Is change even possible?
When you go for a trip in your car, you fill the tank before you ‘take off’. Not so for an airliner: the weight of unnecessary fuel becomes a significant cost on short trips. So the jet only receives enough fuel for the journey, plus a safety margin.
If everything goes just right, that is.
But one particular Boeing 767, known today as “The Gimli Glider”, actually ran out of fuel in mid flight; despite fuel gauges, despite preflight calculations, despite everything.
The story of how the pilot actually got the plane on the ground in one piece, with everyone onboard still alive (and applauding) is recorded in the fascinating book; Freefall, by William and Marilyn Hoffer. But the book also covers the even more interesting story of how the hell a modern jetliner got up to 41,000 feet and ran out of fuel.
Or maybe we should say; it got up to 12,497 metres. Because the difference between metric and “English/Imperial” units (hereafter referred to by the ironic title; “Standard”) played a major role in the debacle. It seems that the Canadian Parliament had just decreed that all fuel would be measured in metric units. It was 1983, and the ground crews were trundled off to “metric orientation training”. One fueler remarked; “It was all just numbers; they could have been bananas”.
Even this would not have mattered, if the plane’s fuel computer had been working; pilots would still have spotted the discrepancy. So you ask; how on Earth could a plane be allowed to fly with its fuel computer broken? Simple: the fuel was measured by “sticking the tanks” and the calculations were done manually. Sticking is an utterly reliable method, in which you put a stick into the fuel tanks, and see where the fuel line goes. It’s foolproof, unless something completely undermines the crew’s calculations. That something was metric units. The ground crew argued for half an hour, then the plane took off with about half as much actual fuel as it was supposed to have.
Imagine making that announcement! “Ladies and gentlemen, the funniest thing happened while we were fueling up on the ground today…”
It was theoretically possible to land a 767 with no engines, but nobody had ever wanted to try it with 69 souls on board. The pilot set down on a decommissioned military runway, which had become a local drag racing spot (much to the surprise of local folk who had to get out of the way of the descending aircraft). “The Gimli Glider” went on to have a normal service life, if a somewhat colorful history. And you’d think that with an object lesson like that, Metric confusion wouldn’t screw up another high-technology project ever again.
Until the $125m Mars Climate Orbiter crashed in 1999, that is. The story is well known; one team was using Metric units, the other Standard. A completely bone-headed mistake, for a bunch of rocket scientists.
Our space shuttle program runs on a confusing mix of Metric and Standard units. Even the new Ares rocket is designed using Standard units. NASA says it would cost too much to convert a project that is this far along. They’re probably right.
Today everyone knows what a litre is, thanks to soda bottles. And that bottle is about two kilograms, discounting the plastic. But if you start talking about converting our whole economy to metric units, it won’t be long before the ghost of Jimmy Carter comes back to haunt the discussion.
Ol’ Jimmy, if you recall, wanted to modernize our units of measurement. Sure, it was Gerald Ford who signed the metric conversion law, but Jimmy took it as a personal mission. I think his unlikable personality set metric back fifty years or more. Somewhere I have a hilarious book written during that time as a polemic against the metric system. It seriously predicted the end of American dominance in the world, if we were ever foolish enough to start measuring in centimeters instead of inches.
I own a dial caliper that measures in inches; it cost me about $125, twenty-five years ago. My metric dial caliper cost about $80, fifteen years ago. Today you can buy a digital one for about $30, which can convert back and forth to either system by flipping a switch. It’s made in China, of course.
And NASA still can’t build a rocket using metric units. Why is that?
Well, why would they want to? Metric isn’t more any more precise than Standard. Can’t the rest of the world just march to our tune? They always have, in the past.
It’s that reluctance that makes me wonder if we really can limit population growth, cut back on carbon dioxide, stop giving antibiotics to livestock, and move away from a consumption-based culture. Hell, we can’t even pick up a metric ruler and really learn it, when millions of dollars or even human lives are at stake. Is change impossible?
