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Fahrenheit is probably the only American measurement system that I think does have any value, so I certainly don't say so out of some reflex. The first part of
by wutbrodo 10y ago
Fahrenheit is probably the only American measurement system that I think does have any value, so I certainly don't say so out of some reflex. The first part of your comment is simply ridiculous: it's "way more sensible" to jam the entirety of moderate temperatures from 0-40 and then randomly have the boiling point at 100[1]? Fitting all but the most excessive ranges of temperature between 0 and 100 is eminently reasonable.
[1] Note that I'm talking about the scale used during conversation, generally about ambient temperature (weather). The usual advantage of using the same scale for science and conversation isn't particularly relevant the way it is with, say, meters vs feet. Reckoning ambient temperature is not useful at all for the kinds of temperature-measurement you do in a lab.
- jazoom 10y agoGood point, but Fahrenheit is dead in the water. The scientific community will never accept it, neither will anyone from a metric country.
- BoorishBears 10y agoThe American scientific community doesn't "accept" it either (most, if not all Americans in a reasonable school system learn SI units from childhood), and no one is saying Fahrenheit should be used in a scientific context. Fahrenheit is used for weather, and in fact, even "metric countries" have been known to use it.
- jazoom 10y agoI've been known to use it as well. To input in my calculator to convert it to celsius. :)
- aplummer 10y agodefinitely we don't use it in the UK or Aus, in fact, the US is the only country where I've ever seen it on a weather broadcast. I really don't know why you would want to be the last country to use it, sometimes "everyone else is using it" is actually a good reason to do something, for example when it's two arbitrary systems of measurement.
- nightcracker 10y ago> Fahrenheit is used for weather, and in fact, even "metric countries" have been known to use it. Sorry but this is just wishful thinking.
- BoorishBears 10y agoIn England more than one native one more than one occasion has referred to weather in Fahrenheit. It only takes 5 seconds of googling to show it's not an isolated incident. But I'd delete my comment, it's been downvoted ad nauseuem because people are insulted by the idea Fahrenheit might be convince to, this is the kind of hive mind behavior I'd expect on Reddit vs HN
- CydeWeys 10y agoAre you sure they weren't humoring you? They could've just converted to Fahrenheit for your benefit. I use SI units all the time when I'm around Europeans (and they're thankful for it). Also, how old were these people you were interacting with? The UK switched to SI quite recently, well within the lifetimes of many living people.
- xxs 10y ago>>even "metric countries" have been known to use it. Name few/any? ---- Even though I do remember the formula C=5/9*(F-32), Fahrenheit has never felt convenient or range non-arbitrary. Zero being the freezing point in Celsius is a lot more important when it comes to weather conditions (provided the autumn/winters are cold enough where you live) - icy roads, clearing/scrapping windshields, skiing, etc. The boiling point is nothing to scoff at even when it comes to simple cooking.
- douche 10y agoAmericans may learn metric, but we certainly don't think in it. Tell me that it's 27 degrees outside, and I'm going to grab my coat and wool hat, not shuck down to shorts and a tank-top. To be honest, I think Fahrenheit is a more useful scale for typical weather temperatures.
- CydeWeys 10y agoTemperature is used for a lot more than ambient air temperature though. It doesn't make sense to have lots of different temperature scales for the different use cases. Best to choose a more generalizable scale that covers all of the common ones well enough. Celcius is the scale that fits that bill.