Does knowledge of measurements help us solve problems precisely and accurate in our daily life?
Share
Does knowledge of measurements help us solve problems precisely and accurate in our daily life?
Sign Up to our social questions and Answers Engine to ask questions, answer people’s questions, and connect with other people.
Login to our social questions & Answers Engine to ask questions answer people’s questions & connect with other people.
Answer:
The Necessity of Measurement in Everyday Life
Fred B. Bryant, Ph.D. Loyola University Chicago
Modern society simply could not exist without measurement. Twenty-first century civilization is inconceivable without the indispensable measurement tools on which everyday life depends. Time, size, distance, speed, direction, weight, volume, temperature, pressure, force, sound, light, energy—these are among the physical properties for which humans have developed accurate measures, without which we could not live our normal daily lives.
Measurement permeates every aspect of human life. Yet, ironically, we tend to take measurement for granted, and we fail to appreciate just how much we need and depend on our measurement tools. We overlook the importance of measurement because we are surrounded by it and have grown accustomed to it. It is only when our measurement tools malfunction or are unavailable that we begin to appreciate just how important they are. Truly, we only know what we’ve got when it’s gone.
However, if we were to try to live without measurement for even a single day, then we would quickly see just how vital measurement is in our everyday lives. A normal day would be impossible without measurement.
Try to imagine living a day without measurement.
As you go to bed, you begin to wonder how and when you will wake up the next morning to go to work. Without measurement, there would be no clocks or alarms to awaken you at a selected time. But on the positive side, if there were no measures of time, then no one could ever know whether or not you were late for work. The very notion of being on time would vanish without measurement.
After you wake up, you could not use an electric stove, oven, or microwave to make breakfast or coffee, because these devices rely on measurements of temperature or time to heat food and beverages. Nor could you use a modern refrigerator, since refrigeration requires measurement to keep food and beverages at a preset temperature.
In commuting to work, you could not drive because modern automobiles use onboard computers, which rely on measurement to control the ignition system, automatic transmission, brakes, engine temperature, throttle position, and mix of fuel and oxygen. Nor could you know how much fuel, oil, or transmission fluid your vehicle had, for without measurement there would be no fuel gauge or dip stick to check these fluid levels.
Even if you could drive a car, you could never know how fast you were going because you would not have a speedometer. But, on the plus side, the police would never be able to pull you over for speeding because, without measurement, there would be no radar to enforce the speed limit. Indeed, there could be no speed limits without measurement.
At work, you could not use a computer, since computers require measurement in order to operate. Nor could you use a land-line telephone, cell phone, or fax machine to communicate with others, because these devices rely on measurement to operate.
Forget about flying, or taking a bus, train, or ocean liner on an intercontinental business trip; and forget about traveling overseas. Long-distance transportation and navigation would be impossible without the measurement of distance, speed, time, direction, and fuel.
And with respect to business and commerce, forget about keeping track of financial revenues and expenses, profits and losses, or savings and costs. Without measurement, people could not know how much money they have or how much money they are spending. On the positive side, however, without measurement you would never have to pay income taxes again, because the IRS could not operate without measurement.
In a world in which no measurement tools exist, there could be no modern medicine, healthcare, surgery, pharmacology, radiology, dentistry, optometry, or audiology. And in a measureless world, there could be no science. For, as psychologist James Cattell noted in 1893, “The history of measurement is the history of science.”
Numerous observers have emphasized the necessity of measurement in advancing human knowledge and understanding. Consider the following quotations:
“If someone separated the art of counting and measuring and weighing from all the other arts, what was left of each (of the others) would be, so to speak, insignificant.”
Step-by-step explanation:
Answer:
--------ANSWER---------
YES.