In his 1960 book Realm Of Measure, Isaac Asimov thought that, while the present generation might be a lost cause, we could start with the children:
“To begin with, the metric system ought to be taught in grade school. If American children were made familiar with it they would, as adults, not find it so strange and foreign. Then little by little, metric measurements should be introduced into common use, without necessarily replacing the common measurements…
Thus eventually, the common system could be dropped altogether, and we could join the rest of the world in a union of logical measurements.
Oh, mister Asimov; so optimistic. Those kids’ kids are all grown up now, and working at NASA.
So here’s my question: how can intentional change even happen? What’s the solvent to break the glue holding our shoes to the floor? Comments are open, and I want to know what you think.
Notes:
- Boston.com: Inching Along; Thirty years later, we’re still taking measure the old English way.
- Check out Paul Sunstone’s post on The rarity of cultural change, written in response to this post.
- ***Dave takes up the topic from another angle: Changing Our Minds. Can we really handle the truth?
- Bonus question: even the French were slow and reluctant to adopt Metric measurements. Anybody know how they pulled it off? I really can’t figure it out; the French aren’t exactly famous for conformity.
- Next month’s carnival entry: “A Brief History Of FAIL”.
how can intentional change even happen?
Immediate mandatory metric only Head Start through eighth grade. When people object, tell them it is god’s will. “If god wanted us to teach Standard, we would all have twelve toes.”
I don’t agree about Carter’s personality, but whatever …
Anyway, here in Windsor today the high was about 27C, gasoline is ~ 93 cents/litre, and nobody gives a rat’s ass about Imperial/standard or “US standard”. Point is, the change was mandated, legislation and regulations implemented, and people adapted … cuz there really wasn’t a choice.
For major social change, both will and skill must exist, and be exercised. At the time (early to mid ‘70s), the government of Canada had both … now neither on any important public policy, I fear.
To thwart progress in the US, all one has to do is run an effective campaign using two boogie men—financial ruin for one, and loss of either American “supremecy” or societal morality.
Of course, some changes cannot be forever denied, such as civil rights, thank goodness.
In the case of metric conversion, the real question for the US is how much it is continually costing to be out of sync with everyone else. It’s a helluva lot more than one Mars lander.
Humans are naturally a very conservative species. We sometimes overlook that fact because our own age is one of unprecedented change. But apart from our own age, there is nothing in our history to suggest that we adapt to change often or well.
For instance, paleolithic art remained essentially the same in theme, style and technique for 25,000 years. There were human tool kits that did not change in thousands of years. Even today, even during a period of unprecedented change, you can go to many places in the world and see things being done the way they have been done for thousands of years.
This kind of conservatism is what makes culture possible. The preservation and transmission of culture has been extraordinarily important to the survival of humans since before we became a species. Culture—and not our teeth, claws, or strength—is the primary means whereby we adapt to the world. But culture requires the conservation of customs.
In other words, humans are both a deeply conservative species and they probably evolved to be a deeply conservative species.
I decided to expand on this theme in a post that references your post, George. You can find my article here.
The downfall, as I see it, is conversion. If people stopped trying to teach kids to use one scale to measure the other, we might get somewhere. A centimeter is just about this big… done. With all the foreign cars out there, one would think learning two scales would not be so difficult as to make a child’s head explode. Use Metric for Metric and SAE for SAE until it goes away. I work for an international company, so I know that CAD drawings can be converted at least once without significant deviation at the push of a button.
Lion: Yes, that is a big issue. When the switch came here, I made a conscious decision to not be concerned with converting back in forth. Even today with Americans, with respect to the Celsius scale, I describe it this way:
0 is freezing
20 is about room temperature
37 is body temperature
100 is boiling
We largely understand measurements by their relative positioning.
I’m not quite as good with distances, but something like “Driving 100 km in an hour is a little less than average highway speed” and “The right field fence averages about 110 meters in major league ballparks” should do it.
