Directions for dummies
I was in a Lexus yesterday listening to its navigation system (the female voice is much more ZEn-yoga teacher like than the ones in the German cars, which have more clipped voices), and she was doingw hat she was programmed to do , ie. giving us directions. She told us to go ahead 1/10ths of a mile, and then take a right for about 2/10ths of a mile. Um... something's fishy here but i didnt make the connection. THEN she said, "go ahead for about 4/10ths of a mile" and i'm like "what???" 4/10th reduces to 2/5ths, and 2/10ths reduces to 1/5ths. So was the navigation system designed to keep the fractions constant, or to make sure some dumb people dont have to pause and think about how much 2/5ths is and thus get lost???
Man!
Man!
posted by Princess Joya | 9:35 am
3 Comments:
I think it's because odometers measure x.y miles, so the instructions let people just count the tenths of miles as they tick up.
And yes, Americans really are that math-impaired. My dad would talk fractions with gas mileage all the time and I'd be totally lost.
im getting there as well! i have to think HARD before dividing by 5!
im getting there as well! i have to think HARD before dividing by 5!
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