CNN Probably Should Avoid The Metric System And Significant Figures In General...

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Metric America: Lincoln Chafee's vision in 20 examples
By Eric Weisbrod, Walbert Castillo and Sophie Tatum, CNN
Updated 9:48 PM ET, Thu June 4, 2015


(CNN)Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee announced Wednesday his bid to become the Democratic nominee for president in 2016, and in his stump speech, his pushed for America to use the metric system.

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2. If you were to drive from Des Moines, Iowa to Concord, New Hampshire, that's a distance of 1,238 miles or 2064.79 kilometers. Likewise, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton drove 1,964 miles from Chappaqua, New York to Monticello, Iowa, according to the Washington Post, a distance equivalent to 3131.783 kilometers.

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4. The distance between the White House and the U.S. Capitol building, is 2.5 miles or 4.02336 kilometers.

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And just for a little more perspective, here are ten things that will change in Chafee's America:

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6. The Quarter Pounder: Imagine ordering a 0.45 Kilogrammer with Cheese.

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http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:TwgA_a8w-HwJ:www.cnn.com/2015/06/04/politics/lincoln-chafee-metric-system-america/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

CNN's slightly corrected version:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/04/politics/lincoln-chafee-metric-system-america/

Some Observations:

That is one large 'Quarter' Pounder.

By some arcane mathematical alchemy (likely known only to CNN), four significant figures can become either six or seven significant figures - and sometimes two significant figures can become six significant figures.

Thank goodness that CNN is merely a news organization and that people do not need to count on the accuracy of what they publish, broadcast or state.

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1. My take on the matter

If the U.S. worked into the metric system over six months, and after January 1, 2016, everything was in metric measures, by June 1, 2016 practically nobody (except for a handful of probably very loud cranks) would bat an eye anymore. For instance, it's about 50 miles from my city to the state capital. How far is 50 miles, really? Does it really make any difference if you called it 80 kilometers? Would you notice any difference if you were immersed in the metric system for six months?

I remember when domain names on the internet were kept almost painfully short. People were accustomed to remembering 7 digit telephone numbers, and more accustomed to 5 digit ZIP codes. The thinking was that a domain name shouldn't be much longer than that if you wanted people to remember them. Fifteen or twenty years in, nobody thinks twice about longer domain names, and the purveyors of names like democraticunderground.com can be pretty well assured that their regular visitors will remember the full domain name.

I think the same thing would happen with the metric system, and by 2020 the only people using the English/American system would be those looking to project an aura of ersatz quaintness.

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3. It would be nice if your plan were implemented....

Science uses the metric system (SI) already as does most (no counterexamples come to mind) of the rest of the world.

If only CNN would bother to confirm that the calculations they have made are correct and presented in a reasonable manner, they would not promote the Quarter Pound burger to approximately a One Pound burger and not realize it.

[lpbk2713]

2. Maybe they will use a universal name for the Quarter Pounder.

... then everyone should be happy.