this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2024
598 points (76.4% liked)

Science Memes

11081 readers
2730 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.



Rules

  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
  2. Keep it rooted (on topic).
  3. No spam.
  4. Infographics welcome, get schooled.

This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.



Research Committee

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] LibsEatPoop@hexbear.net 70 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (25 children)

Honestly? I’ve only lived in countries with Celsius and Celsius is how I feel. I know exactly how hot or cold a day is gonna be if I look up the temperature. Thats how I know what clothes to wear!!! But Fahrenheit confuses the shit out of me. Every time I visit the US, I always convert the temp back to Celsius when someone tells me the temp.

I know Fahrenheit has more degrees and that can give you more datapoints. But cmon. The temp only goes up to, like, 50 C anyways lol. How many degrees do you need 🤣. Can you really differentiate between 61 and 62 F? Now, 60 to 65 F might be believable, but that’s like 15 to 18 C so, that much difference is shown even in Celsius.

I’m not saying Celsius is better, or that Americans should convert to it. Actually, if I was God-Emperor, I’d force us all to use Kelvin,, given it begins with Absolute Zero and I’m a sucker for shit like that.

But variety is the spice of life. For Americans, Fahrenheit is how they feel. For most of the rest of us, it’s Celsius.

[–] trebuchet@lemmy.ml 9 points 8 months ago (4 children)

It's more about the number range in ordinary use than the granularity.

Ordinary daily temperatures in F run from about 0-100. Numbers outside of this range are extreme weather.

[–] LibsEatPoop@hexbear.net 21 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Numbers outside of this range are extreme weather.

Hot Weather: This argument might have been valid like a century ago but it clearly hasn’t been valid for billions of people around the world (including parts of the US) that regularly sees temperature crossing 38 C (100 F) in the summer. This includes Middle East, Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia and I’m sure more places too.

Like, it’s not extreme if it’s expected every year. And I’m not taking 39 C. Where I lived, it reached 49 C (120 F) every single summer. That is summer.

Cold Weather: And this is also true for so many people around the world who live in places where temperature, every winter, goes below -18 C (0 F). Like, that’s not a billion people, but that’s still in the millions (Canada, Russia, Scandinavia etc.) We’d have to use the - sign every winter no matter which system we use, Celsius or Fahrenheit. Just like the billion+ people I talked about above.

People used to the Celsius system, especially those living in areas where it frequently goes below freezing, are well versed with the - symbol. We know the difference between -5 and -10 like we know between 0 and 5.

Again, Americans can keep their F and their LBs and their Miles and their every other unique charm. But it’s also funny when they try to prove that it’s somehow better or more natural. Like, it’s natural and rational to you.

[–] Tankiedesantski@hexbear.net 7 points 8 months ago

People used to the Celsius system, especially those living in areas where it frequently goes below freezing, are well versed with the - symbol. We know the difference between -5 and -10 like we know between 0 and 5.

Looking at some of the literacy stats coming out of American education, I'm not surprised that some Americans think that the concept of a negative number is an undue inconvenience.

[–] Tankiedesantski@hexbear.net 17 points 8 months ago (4 children)

Are people even capable of accurately perceiving a difference of 1 or 2 degrees in either system? I'm putting on a jacket if it's 9 or 7 celcius outside anyway. Struggling to think of any human day to day situations where a difference of a degree or two changes the way most people act or feel.

If you need granularity, you can still get infinite granularity with decimals in either system.

[–] Sopje@hexbear.net 5 points 8 months ago

7C I wear a hat, 9C my ears are fine

[–] stoy@lemmy.zip 5 points 8 months ago (2 children)

19c, might be a bit too cold to wear shorts.

21c, shorts will be fine.

[–] hemko@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 8 months ago

+15 for shorts, or +10 if doing sports

[–] Xavienth@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

19 is too cold to wear shorts?

I'll be back in an hour when i stop laughing.

[–] stoy@lemmy.zip 4 points 8 months ago

Now that you have had a few minutes to laugh, please read my comment again, and notice that I wrote that 19c MIGHT be too cold to wear shorts, this obviously depends on other factors as well.

[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

the temperature also isn't the only thing that matters, it also matters what the weather is like, how much moisture is in the air, and how windy it is.

With no wind you can have like -5°C and it's perfectly fine if you just wear some fluffy clothing, but if the wind starts picking up it can be +5°C and you'll feel like you're going to die.

[–] Tankiedesantski@hexbear.net 2 points 8 months ago

True, though this factor applies equally to both farenheit and celcius right?

[–] cdf12345@lemm.ee 1 points 8 months ago

When I’m going to be I can absolutely feel 68 vs 70F

[–] 420stalin69@hexbear.net 14 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Boiling water feels really fucking hot which is why Celsius makes more sense

[–] MadBob@feddit.nl 3 points 8 months ago

I doff my cap to those whose experiences have led to the statement "boiling water feels really fucking hot".

[–] lauha@lemmy.one 6 points 8 months ago

0 fahrenheit is pretty much random when it comes to ordinary life. Well it's pretty random when it comes to anything.

load more comments (20 replies)