Dear Ron,
I have interspersed some remarks, in blue.
On 2010/10/27, at 19:26 , Ron Stone wrote:
i don't think that metrication need be so complicated.
Metrication can be done in a day. It takes about 30 seconds to learn
enough about the metric system to build any building or to manufacture
anything that we use every day. Here is all you need to build the
largest sky scraper in the world (or to remodel your bathroom).
1000 grams = 1 kilogram 1000 kilograms = 1 tonne
1000 millilitres = 1 litre 1000 litres = 1 cubic metre
1000 millimetres = 1 metre 1000 metres = 1 kilometre
1 metre x 1 metre = 1 square metre
1 metre x 1 metre x 1 metre = 1 cubic metre metre
And that's it! Oh, and by the way, by making these choices you will
rarely, if ever, need to use fractions ever again -- no decimals, and
no common or vulgar fractions either.
The only reason you would add any other metric system multiples or sub-
multiples is if you feel a need to delay your upgrade to the metric
system for as long as you can. For example, if you add centimetres to
the above mix you can delay your metrication upgrade for 200 years or
more. See http://www.metricationmatters.com/docs/centimetresORmillimetres.pdf
and, by the way, I am not saying that the centimetre is not a
legitimate part of the metric system, I am simply reporting on my
observation that to use centimetres for a metrication upgrade slows
the entire process dramatically.
sure, a lot more can be said about good preparation and planning.
and there certainly are many different levels of government involved.
Actually, I think that the federal government is the only government
level involved as measurement for the USA is written into the
Constitution.
there has also been a lot of misinformation about metrication.
True, see http://www.ukma.org.uk/Why/Myths.aspx?mid=7
there are likely roles for metrication throughout the various levels
of government.
Different levels of government will often do their best to interfere
with the metrication upgrade in the USA, but it is still a federal
government responsibility under the Constitution of the USA. John P.
Kotter, a professor at Harvard who studies the process of change,
writes in Buy-in that opponents of change take these forms:
* fear mongering
* delay
* confusion
* ridicule (or character assassination)
No doubt, as a proponent of the metric system you have experienced all
of these. For further details of John P. Kotter's writings on the
process of change go to http://metricationmatters.com/
ChangeProcess.html where I make some recommendations of Kotter's books.
in any case, because metrication can provide a number of more
economic benefits to any of our communities, i support efforts to
metricate in all of the various levels of government.
See http://www.metricationmatters.com/docs/CostOfNonMetrication.pdf
i also think that the cost of metrication need not be so much of an
extra cost as it has been. with good preparation and planning,
metrication can be accomplished as part of normal costs of operation.
See http://metricationmatters.com/MetricationLeadersGuideInfo.html
in addition to government, it is also important to scrutinize
metrication in areas of education and business.
Educators have a problem. The old measuring words required that
roughly an hour a day for ten years of education be devoted to their
teaching of all the old measuring names with their histories,
variations, conversion factors and how to use them, etc., etc. (which
was demonstrably ineffective for rough;y half of the children).
Now, the metric system that is needed for industry (consider
millimetres in building and construction, millimetres in computer
design and manufacture, millimetres in furniture design, millimetres
in car, truck, tractor, and motor bike design and construction, and so
on …) can be taught in less than a minute, can become habitual within
an hour, and can be mastered for all measurement activities for the
rest of your life within a day.
This is a major problem for educators. I predict that it will take
them several generations for educators to adjust to this dramatic
change. They will delay the inevitable metrication upgrade in two main
ways:
1 They will encourage metric conversion. This has been shown not to be
effective in numerous trials all around the world, yet it is the
dominant approach by educators in the USA. This is both time consuming
and ineffective. See http://www.metricationmatters.com/metric_conversion.html
2 They will favor teaching all of the units of the metric system,
together with all of the prefixes, and all of the possible
combinations of metric system units and prefixes whether these are
used in any industry in the USA or not. Again, this is both time
consuming and ineffective.
2 Educators like to teach children about the sliding and slithering
decimal point. This can be useful in pure number studies but it is not
necessary, nor useful, to apply it to the metric system that, with
sensible use of prefixes as is done in most industrial applications,
can avoid decimal fractions altogether.
4 They will favor centimetres for almost all measurements inside and
outside the classroom. I don't fully understand why, or how, the use
of centimetres delays the process of metrication, but it demonstrably
does. I can find no evidence in any nation where the metrication
process has been successful -- and fast -- using centimetres.
While educators are adjusting to the threat of simplicity inherent in
the metric system, it follows that business has an even bigger
problem. The metric system as it is being taught in schools and
colleges is quite irrelevant to industry. So much so, that industry
has to bear the burden of extra time and extra cost of training all
new new people they hire into using the metric system that is
appropriate for their industry. For example, someone who is employed
on a motor vehicle assembly line has to learn and to become familiar
with the use of millimetres; and has to unlearn anything they remember
about metric conversions, and slithering decimal points to get from
centimetres to hectometres, and back to decimetres!
metrication or WOMBAT? isn't that the question?
No, I don't think that that is the question. There are two real
questions; the first is:
How long will the good citizens of the USA continue to hide the fact
that they are already a completely metric nation?
Consider the facts that many people spend most of their days working
with all-metric designed and built computers.
Consider the fact that most people wash their faces and apply make-up
etc. using all-metric products designed and blended using the metric
system.
Consider the fact that many clothing items are designed and made to
metric system specifications down to fibre diameters in micrometres.
Consider the fact that most Asian made household items, refrigerators,
washing machines, etc., are designed and made using metric system units.
Consider the fact that most people in the USA drive to and from their
work in all-metric designed and built cars, truck, tractors, or
motorbikes.
Consider the fact that after work most people in the USA go home to
watch television or listen to music on all-metric televisions and
radios.
Consider the fact that if any citizen of the USA becomes ill they will
be treated with all-metric designed, formulated, and applied medicines.
Consider the fact that when any citizen tells you their height and
'weight' (read mass), they will do so using the USA metric feet and
inches of 1893, the international metric feet and inches of 1959, and
the international metric pounds of 1959.
Consider the fact that when drivers in the USA talk about miles, and
miles per hour, they are usually referring to the international metric
mile.
Consider the fact that the USA is completely metric but the citizens
have, collectively, decided to hide this fact from each other.
Once, I tried to convey the message that the USA is wholly metric in a
sort of ironic humor, but I am not sure that it had much effect. See http://www.metricationmatters.com/docs/DontUseMetric.pdf
And the second real question is:
When will the USA decide that it is the approach they choose for their
inevitable metrication upgrade that is important?
There are four approaches to a metrication upgrade that are possible.
See http://www.metricationmatters.com/docs/ApproachesToMetrication.pdf
The four approaches are:
1 Direct metrication
2 Hidden metrication
3 Metric conversion
4 Ignore it and it will go away
One of these works! And it works quickly!
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
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]
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