Is it really better for day to day life? I am certain that it only appears so because you're used to it. I think for day to day life they're both roughly equivalent.
Of course, for me Celsius is more natural and intuitive, but again - that's because I'm used to it.
You can basically put a "%" after a fahrenheit temperature and read it as "percentage of a really hot day" and you'll get a pretty good idea what it feels like outside.
It's pretty well calibrated as a 0-100 scale for human temperature perception.
I moved from a cold climate to a tropical climate and let me assure you there's no human universal understanding of what's comfortably hot or cold, definitely not to the point of putting a percentage on it. I can walk around in a T-shirt and shorts at 17C (62f) while locals will be wrapping up in scarves and talking about how freezing it is. Meanwhile they'll be fairly comfortable at 35C (95f), at least if the humidity isn't high, and I'll be stuck in with the AC blasting.
So in other words Fahrenheit is a western centric measurement (or at least, temperature climate centric), while Celsius is universal.
The subjective experience doesn’t really matter because many places in the US will experience a 100 degree F range over an entire year. So it’s not the “comfortable range” but the actual range you’ll get in many parts of the US (whether you like it or not).
Right, but "room temperature" is pretty universal everywhere because we are going with the "average human" rather than "outliers exist and maybe feel differently"
No it's not. Room temperature in tropical countries is often 26-30C.
I work in the food industry and this whole "room temperature" thing is a major bugbear for me actually because when so much food dates markings are designed around a room temperature of ~22C, it's a big health and safety issue for people (and shops, warehouses, restaurants) who don't know that and happily store the goods up to the date marking at 30C. Deciding that room temperature ~=22C and basing worldwide food safety on that is absolutely Western centric.
Obviously people here are not stupid and don't store meat etc. past when it's gone bad. But I've often bought e.g. oils from suppliers and it's clear that it's on the edge of rancidity even though it's got a year+ to go on the date because it's been stored at "room temperature".
The US has the widest range of temperatures of any country. Locations can vary by >50°C in a 24 hour period. Extreme temperatures are familiar to Americans and their society is well-adapted to it.
Calling Fahrenheit "western centric" is nonsensical. Every other country has a narrower temperature range that fits within the US temperature range.
You can do the same thing with celsius if you live in a country with a different temperature "calendar".
I'm used to the idea that 0C is what splits the year between cold season and warm season. Obviously people from California will see it differently, for example.
So where I live it is like this:
30 or more - hot
15..30 warm
0..15 chilly
-15..0 calendar winter
-30..-15 real winter
..-30 - freezing, kinds younger than 12 don't go to school
Yes, but that the whole problem: this scale kind of suggests that you don't go below 0.
But this is not the case here, right?
Some people are used to higher temperatures and never seen snow while some people can't even imagine what it's like to have 40C (104F) outside.
0C is a great "common denominator" (irony). We all understand that generally this is when water changes its state and most people know how it feels.
And then your imagination can easily go lower or higher.
>Judging anything on a scale from 0-10 (or 0-100) is very common.
Now consider that many people live in places where 0F is warmer than what you actually have for a good part of a year.
It doesn't map nearly as well for those of us who regularly have temperatures under -17C/0F in the winter. For me Celsius maps a LOT better to the temperatures I actually deal with year round. -17C is, accounting for wind chill, an average-ish winter day, that I'd consider pretty comfortable at this time of the year, assuminv appropriate clothing.
It's just how some Americans justify this particular measurement system.
As you said: it's what you're used to. I know 100F is a very warm day, but if someone said it was 50F I wouldn't intrinsically know how warm or cold that is. My brain works in Celsius, so someone saying its 20C I understand instantly.
Similarly length in US football fields - I don't know what that is, but it's second nature to someone who did grow up using them as a measurement.
Kelvin is superior for science and engineering but doesn't arbitrarily anchor the scale to the freezing and boiling point of water in the way Celsius and Fahrenheit both do.
273.15 Kelvin doesn't roll off the tongue like 0°C or 32°F.
Yeah, but you don't need a thermometer for that.
Using zero as the freezing point of water makes sense for everyday use, and using the boiling point for 100 degrees does follow fairly naturally from that - but plenty of other potential reference points could have worked equally well.
That said, for all the American claims of "fahrenheit is more human", 100 °C is the temperature of a hot sauna so works much better as "the highest temperature you'll encounter in day to day life" than 100 °F.
