I don't think that's exactly the point. The "Curse of Knowledge" thing is about communication. Communication between the USMA and US leaders is not necessarily how policy is changed. In one of the two "ideal democracy" pictures (and indeed, to some extent, in our democracy), the purpose of government is to carry out the will of the people. Trying to argue with (or bribe) leaders to change their minds against what private individuals want, though not necessarily doomed to fail, is certainly "working against the system" in some sense.
If you want to change things the "right way", in a way that goes "with the grain", the way to do it is by persuading the people themselves that they should want metric. Then let them tell their leaders. That's where the communication comes in. The problem is that metrication advocates have failed to convince the mass public. I interpreted the "Curse of Knowledge" article to be suggesting ways we can improve our communication with the public. --- Victor Jockin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The quote "People tend to think that having a great idea is enough" reminded > me of my recent > post saying that we shouldn't "pretend that we live under a political system > where simply being > right and calmly making sound arguments is something that will have any > traction with > lawmakers". > > But the implication of "The Curse of Knowledge" is that we just need to make > our arguments more > clear, and then lawmakers will realize their error and soon change all the > road signs. I was > suggesting that lawmakers may instead be more sensitive to large voting > blocks, donors, and > lobbyists. > > It's worth pausing briefly to consider which of these two views is more > accurate. If it's the > former, our letters and editorials will shortly achieve our goal. If it's > the latter, we must > reform what USMA is and how it operates, because right now we're not even in > the game. > > Registering as a lobby, seeking out wealthy benefactors, and hiring real > political strategists > may not work out right away, if ever. But without that, we're mostly just > talking to ourselves, > reminding each other of our great idea. > > > > > > > From: Pat Naughtin > Sent: 10/03/2008 4:19 AM > To: U.S. Metric Association > Subject: [USMA:41782] The Curse of Knowledge > > > Dear All, > > > I wonder whether this idea has any relevance to the metrication process. > > > See: http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/213-the-curse-of-knowledge > > > Cheers, > > Pat Naughtin > > > PO Box 305 Belmont 3216, > Geelong, Australia > Phone: 61 3 5241 2008 > > > Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has helped > thousands of people and > hundreds of companies upgrade to the modern metric system smoothly, quickly, > and so economically > that they now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling > for their businesses. > Pat provides services and resources for many different trades, crafts, and > professions for > commercial, industrial and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, > and in the USA. Pat's > clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST, and the metric > associations of > Canada, the UK, and the USA. See http://www.metricationmatters.com/ for more > metrication > information, contact Pat at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or to get the free 'Metrication > matters' newsletter go to: http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter/ to > subscribe. > >
