Rittmann, sir: >.....to continually tell myself, “I’m sitting 150 mm from the window,” or >something like that, or that I’m 18,500 mm tall. >.....Any suggestions on ingraining the metric system in your personal life? My childhood was spent at Lahore(Pakistan) and moved to Delhi, after partion of India (1947) and have lived the entire life struggling among sevral units. But living and adoption in day-to-day life does need adjustments with circumstances/environments. I totally agree with you the difficulty in guessing/ calculating distances in cm/mm or the like when dealing and jiggling mentally. I had the oppertunity to deal with *paie/Dhela/Paisa/Anna/Chawani/Athanni/Rupee* for currency as also *rati/Masha/Tola/Chattak/Paoseer/Seer/Maund* for Weights & Measures. By ONE STROKE, on 1956 December 28, India chaged her coinage/Weights & Measures and adopted theMetric (now SI )System of Units. Of course, there is chaos even today and disparity using measurements like *Girha/Inch/Foot/Yard/Mile* for length instead of Metre/Kilometre and their multiples- sub-multiples. Internationally, there is yet a disparity in COUNT measure - especially in finance market. Lakh/Crore is better understood in India/Asia as against Europe/America. Sevral years ago, I provide some thought to streamline FINANCE counting among Asian/European/American in bridging Lakh/Crore/Million/Billion (10^9 or 10^12). My proposed multiples are first published in my book: Towards A Unified Technology (1982). see: http://www.brijvij.com/IndoEuropean_UDN.doc I therefore, conculde saying it the WILL to adopt rather than FIND WAYS "how, not to fall for what is right.....". Like India and her people (in villages) still are conversant with *ancient measures of pre-partitioned India*. It is the WILL that need be awakened - THINK METRIC, PRECTISE METRIC, ACT METRIC and adopt SI the whole hog way (including TIME COUNT: http://www.brijvij.com/bb_deci-sec-nu-mtr.pdf). I amy not be surprised if United States take the lead, Sir. I expect some curiosity gets satisfied. Regards, Brij Bhushan Vij Friday, 20110401H13:26(decimal)EST Aa Nau Bhadra Kritvo Yantu Vishwatah -Rg Veda The Astronomical Poem (revised number of days in any month) "30 days has July,September, April, June, November and December all the rest have 31 except February which has 29 except on years divisible evenly by 4; except when YEAR divisible by 128 and 3200 - as long as you remember that "October (meaning 8) is the 10th month; and December (meaning 10) is the 12th BUT has 30 days & ONE OUTSIDE of calendar-format" Jan:31; Feb:29; Mar:31; Apr:30; May:31; Jun:30 Jul:30; Aug:31; Sep:30; Oct:31; Nov:30; Dec:30 (365th day of Year is World Day) ******As per Kali V-GRhymeCalendaar***** "Koi bhi cheshtha vayarth nahin hoti, purshaarth karne mein hai" My Profile - http://www.brijvij.com/bbv_2col-vipBrief.pdf Author had NO interaction with The World Calendar Association except via Media & Organisations to who I contributed for A Possible World Calendar, since 1971. HOME PAGE: http://www.brijvij.com/ Contact via E-mail: [email protected]
From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: [USMA:50249] Units for measuring short lengths in personal life Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2011 09:32:03 -0700 I have been looking at the metric system for a couple of years now. My primary reason for exploring it has been my continual frustration with the bizarre medley of traditional imperial units—bushels, hogheads, hundredweights, etc., as well as the various types of ounces. I teach history at the college level and struggle to be able to remember statistics because they are usually attached to some unit that I can’t seem to recall off the top of my head. First, I have seen many people in threads (not here) state that they like using the metric on the job, but at home and in their personal lives, they prefer the traditional units. I think it is best for society to pick one system and use it (almost) exclusively, instead of switching between two separate systems—and I’m sure some NASA engineers would agree with me there. My main problem with the metric system is trying to use it in my daily life (I live in the southern California region in the United States). I don’t really have a problem with kilometers or liters, but with the shorter units of length that I would be using in my daily life. I guess its easier to visualize 6 feet than 180 or so centimeters. I read Pat’s article on using the millimeter (perhaps he was simply saying that businesses should use mm, with individuals using what they prefer?), but it just seemed a bit too much to continually tell myself, “I’m sitting 150 mm from the window,” or something like that, or that I’m 18,500 mm tall. Even cm seem to small, but decimeters seemed good—about the width of my hand. But then I looked around and saw that pretty much nothing was measured in terms of the decimeter (except pools in metric countries). Any suggestions on ingraining the metric system in your personal life? This isn’t the only question I have, but it’s the most significant. Honestly, I think I’d rather speak in terms of “I’m a third of a meter away from the window” than any other metric way of speaking—a meter is pretty easy for me to visualize, as are simple fractions like that—but I keep getting the idea that one isn’t supposed to use fractions in the metric system. Or is this simply in a professional setting, where calculations need to be used? I’ll save my next question for a future thread, after we solve this one. J
