FAQ on "WA Numeration and Units Act"
Q:
So what does this actually do?
A:
• It protects the freedom of nations and ambassadors to use whatever units of measurements (for example, metric, imperial.. ect.) or numeral system (yes, not everyone uses “1..2..3”).
• It indexes all of these units and numeral systems, and their conversions – a service which is not yet offered by an international entity of the World Assembly’s size.
• It creates a non-binding, politically neutral, efficient system of units and numerals to use for international affairs if nations choose to use them…which will be particularly helpful in circumstances when rounding based errors are unacceptable.
Q:
A notable national federalist and staunch metric supporter screams from afar, “Why would we want to do that!?”
A:
• If for example, the World Assembly was to mandate a universal system of measurement like the Metric System as the United Nations did with “NSUN #24”, it would interrupt trade as non-member nations are not obligated to use the metric system whereas member nations are, and this could lead to complications or avoidance of member nations for trading partners.
• It later took three repeal attempts before that infernal wreck (NSUN #24) was repealed and crucified – my heart goes out to those who were involved in the process. Clearly a blocker to prevent such a tragedy from being adopted by the WA in the future would be desirable.
• Citizens are also attached to their units of measurements as if a cultural item... thus we wouldn’t want to see a nation leave the WA on the account of something small like units of measurements -- which would effectively waste all of the resolutions adopted by the WA including the prevention of genocide, forced disappearances and biological weapons proliferation.
• The units of measurement and numeral system may be more advanced in a nation more so even than the metric system for example, giving said nations a good reason to oppose such legislation.
Q:
A notable national sovereignist and staunch customary-units supporter screams from afar, “But these ‘IMI Units’ why do we want those then?”
A:
• Good question, there are applications where conversions between measurements will lead to unacceptable rounding errors... such as international missile defense systems or stock exchanges. This resolution creates the units, and an oversight committee, but only ‘encourages’ their usage ‘whenever standardization for extreme mathematical accuracy is necessary in international proceedings’.
Resolution Text
WA Numeration and Units Act
Category: Education and Creativity | Area of Effect: Cultural Heritage | Quickly Proposed by Unibot
The General Assembly,
COGNIZANT of the various units of measurement which nations use for a plenitude of reasons, and the attachment that a citizen generally has for their units of measurement or numeral system,
REALIZING that WA member nations' trade need not be conducted exclusively with other WA members, and thus an enforced unit of measurements for the sake of harmonization among member nations could disrupt trade between member nations and non-compliant, non-WA-members,
HAVING ASCERTAINED that it would be poignant, and a dissipation of the General Assembly's influence, for a nation to compromise their membership with the World Assembly to avoid the enforced usage of a foreign unit of measurement or numeral system,
HEREBY:
1. AFFIRMS that Member Nations are at liberty:
(a) To declare any variation of a mathematical unit as their official unit of their nation for whatever application;
(b) To declare any variation of numeration or mathematical notation as the official numeral system of their nation for whatever application;
2. FURTHER AFFIRMS that diplomats, ambassadors and any other international official have the freedom:
(a) To use any variation of a mathematical unit they wish to, for whatever application they choose to use it for (including for the purposes of WA documentation);
(b) To use any variation of numeration or mathematical notation they wish to, for whatever application they choose to use it for (including for the purposes of WA documentation);
3. ENABLES member nations with the freedom to determine if they shall prohibit their private enterprises or any non-plenipotentiary citizens of their nation from using any units of measurement or variations of numeration or mathematical notation;
4. ESTABLISHES the International Measurements Institute (IMI) to:
(a) Tabulate all of the units of measurements and numeration used by WA nations with a well maintained, and publicly-viewable registry;
(b) Devise (if not properly devised already) and publicly disclose the arithmetical methods of conversion for all the documented units of measurements and numeration which are mathematically possible to convert;
HAVING FURTHER ASCERTAINED that the conversion of values between systems will likely have undesirable rounding-based errors from arithmetical processes,
5. DEMANDS that the IMI shall devise (if not already devised) an effective, neutral and mathematically intuitive unit of measurement for any application of mathematics that can be considered as needing its own quantitative unit using a numeral system that has been devised (or chosen) by the IMI for its precision, neutrality and intuitiveness;
6. REQUIRES the tabulation and the publication of a comprehensive document to describe:
(a) The aforementioned units of measurement which shall be henceforth referred to as "IMI Units";
(b) The numeral system which IMI units utilize;
(c) Any standards that have been conceived by the IMI for the purposes of efficiency and standardization;
7. DECLARES that it is the right and the duty of the IMI to solve any disputes over proper conventions, standards, or newly discovered applications, which require the creation or the revision of a unit of measurement or its standards;
8. ENCOURAGES nations to use IMI units whenever standardization for extreme mathematical accuracy is necessary in international proceedings.
BAM!!
BAM!!!
