What is the volume of the cup 20 cl measures in Quebec? When our ancestors decided to become civilized, on banks of the Nile or the Euphrates, they have systems of measurement. Much later, thanks to a century of lights topped by a revolution not worry, the modern world has even given birth to a practical, simple and universal metric. Today, few human tribes have not adopted this system, even if some of them retain some vestiges of their former units. Thus, the Chinese still use li and jin, who are respectively 500 meters and 500 grams ... all round.
United States, industry has more or less adopted the metric system, while the people remained in the traditional system, inspired by Roman or Babylonian. On one side are those who think and produce, on the other those who play and eat. The growing aversion to the fractions, however, gave birth to decimal inches. We say, for example, only 2.3 inches + 1.2 inches = 3.5 inches, which is more convenient than adding 2 inches and 3 / 8 to 1 inch and 5 / 16.
Quebecers have not yet adopted the decimal inch of their big American brothers. But as they have also lost the use of operations on fractions, they solved the problem in a particular way, well suited to a separate company. When it comes to add up, they no longer work with thumbs whole or in case of emergency, with approximate fractions (one-quarter big a half-and-a-line ) . Anyway, this is a problem specialist, because for the average lengths are made to be say and not to be added ("I declare measure five-feet-eight-inch- and-half. ").
What is particularly Quebec, to the simultaneous use of two measurement systems completely independent. The weight of a human being is measured in pounds (and ounces for infants, although it is not necessary to know the number of ounces in a pound). For cons, the load of a lift is measured in kilograms. How many people can hold a particular lift, that's a question that will arise as insoluble. Only the physician, the great magician, knows the secret that connects the two systems. When you have weighed on its balance metric he will hasten to announce the result in pounds, thanks to a clever and mysterious operation called "mental math".
In Quebec, the short lengths can be counted readily in feet and inches. How many feet are five-feet-eight-inch-and-half announced by the doctor? We do not know because it does not show the slightest interest. How many people measuring five-feet-eight-inch half-and-take, in single file, in a pool of 25 meters? To find out, just to collect a sufficient number of people measuring this size - and knowing how to swim - and place them end to end in the pool.
In Quebec, the long lengths are measured in kilometers. This time, the metric system is king. Besides, nobody knows how many feet are contained in a kilometer, or even a thousand. Police radars are calibrated in kilometers per hour, and everyone found there: when the speed limit is 100 km / h in an area frequented by police, all endowed with reason motorist knows that he must not exceed 109 km / h. It can not be simpler. However, many motorists still measure fuel consumption in miles per gallon rather than liters per 100 km. It looks more Quebecois, more professional, more American and less pedantic. It is of course a measure ordinal and not cardinal , since no one knows if gallons of 3.79 liters (the American) or gallons of 4.55 liters (at Canadian ). We do not care what it means imperially concrete expression 25 miles per gallon , but we know that it is preferable to 20 or 22.
The volume of liquor bottles is measured in ounces, the bottles of wine in milliliters. Whether twenty-six ounces gin held in a one liter bottle, just bring a funnel and engage in scientific experiment: if the receptacle overflows when transferring is that twenty-six ounces are more a liter. About volume, some of our citizens are far from suspecting that doubling the edge of a cube, its volume is multiplied by eight. It is a well kept secret and reserved for insiders.
The air temperature is measured in degrees centigrade, there is no doubt about it. The Quebecers would be bothered to choose his coat if he were told he does, outside, 15 degrees Fahrenheit (a word whose exact spelling is known only a few specialists). It is quite another for the temperature of the water, be it pool or aquarium, the native of Quebec measured in degrees Fahrenheit, for reasons as yet unexplained by anthropologists. Why
schizophrenia in the system of weights and measures used in Quebec, thirty-five years after the official adoption of the metric system? Several hypotheses can
be advanced. We can first consider that the traditional measurement units closest to the human experience have resisted the reform? This preserves the use of feet and inches for sewing and crafts, while in the two extremes, we're talking about millimeters and kilometers. People are weighed in pounds and tomatoes, while the weight of a container is measured in tons and the dose of antibiotic in milligrams. Any liquid that can be swallowed by a human throat is measured in ounces, the rest will be counted in milliliters or cubic meters.
The second hypothesis refers to the size measurements. What fits in a narrow range, as the temperature of the pool or that the patient suffers less than the complexity of the traditional system, which allows it to continue.
There is a third hypothesis, that the failure of the education system. While it allows all toddlers enrolled in the world to master the system of measurements and the basics of arithmetic, this knowledge, considered paternalistic, is now virtually eliminated from primary education in Quebec. "Students no longer need to learn, it has to look within himself to know that everything has to be at birth. Teachers no longer teach, it must accompany the student in this discovery. Knowledge is more the result of learning and effort, it is a fundamental right. Teach children things they do not know is also a threat to self-esteem and thus knowledge! Apart from sports and money, nothing should be measured clearly, and especially not school performance. Fortunately, there are few private schools, some teachers rebel, and some parents educated who remain impervious to this fraudulent ideology. The Quebec education system, in its relentless quest to race to the bottom, has never been so elitist.
Postscript: The problem of Peppone
Before being elected, Peppone, the great opponent of Don Camillo, must spend his primary certificate. "A semi-spherical basin has a diameter of 2.6 meters. The valve that feeds debit 6.27 liters per minute. How long will it take to complete? " Obviously, Peppone, intimidated by the prospects of his future greatness, dry miserably. Fortunately, Don Camillo comes to the rescue by a corrupt but pious. "It was simply" admits Peppone surreptitiously reading the answer. And it is. By dividing the volume of the basin by the faucet gives the number of minutes. For this, it suffices to know the volume formula of the sphere, the school draws from a half-dozen formulas learned during his six years of study, and to convert cubic meters into liters, which is far from require the assistance of a calculator.
But beware there remains a small hurdle to overcome. Stunned by his scientific calculations and by his too great confidence in him, the student might overlook a crucial detail. But Don Camillo, wise man and full of life experience, gives a final word of advice to Peppone, before returning to his presbytery, "Remember to divide by two ... For half-sphere. Even without diplomas, Don Camillo is well worth a Faculty of Education on its own.
Bolivia does not fire but fire. And not only on the village square and in front of each home but also in the mountains! We started the climb cerro (mountain) in the night, the moon taking care of us light the path. 
