Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Don't Give Me an Inch -- I'll Take a Meter, Please
Ah, the clash of stupidities. One sort: using the Imperial system of units ("Satan's units," as I call them when teaching my class), when the SI is readily available. The other sort: using state force and coercion to require people to use any particular system of favored units. The Systeme Internationale (meters, kilograms, seconds) is beautiful and easy to use; it requires no force to convince those who are capable of being reached by reason. Those who refuse to see the metric light: are they not still free? Well, of course they're not free; none of us is. But they, and we, should be.
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3 comments:
I adore the metric system! It's a shame most Anglo-Americans cannot appreciate its intrinsic beauty. My most convincing "argument" so far is to show doubters how little they weigh in kilograms compared to pounds.
Like the new layout of the site!
Are you suggesting that one should not use the unit of slug when referring to mass? Blasphemy...
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