Dear Phil Chernack,
In response to your posting, quoted below:
>1. "Why do people keep insisting that Americans don't understand or know =
>metric measures. If prodded, most Americans will admit they know how =
>long a meter is, how much a liter is and even how much a gram "weighs".
I don't know how MOST Americans are. Those that I deal with MAY KNOW about the liter and the meter, but ARE STUBBORN AND REFUSE to use them and tell me: "You came to the States, brother, you better learn the inch and the pound."
>2. If Americans, or anybody else for that matter, can divide and =
>sub-divide numbers by units of 10, they can fully understand metric.
The assumptions that Americans can easily divide by 10 is VERY WRONG! Here is a story:
>2. If Americans, or anybody else for that matter, can divide and =
>sub-divide numbers by units of 10, they can fully understand metric.
The assumptions that Americans can easily divide by 10 is VERY WRONG! Here is a story:
The cashiers in many stores offer you to open a store credit card, "to save 10% today". Once, a girl at Target asked me if I wanted to save 10 % on my purchase today and I asked her: "OK, how much is 10 % out of $
5.40." No answer followed, she just smiled sweetly. On another occasion, when asked the same question, the cashier guy pulled out his cell phone, trying to calculate on his cell phone how much is 10% out of my purchase".
I have tried this many times, and never got a quick response. IT'S A SHAME!!!
If you gravitate in the smarter part of the society (working in an office, college, etc.), you probably hardly have an idea about the math capabilities and the level of intelligence of the average citizen. That's how I was, before I went to the Army/Navy, where I was shocked by the 18-year-olds...
Best Regards:
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Ivan Kochnev
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Ivan Kochnev
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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