It’s like the difference between a religion and a myth. When it is OUR myth it is a religion. It is OUR measurement, so yours must be wrong. We are still very tribal, after all these generations. Sigh!
The French got it along with their revolution. the goofy things did away with the traditional calendar and a bunch of other stuff at the same time, all due to “enlightenment”, while they were busy murdering each other.
MC
Well I know they made it law in the revolution, along with lots of other stuff. But it didn’t catch on (to say the least) and Napoleon later rolled it back. What I wasn’t able to find out was is how or when they made it law again, and how they made it stick. I’m sure there’s an interesting story there.
I’m not sure what it will take, but I think the failure of the move to metric is one of motivation. What motivation do people have to learn a different system of measurement? Generally speaking, not much. Heck, Americans can’t be bothered to learn their history or how their government works – they’re sure not going to be learning optional stuff.
As for how to handle the transition on a personal level, I think WeeDram has it right – learn to just think about important levels or sizes in the new measurements. Meters are about the same length as yards; that should make smallish distances easier. Others, not so much. Quick, how many BTUs in a kilowatt hour?
Change happens, it just depends how easy and necessary people perceive it to be.
Change happens when it hurts to maintain the status quo. A great example is fuel efficient and alternative fuel vehicles. Everyone complained that we needed to reduce gasoline consumption for many years, but nobody wanted to be the one to give up their SUV. However, when gas prices hit $4/gallon, hybrids and minis flew out of dealerships.
So now the question is: when will adherence to standard measures be a personal disadvantage?
In terms of the major problems facing humanity and the earth (and all of its non-human inhabitants), I do not think significant change will happen in our ways of doing things.
As for metric vs. “standard” measures, that’s pretty much a sideshow, in my view. The stupid folks who made the errors you describe would have done something else stupid if it weren’t that.
For significant change to happen, humanity must learn that while changes in laws and behaviour may require compromise/negotiation,the laws of physics do not negotiate.
I pretty much concur with what everyone stated and would like to add to bardescher:
Maybe the answer is to just force the move and stick with it? I know I have had discussions with George before on this and he makes a good point with the Gimli Glider. At some point though we need someone progressive enough in a Presidential position to step up and say, time for change. Which will never happen till money gets out of politics…
But seriously as a young gun patience can get annoying. All day long I have to slow down at work because things don’t move as fast as I do. Change happens slowly and I think it’s been hurting our country to some degree. I know it’s been impacting my company somewhat because the execs have stated as much. And with political ideas I have to step back and just wait.
So why not speed up? Write a law and force people to make connections like Weedram pointed out and learn the new system. Might seem scary. And if it does, fine. Stay with what we have, learn patience, and wait for the world to change.
We can’t even agree on what the “official” language is. Lots of luck on something even more contentious.A “benevolent” dictator is the most efficient form of government and may be the only way we will change the system of measurement. Remember that a foot was the length of the monarch’s tootsie (including shoe)? At least before 1150AD, more or less.
We can’t even agree on what the “official” language is.
What do you mean ‘We’. In my neck of the woods the official language is Hillbilly and we will tolerate no dissent.
Not asking for a dictatorship but someone willing to stand up and fight for something that can help. Politicians with balls, is that too much to ask for?
Let’s see, Stonewall Jackson had ‘em, Abe Linclon had ‘em, ummmm, Stonewall Jackson . . .
Australia converted to metric when I was at primary school. So for the first few years of school, I learned british imperial measures (mostly similar to the US system) and then I learned metric.
A fair bit of effort was put in place before the switchover, and a couple of years of “dual measures” were allowed for the conversion to kick in, before we were officially metric. But then, once it came in you had to use metric units if you were selling anything, all the roadsigns were metric, cars were in metric, and so on.
There was some resistance, but it was a remarkably smooth transition, all things considered.
It’s basically a matter of deciding it has to be done and doing it. Given my familiarity with the US political scene, I believe that will be exactly never.
Actually, I believe it is scheduled for the 12th of Never.