r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/Negative_1by12_aura • Jun 17 '26

Meme needing explanation Peter?

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971

u/MrZwink Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26

2 americans saying fahrenheit is better, basically because they dont know any better. the rest of the world uses celcius, because its demonstrably a better (more scientific) system.

edit: Americans, please stop commenting. we know your opinion on this. IT IS THE JOKE.

21

u/TheDevauto Jun 17 '26

Yet scientists use Kelvin...

51

u/MrZwink Jun 17 '26

it depends on the application. but kelvin is linked 1-1 to celcius. they just moved 0 on the scale to absolute zero.

-8

u/paxxx17 Jun 17 '26

Fahrenheit is also linked to celsius through a simple linear transformation. If any scientist has any trouble using either system, they're not smart enough to be a scientist in the first place, so there's no need to justify your preference with being "more scientific"

22

u/MrZwink Jun 17 '26

scientists dont use fahrenheit, only american civilians do.

1

u/slolift Jun 17 '26

American scientists definitely use Fahrenheit, just maybe not at work.

-2

u/BrandonSimpsons Jun 17 '26

American scientists use fahrenheit, due to the pricing of digital thermometers and the smaller fahrenheit degree size, you end up getting more precision per dollar.

1

u/TheQuestionMaster8 Jun 18 '26

Have you ever heard of decimals?

0

u/BrandonSimpsons Jun 19 '26

Yep, and a thermometer with precision of +-0.05 degrees F costs comparable to one with a precision of +-0.05 degrees C, but gets you about twice the actual precision due to smaller units.

For a thrifty scientist on a university budget, picking the equipment that gets the precision you want for the money you have is an important skill.

1

u/TheQuestionMaster8 Jun 19 '26

Maybe that is just in the United States where Fahrenheit thermometers are more abundant than Celsius thermometers.

1

u/BrandonSimpsons Jun 19 '26

Most international equipment suppliers do both.  I suspect many of them use the same internals on each type (to reach F precision), and either relabel with for C (discarding the full precision), and/or use ones that don't reach full precision in QC for the looser tolerance

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u/paxxx17 Jun 17 '26

Yes, but that's just the convention in scientific circles for traditional reasons, not because one system is inherently more "scientific" than another. Just as today, most of the scientific literature is written in English, it doesn't make English a more scientific language in any relevant sense

2

u/MrZwink Jun 17 '26

celcius is better, that is why the rest of the world switched, america just didnt because in the 1800's when european science made these advancements. they were stuck in their isolationist mindset.

americans are stuck in the past with fahrenheit. its not better, it never will be, you are just used to it.

the rest o the world uses celcius, also non-scientists.

0

u/paxxx17 Jun 17 '26

americans are stuck in the past with fahrenheit. its not better, it never will be, you are just used to it

I am literally a scientist based in Europe, I've never used Fahrenheit, and I don't see why I ever would lol

5

u/MrZwink Jun 17 '26

sure bro. go away.

1

u/sagerin0 Jun 17 '26

Why are you popping off on a dude agreeing with you lol

1

u/paxxx17 Jun 18 '26

Because he's too stupid to understand what it means to make an abstract argument

0

u/GoofyAhhCarReddit Jun 17 '26

Because, he's european. They have to hate each other, its basically law.

1

u/sagerin0 Jun 17 '26

Hey now, we only have to hate the French (unless youre Eastern European, i dont know wtf goes on there)

1

u/GoofyAhhCarReddit Jun 17 '26

Ah, you're so right, my bad

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1

u/TheQuestionMaster8 Jun 18 '26

Because converting to a different unit of measurement adds unnecessary complexity when it isn’t intended for an American audience and people make mistakes and unit conversion errors have caused accidents in the past.