| From: | David Hinkley dhinkley@***.org |
|---|---|
| Subject: | The metric system |
| Date: | Sat, 24 Jul 1999 14:31:11 -0700 |
From: Jean-Francois Audet <axter@*****.com>
Subject: Re: The metric system
To: shadowrn@*********.org
Send reply to: shadowrn@*********.org
> --- Mick Rissling <mrissling@*******.com> wrote:
> > One of the (many) things that I like about SR
> > is the use of the metric
> > system. How do you guys feel about its use
> > (particularly those of you that
> > live in the US and UK)? Do you think it works well
> > or would you rather see
> > the Imperial system?
>
>
> I'm used to the metric system from being a Canadian but we (me and my
> player and the rest of Quebec) ain't used with describing weight and
> length of a person so we find it a little harder for those purpose
> only. It just isn't really impressive saying the guy measure 1m84 when
> I could say 6'2''.
>
> On another thing, I founded weird that FASA used "miles" in the 3rd
> Companion (p.91 DocWagon Response Time Table), it must have slipped through.
Maybe not. A change in measurement systems takes 3 generations. For the
most part he generation that starts the change never really learns the new
system. They learn how to convert. But they think in the old system. The next
generation is taught both systems. There are too many things that would still
exist that were in the old system. But they would think in the new system and
convert to the old. By the third generation, they only need to learn the new
system. The old one is only useful to historians and museum curators.
Miles is some thing that Americans have a mental picture of, it may not
be accurate, but they have one. Giving the response time in terms of miles
means some thing, kilometers has to be converted. As the largest market for
FASA's products is the United States. The use of miles makes some sense.
What does not make sense is why the United States is not trying to
convert faster. They have been at it for three generations and we are yet to
get far enough for the "second" generation effect to kick in.
So much for the real world, as to Shadowrun, given the speed that the
United States is converting it is likely that by 2060 they will just be just starting
the "second" generation. Which means that both systems would be used,
with the metric system the most common(I hope). But Mechanics will still
need two complete sets of wrenches, sometimes to work on the same vehicle
[pet peave alert]. Of course, we might convince the rest of the world that a
system based on the body lengths of a long dead king is better....... :-)
David G. Hinkley
dhinkley@***.org
------------------------------------------------
"No passion in the world is equal to the passion
to alter someone else's draft"
H.G. Wells
