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rbos@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

There are very few places that experience -17C and 40C for that to be really useful. And I don’t get it at all. 0 is cold, 30 is hot. Not a difficult concept.

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codexarcanum@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
It isn’t just about intuition as randomly judged by how you or anyone else feels about it. Humans do a lot of things on 0 to 100 and 0 to 10 scales. Literally the basis of the metric system. But all measurements are arbitrary comparisons to some target object: “the meter”.

So a temperature scale that closely aligns the 0 to 100 scale to the minimum and maximum commonly experienced surface temperature of the planet we live on is going to feel more natural to use than one which aligns to the boiling point of water, something we don’t usually encounter in nature.

Now we do encounter boiling liquids, and hotter, in labs and in kitchens, which is why C probably feels natural to scientists and people who cook a lot.

But the resolution of it isn’t particularly intuitive. What does 1\100th of the aggregate temperature of boiling water have to do with anything? Why a linear scale? It takes more energy to add 1°C of heat to an ice cube than to the equivalent amount of 20°C (“room temperature”) water.

Measurements are about both precision and repeatability, but also about conveying information in an easily understandable way. Sometimes those goals conflict, particularly when a scale of measurement is used in both informal and formal settings.

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- rbos@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  Subjectively? I only really think there are like six temperatures. Fucking hot, hot, warm, cool, cold, fucking cold. My clothing choices change at each stage of that scale.
  
  Just because F encapsulates that in a positive integer 1-100 scale doesn’t really make it appeal to me. C feels much more natural, more human, because you’re not dealing with ludicrously small increments that don’t matter for day to day use, and the 0-30 captures almost all temperatures you’re going to actually see day to day.
  
  It irks me that people are trying to turn their personal prejudices and habits into like, objective universal laws.
  
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  - AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    
    It irks me that people are trying to turn their personal prejudices and habits into like, objective universal laws.
    
    Well, that’s people for you. They’ll do anything to avoid changing their habits.
    
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