I read with interest Mr. Scheck's recent article, particularly the internal
angst that occurs in those that feel they must compromise their metric
identity to prosper.
As a South Coast resident, South Coast of Lake Superior that is, I often
enjoy listening to Canadian radio where the vast majority of weather reports
come in Celsius, which you would expect. However as a custom or courtesy,
the announcers provide the last current temperature in both Celsius and
Fahrenheit, presumably for their South of the border listeners.
My brain will never wrap itself around the conversion, probably because I
have no interest in challenging my mental inertia. That said and with
tongue in cheek, I proffer a likely non-original opinion, that regarding the
mundane human observation of temperature, "Fahrenheit is more metric than
Celsius".being 0 degrees F is real cold and 100 degrees F is real hot, and
nothing much matters beyond that unless I plan to conduct a scientific
process of sorts, like smelting copper.
To the dismay of my wife and family, I have tried to use this point as
dinner guest conversation.need I say more..shut up you old fool is the
kindest thing they can express.
The broader point is that scales as well as other tools such as language
developed in academia , but not adopted for daily use tend to
self-limit.take Esperanto for example.
While logic indicates all things metric would enhance our understanding as
well as intra-cultural efficiency, my practical exposure doesn't always
support. Living in Europe for over 10 years, I was amazed to find plumbing
sizes in inches in Germany.is it custom, or simply more efficient?
I'd be interested in others thoughts..
Dave
