4 ms·

For anyone not in USA (or the tiny handful of other countries still using it), Fahrenheit hurts to read full stop.

by richrichardsson 5y ago

dboreham 5y ago
Not if you're a human describing their environment: zero is F.cold and 100 is about as hot as you can stand.
- mabbo 5y ago
  What if some humans have different temperature preferences? Do they get a different temperature scale to suit them?
- messe 5y ago
  That's not much of an advantage if you haven't grown up with it. It's also very arbitrary in that it doesn't account for preference or acclimatisation. EDIT: or humidity, which is also going to be a major factor in how much you can stand.
- craftinator 5y ago
  Yeah, I can't stand freezing nor boiling either! Let's go ahead and embrace a better unit of measurement now!
- speedgoose 5y ago
  37°C is fine in my opinion, just drink enough water and don't stand in the sun. The official Fahrenheit scale is something that only USA can love.
- johnaspden 5y ago
  Hmm, 100 for human body temperature is good, but 0 for the lowest temperature achievable in a lab 300 years ago is not so good. The Aspden scale has its zero at water-freezing and 100 at this-will-kill-you-if-you-can't-sweat. 50A is "nice". It's really intuitive and perfect for weather reports. For science, use Kelvin of course.
  - beerandt 5y ago
    >but 0 for the lowest temperature achievable in a lab 300 years ago is not so good. It's approx the temp that sea water freezes at. That's not useless. 212-32= 180 degrees between fresh water freezing and boiling. The metric system has its merits, but US units aren't as arbitrary or pointless as people think. It may not be made for decimalization, but it does feature units that are easily divisible by even numbers and 1/8ths. It's a balance between useful approx characteristic points and convenient divisors. And based on how many people struggle with knowing where to put the decimal (or use the correct prefix) in metric, I'd argue decimalization isn't the great "simplification" it's made out to be. And the fact that people think the decimalization of time would be crazy is proof that it's more about familiarization than simplicity.
egberts 5y ago
boiling water is 100•F. freezing water is 0. what’s not to like about this human-perspective?
- johnaspden 5y ago
  centigrade surely?
- ummwhat 5y ago
  Why yes. Running a fever is dangerous because that's exactly the point where the blood starts to boil. Let it simmer too long and smoke comes out of your ears.
eequah9L 5y ago
I don't think Celsius can be considered less arbitrary, and the anthropocentricity of Fahrenheit has its advantages. I would honestly be happy to give up Celsius if in exchange the US et.al. moved over to metric distances. That then would be the foot in the door for eventual full metric conversion!
- richrichardsson 5y ago
  I agree Celcius is also entirely arbitrary, any scale would be really, but when 95% of the world's population uses Celcius (and the metric system has similar worldwide usage) perhaps it's time for them to go with the consensus.

For anyone not in USA (or the tiny handful of other countries still using it), Fahrenheit hurts to read full stop.

dboreham 5y ago

Not if you're a human describing their environment: zero is F.cold and 100 is about as hot as you can stand.

mabbo 5y ago
What if some humans have different temperature preferences? Do they get a different temperature scale to suit them?
messe 5y ago
That's not much of an advantage if you haven't grown up with it. It's also very arbitrary in that it doesn't account for preference or acclimatisation. EDIT: or humidity, which is also going to be a major factor in how much you can stand.
craftinator 5y ago
Yeah, I can't stand freezing nor boiling either! Let's go ahead and embrace a better unit of measurement now!
speedgoose 5y ago
37°C is fine in my opinion, just drink enough water and don't stand in the sun. The official Fahrenheit scale is something that only USA can love.
johnaspden 5y ago
Hmm, 100 for human body temperature is good, but 0 for the lowest temperature achievable in a lab 300 years ago is not so good. The Aspden scale has its zero at water-freezing and 100 at this-will-kill-you-if-you-can't-sweat. 50A is "nice". It's really intuitive and perfect for weather reports. For science, use Kelvin of course.
- beerandt 5y ago
  >but 0 for the lowest temperature achievable in a lab 300 years ago is not so good. It's approx the temp that sea water freezes at. That's not useless. 212-32= 180 degrees between fresh water freezing and boiling. The metric system has its merits, but US units aren't as arbitrary or pointless as people think. It may not be made for decimalization, but it does feature units that are easily divisible by even numbers and 1/8ths. It's a balance between useful approx characteristic points and convenient divisors. And based on how many people struggle with knowing where to put the decimal (or use the correct prefix) in metric, I'd argue decimalization isn't the great "simplification" it's made out to be. And the fact that people think the decimalization of time would be crazy is proof that it's more about familiarization than simplicity.

egberts 5y ago

boiling water is 100•F. freezing water is 0. what’s not to like about this human-perspective?

johnaspden 5y ago
centigrade surely?
ummwhat 5y ago
Why yes. Running a fever is dangerous because that's exactly the point where the blood starts to boil. Let it simmer too long and smoke comes out of your ears.

eequah9L 5y ago

I don't think Celsius can be considered less arbitrary, and the anthropocentricity of Fahrenheit has its advantages. I would honestly be happy to give up Celsius if in exchange the US et.al. moved over to metric distances. That then would be the foot in the door for eventual full metric conversion!

richrichardsson 5y ago
I agree Celcius is also entirely arbitrary, any scale would be really, but when 95% of the world's population uses Celcius (and the metric system has similar worldwide usage) perhaps it's time for them to go with the consensus.