It doesn't anchor the scale to water, but it still scales the scale to water since it's still exactly 100 degrees between its boiling point and freezing point.
counterpoint: it doesn't matter, since you need to learn relevant boiling/freezing temperatures on both scales anyway.
As a european: F is the only american system that is easy to use and reason with (considering its 0-100 range is spanning the "doable" temp range of too-cold to too-hot), unlike other imperial systems for lengths and whatnot.
I quite like Fahrenheit. The 0 to 100F (-17 to 37C) range perfectly encapsulates the range of outdoor temperatures I expect to encounter during the year. If the forecast is outside that range, it’s going to be miserable.
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Of course, for me Celsius is more natural and intuitive, but again - that's because I'm used to it.
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WarmWash · · focus · HN ↗
It's pretty well calibrated as a 0-100 scale for human temperature perception.
esperent · · focus · HN ↗
So in other words Fahrenheit is a western centric measurement (or at least, temperature climate centric), while Celsius is universal.
nkrisc · · focus · HN ↗
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esperent · · focus · HN ↗
I work in the food industry and this whole "room temperature" thing is a major bugbear for me actually because when so much food dates markings are designed around a room temperature of ~22C, it's a big health and safety issue for people (and shops, warehouses, restaurants) who don't know that and happily store the goods up to the date marking at 30C. Deciding that room temperature ~=22C and basing worldwide food safety on that is absolutely Western centric.
Obviously people here are not stupid and don't store meat etc. past when it's gone bad. But I've often bought e.g. oils from suppliers and it's clear that it's on the edge of rancidity even though it's got a year+ to go on the date because it's been stored at "room temperature".
hulitu · · focus · HN ↗
Yes. And it is between 16 °C and 30 °C. (depending if the test room has AC or not).
But as you say: it is pretty universal everywhere.
jandrewrogers · · focus · HN ↗
Calling Fahrenheit "western centric" is nonsensical. Every other country has a narrower temperature range that fits within the US temperature range.
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esperent · · focus · HN ↗
I assure you it does not. But I guess American Exceptionalism makes you want to believe that so go ahead.
A 5s google search suggests the country with the widest range is probably Russia.
konart · · focus · HN ↗
I'm used to the idea that 0C is what splits the year between cold season and warm season. Obviously people from California will see it differently, for example.
So where I live it is like this:
30 or more - hot
15..30 warm
0..15 chilly
-15..0 calendar winter
-30..-15 real winter
..-30 - freezing, kinds younger than 12 don't go to school
WarmWash · · focus · HN ↗
Judging anything on a scale from 0-10 (or 0-100) is very common.
konart · · focus · HN ↗
But this is not the case here, right?
Some people are used to higher temperatures and never seen snow while some people can't even imagine what it's like to have 40C (104F) outside.
0C is a great "common denominator" (irony). We all understand that generally this is when water changes its state and most people know how it feels.
And then your imagination can easily go lower or higher.
>Judging anything on a scale from 0-10 (or 0-100) is very common.
Now consider that many people live in places where 0F is warmer than what you actually have for a good part of a year.
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SpecialistK · · focus · HN ↗
As you said: it's what you're used to. I know 100F is a very warm day, but if someone said it was 50F I wouldn't intrinsically know how warm or cold that is. My brain works in Celsius, so someone saying its 20C I understand instantly.
Similarly length in US football fields - I don't know what that is, but it's second nature to someone who did grow up using them as a measurement.
konart · · focus · HN ↗
It is not.
jandrewrogers · · focus · HN ↗
273.15 Kelvin doesn't roll off the tongue like 0°C or 32°F.
RajT88 · · focus · HN ↗
jandrewrogers · · focus · HN ↗
For serious scientific and engineering applications the freezing and boiling point of water isn't actually 0°C and 100°C in most real scenarios.
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roryirvine · · focus · HN ↗
Using zero as the freezing point of water makes sense for everyday use, and using the boiling point for 100 degrees does follow fairly naturally from that - but plenty of other potential reference points could have worked equally well.
That said, for all the American claims of "fahrenheit is more human", 100 °C is the temperature of a hot sauna so works much better as "the highest temperature you'll encounter in day to day life" than 100 °F.
RajT88 · · focus · HN ↗
This is among the least stupid claims us Americans make in defense of our measurement system.
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As a european: F is the only american system that is easy to use and reason with (considering its 0-100 range is spanning the "doable" temp range of too-cold to too-hot), unlike other imperial systems for lengths and whatnot.
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Weight, mass and considerable distances, I’ll grant you, though.
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