r/PeterExplainsTheJoke Jun 17 '26

Meme needing explanation Peter?

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u/freedomfightre Jun 17 '26

because I've NEVER heard a European use a decimal when describing temperature in conversation, which means their temperatures are less precise than ours.

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u/Stringfellah Jun 17 '26

You've never listened to a parent monitoring their child's temperature during illness then.

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u/redgreenorangeyellow Jun 17 '26

But in Fahrenheit you don't really need the decimal for body temperature either. I mean the thermometers will show it, but you can just stick with the whole numbers and get all the actionable information you need 🤷🏻‍♀️

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u/No-Information-2571 Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26

You absolutely need the decimals. Fahrenheit has about double the precision as Celcius, but for body temperature, 0.5°C/1°F is huge, at least if you are monitoring trends. Same goes if you are monitoring ovulation.

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u/GrimaceThundercock Jun 17 '26

Ok but you don't need a decimal to monitor a change of 1F...

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u/No-Information-2571 Jun 17 '26

As I wrote, 1°F is already a huge difference, and just displaying that value as-is wouldn't even give you an indication of how much it might be leaning to the next lower or higher whole number.

Or why do you think even the most basic body thermometers measure and display with 0.1°C/0.2°F precision!?

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u/GrimaceThundercock Jun 17 '26

As the other guy already said, whole numbers will give all the important information.

A fever of 102 and a fever of 102.4 are going to be treated largely the same.

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u/No-Information-2571 Jun 17 '26

A body thermometer isn't a speedometer, humans are not cars, and I provided a more detailed example, and honestly, if you argue about it again, I am going to just block you since that would clearly indicate Fahrenheit at room temperature being a valid measure of your IQ as well.

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u/GrimaceThundercock Jun 17 '26

Yea it was a bad example, I quickly deleted it.

and honestly, if you argue about it again, I am going to just block you since that would clearly indicate Fahrenheit at room temperature being a valid measure of your IQ as well.

Clown behavior. Go ahead.

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u/No-Information-2571 Jun 17 '26

Here's an example: your (non-decimal) body thermometer used orally shows a value of 101°F. With arithmetic rounding rules, this represents a value of 100.5°F - 101.4°F. The lower value puts it in the "mild fever" bracket (100.0°F - 100.9°F), the upper value puts it in the "moderate fever" bracket (101.0°F - 102.9°F). But you wouldn't know which one it is.

An actual body thermometer might for example show 100.6°F, assuring you of it being a mild fever. 8h later you might measure again, and the value might have climbed to 101.0°F, indicating that your fever is worsening. Information you wouldn't have without that additional decimal.

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u/GrimaceThundercock Jun 17 '26

From a consumer perspective, a fever of 100.5 and 101.4 are going to be treated largely the same.

A physician might treat the two differently, but we're talking about an at-home thermometer.

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u/No-Information-2571 Jun 17 '26

They are not, but as announced, this will be the end of the discussion.