On 2/11/2013 6:48 PM, Peter Dillane wrote:
> Jerry Seinfeld asked why we were still measuring the power of the space shuttle in horses too.

       Memory won't let me put my finger on it today ("where the hand of 
man never set foot"), but Walter Ong gave a pretty good commentary on 
that and on the staying power of English measures vs. metrics. Units of 
measure like the foot, the yard, the mile, horsepower, however 
"imprecise" they are, are based in sense experience. Even "right" and 
"left" vs. compass points are more grounded in our orientation to the 
body. When I went to school as a youngster in elementary school, the 
math instruction still included making measurements with body parts: 
second to third knuckle for an inch, a foot for a foot, a stride for a 
yard, and etc. However unscientific these measures are, they provide a 
sense of measurement closer to our lived experience.

Ken A