was already made so the majority of the
population could more readily accept the change as reality and get on
with their life.
You might compare this success with the obvious failure of human
height to 'go metric'. Here anyone who wants to 'go metric' with human
height is immediately confronted with the choice of whether to use
metres. centimetres, or even millimetres. As this choice is seen to be
too difficult for most people they immediately revert to the secure,
conservative, position and quote their height and the heights of their
family and friends in feet, inches, and fractions of inches. I predict
that the 'decision paralysis' that currently operates in this area
will continue for another 100 years or more, and since it is so
personal to all people, it will also prove to be an impediment to many
other metrication transitions.
Another failure in this context is the birth mass of babies where the
decision to use grams or kilograms has to be made by new mothers (and
her sisters, and her cousins, whom she reckons up by dozens, and her
aunts!). These people, ignoring the safety of the baby, routinely
avoid making a decision of using grams or kilograms confront a
'decision paralysis' and ask: 'What's that in pounds and ounces?' I
have no doubt that eventually baby masses will be measured, recorded,
and reported in grams but this will also take a very long time to
happen without leadership.
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
Author of the ebook, Metrication Leaders Guide, see
http://metricationmatters.com/MetricationLeadersGuideInfo.html
Hear Pat speak at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lshRAPvPZY
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
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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]
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