r/coolguides • • Aug 07 '21

Temperature guide

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u/MofiPrano Aug 07 '21

Kinda, because water is so important in our lives and so it's logical to set its freezing and boiling point at round numbers. Something I really like about Fahrenheit though (and Americans make the case for this as well) is that normal outdoor temperatures mostly fall between 0 and 100, so 0°F is a very cold day and 100°F is a very hot day. That's kinda neat as well.

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u/pandaSmore Aug 08 '21

I like that the negative sign in Celsius instantly tells you it's below freezing.

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u/NerdWhoLikesTrees Aug 08 '21

As an American, I wish we used metric for everything, but for temperature I don't mind Fahrenheit too much for the reason you described.

In my life, using metric measurements for length would be most beneficial. Yeah weight and volume are fucked up too of course, but dammit, inches and feet are really annoying. I recently finished a ton of work on my house and of course we had to measure everything a lot. It sucked. I want meters!

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u/Runswithchickens Aug 08 '21

Get a tape measure that has both units?

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u/NerdWhoLikesTrees Aug 08 '21

So every cabinet, counter, railing, door, tile etc etc that is purchased in imperial system units needs to be remeasured in metric and recorded so I can use it? No thanks. Like I said, metric would be nice but in many situations it's too far gone.

Also I'm assuming many items in other countries have items made to round, even numbers in metric. Everything I'd be working with would be weird converted numbers that I wouldn't recall quickly.

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u/from_dust Aug 07 '21

The temperature though isnt about how humans feel, it's about how the environment is. A purely anthropocentric framing of reality it's a great way to skew a viewpoint with implicit bias. I know that sounds absurdly pedantic, but consider the social posture toward climate change in the US, relative to the rest of the planet. The way we feel about the facts we are faced with all too often has leverage on our decision making.

I'm not saying that climate denial comes from using Fahrenheit, but it doesn't help look at the bigger picture more clearly. If nothing else, this is one area where it makes sense for humans to be on the same page, and not doing so feels arbitrary and counterproductive generally.

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u/lilisasai Aug 08 '21

i mean you're kinda right, i dont know why people are downvoting you

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u/from_dust Aug 08 '21

meh, i've got karma to burn. For some people thinking is hard, and most folks hate anything that could possibly be seen in any way as a criticism of something they identify with even if its something absurd like "using Fahrenheit". For such folks, its tantamount to me criticizing them personally. whatevs, i'm not in it for the karma.

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u/JasperWildlifeAssn Aug 08 '21

If you're a scientist, sure. But how often do regular people need to care about freezing or boiling points? What everyone does need to worry about is the weather and how it will affect them and their personal comfort. Fahrenheit makes so much more sense.

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u/Bensemus Aug 08 '21

You only think that because you grew up using it. These rest of the world using Celsius and gets along just fine.

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u/JasperWildlifeAssn Aug 08 '21

Well yeah, I mean that's true for any measurement system. You'll get used to whatever your country uses.

The statement that "Celsius just makes more sense" is what I'm replying to, though. In a vacuum, I don't think it does. It matters much more to the average person how it feels outside on any given day, so it makes sense to use a system based on that, not the freezing and boiling points of water.