innumeracy in America (or: why the metric system is a good idea)

[ilanarama]

I took my cat in to the vet the other day for her annual exam and shots. The tech took her temperature and weighed her: "Nine point one five pounds," she announced, and I was a bit bemused that the scale weighed to such a level of precision, but figured with smaller animals it made sense. Then one of the vets (or a woman I presumed was the vet; fortunately Kitty hasn't had a lot of emergencies, so I don't really know the staff there) came in and looked at the paperwork. "Nine point one five pounds, and she was nine point two last year, so she's even lost a little weight, good."

(I know that nine or ten pounds doesn't sound like a particularly heavy cat, but she's a tiny thing with short legs and a stumpy tail. She's small and round, and actually, quite adorable. But she is most definitely overweight.)

I frowned. I didn't think she'd lost weight. I went over to the scale and pressed my hand on it, watching the numbers climb. And I noticed the decimal turnover: 5.8, 5.9, 5.10, 5.11...to 5.15 and then 6. "I think the tech misread the scale," I said. "It's not in fractions, it's in pounds and ounces. She's nine pounds fifteen ounces, just under ten pounds, so she's gained weight."

"No, it's nine point one five, see? There's a chart on the side so you can convert to ounces."

"But see, it's already in ounces." I showed her how the reading changed as I pressed my hand on the scale, how it was only logical if it was pounds and ounces and not pounds and fractions.

"But there's a chart to convert, see? Point one five pounds is, would be, let's see, point nine four ounces. And anyway, the important thing is that her weight is almost the same, nine point two to nine point one five."

At this point I gave up.

Comments

[weaverbird]

Sometimes I despair...

[ilanarama]

Yeah, it's tough, especially when these are educated people! Advanced degrees! Argh!

[trobadora]

And I noticed the decimal turnover: 5.8, 5.9, 5.10, 5.11...to 5.15 and then 6

You know, I don't know the first thing about pounds and ounces (why so complicated???), but even I can see this! *headdesk*

[ilanarama]

Hee, the metric system is much more sensible. There are 16 ounces in a pound. No, I don't know why. What's really whacky is that the word 'ounce' derives fro the Latin for 'twelfth' because originally it was 1/12 of the Roman pound. How it became 1/16 of the avoirdupois pound, I have no clue. My guess is that 16ths were used because you can divide that into half lots of times.

[amanuensis1]

I can see how the mistake would be made, but after the demonstration I would hope I would figure it out if it were me! Oy.

[ilanarama]

...complete ignorance of the (admittedly weird) measurement system used in the US?

other problems entirely

[(Anonymous)]

Today I saw someone talking earnestly to a duck decoy, which was on display in a pond.
"He's just staring at me, like I'm nuts." "Uh huh."

[Ferret]

Re: other problems entirely

[ilanarama]

I am not sure why talking to a duck decoy should be any less sane than talking to an actual duck, but it does strike me as being a couple of points lower on the sanity scale.

[zulu]

Er...wow. I don't get that scale at all. It goes from 5.11 to 5.16? *blink* Guess I'm lucky to be from good ol' metric Canadia!

[ilanarama]

Hee, the metric system is much more sensible. There are 16 ounces in a pound. No, I don't know why. What's really whacky is that the word 'ounce' derives fro the Latin for 'twelfth' because originally it was 1/12 of the Roman pound. How it became 1/16 of the avoirdupois pound, I have no clue. My guess is that 16ths were used because you can divide that into half lots of times.

[zulu]

Aha! I have learned something new!

[ilanarama]

Oh, and I didn't mean to imply it went DIRECTLY from 5.11 to 5.15. I was eliding the stuff between.

[blnchflr]

Ounces are crazy! But still, they ought to know how their own scales work.

At this point I gave up.
Reminds me of the time I tried to get someone to understand that times in GMT/UTC were not in her timezone. I had to give up, too, there was just no getting through to her.

[ilanarama]

Haha, I bet!

Innumeracy ... in book form

[(Anonymous)]

"Innumeracy - Mathematical Illiteracy and its Consequences" John Allen Paulos

Next time tell them you want your cat's weight in stones.

John M.

Re: Innumeracy ... in book form

[ilanarama]

I admit that I always am bemused when my English friends give weights in stones. It's so charmingly old-fashioned sounding. Like bushels and pennyweights.