Surferbeetle and I have a running battle on excessive metrication. I say most such efforts are excessive, he disagrees. Yesterday, he said:
"...note our world-renowned college educational system and until recently, our possession of the worlds strongest financial system. Our college system consistently explores the concepts of mathematical modeling and simulation in associate through graduate educational programs in business, engineering, finance, and manufacturing – all disciplines that are crucial to a nations ability to survive and thrive."
It's a shame he couldn't say our world renowned educational system without the 'college' caveat. We used to have that, no caveats -- but then we got interested in processes instead of results...

I may be mistaken but I believe the reason we no longer have the worlds strongest financial system can be laid at the feet of two entities. The US Congress and political class who encouraged stupidity and the Financial whiz types -- who all used mathematical models to prove what they were doing was valid...

Ha also said:
This journey will take time, have setbacks, and generally be a PITA however when balanced against the adapt or die imperative it’s an easy choice to make.
I'm dubious. I've watched too many war games, computerized and not, get manipulated and too many results that were unpalatable discarded. People don't play fair. Really messes things up, sometimes.

Mike F said:
"We ASSUMED that after we took over, we coulld hold elections, and little americans would emerge from the ashes. We assumed that we could undertake such a venture with minimal force and cost. We were wrong. Our planning was based off ideology, not reason and historical fact."
I know that's what was said by many and I'm sure many who said that truly thought it -- but I'm personally convinced that it does not reflect why we went or the thinking of the decider and other quite senior folks.

At base level it was pure physics -- a reaction to the various force efforts applied to us over the entire period 1979-2001 to the brachial plexus of those who expressed their discontent in a violent manner.

We don't want an empire and we won't have one (you can write that down). We just don't tolerate threats or continued pinpricks; when those two things loom, we go into the disruptive mode. Been doing it for over 200 years. Been hacking off the rest of the world by doing so for that two centuries plus. I doubt we'll stop.

JMM, as always comes in with a wise summation:
"Sometimes metaphors are useful to groups of people, as well as to the individual. But, they also introduce terminology which has to be explained - and which can simply clutter up the picture and actually retard mutual understanding."
True. Combat is a simple art, really. It is a cognitive and an experiential skill and it is emphatically in execution (if not in its implements today) an art and not a science. It does not lend itself at all to metrication and hard science (other than a little geography) and every attempt I have seen to introduce such concepts has failed -- mostly because people are rather unpredictable at times.

Thus, I say again, when you feel the urge to apply numbers to any human activities and particularly the chaotic activities -- be careful...