there's more precision in fahreinheit, why do others keep using celsius?

[Atomic Playboy]

Tell that to most of Denver, amongst other places.

What, pray tell, isn't simple about 32F and 212F? What, pray tell, isn't simple about 12" = 1', 3' = 1yd, 1760yds = 1mi? What, pray tell, isn't simple about 16oz. = 1lb? Or 2000lbs = 1 short ton? It's no less simple than metric. Metric is for the arithmetically challenged. If you don't like it, move to Canukistan.

That's so unabashedly pig-ignorant and stupid that it bears repeating. Disclaimer: I'm American, I've been using the American units all my life, and I don't find them complicated. In any discussion of simplicity, metric wins, hands down. It's not even a contest. Not only is the math easier, but you have to remember arbitrary numbers depending on what units you happen to be looking at. 3, 12, 36, 5,280, 1,760, 16, 8, 32, 212, 128... all those numbers have some significance in the American system. 1, 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000, etc... Which is easier? And you have to remember which units are which. That's not a problem if you've grown up with it, but what about someone who needs 8 ounces of flour. Well is that 8 ounces in volume or in weight? Because ounces is both in the American system. And don't get me started on regional measurements, like using "stone" in Britain (14 pounds? How the fuck is that math easy?).

There's no rational reason to oppose the metric system outside of "I don't want to learn something new." Which is fine. It's an excuse borne of laziness, but I'm right there with you on that; I don't want to learn the metric system either. But don't act like the metric system is somehow "inferior." That's just idiotic. You're just lazy, like me, and what we have works well enough to get by.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Kelvin is the only system that actually makes sense. I prefer C because it's just Kelvin with a reasonable offset (no scaling factor) to make every day use easier.

(yeah I know C came first but I like to think of it like this)

 

[Cogman]

RE the bolded statement - no, Fahrenheit is arbitrary, Celsius is not. I think you might need to consult a dictionary on the meaning of arbitrary.



1. How is it weather related? The USA is the only nation in the world (AFAIK) using Fahrenheit for weather measurements. Most weather is between -50c and 50c, so it's no less simple than Fahrenheit.

2. Your 100F measurement is not the definition of a fever - you've just decided to make 100F your threshold for simplicity.

3. This is total bullshit. You just made this up for the hell of it.

How is "The temperature which water boils/freezes at" Not arbitrary? It could have easily been the temperature which mercury melts and solidifies at, or the temperature which alcohol boils/freezes at.

There is nothing special about water, other then the fact that it is common.

And what does it buy you? Great, you know when water boils, that's just peachy. Does the Fahrenheit system buy you anything? Nope, but neither does the Celsius system. We need a reason to switch besides "Well, now you know when your water boils!".

 

[Mike Gayner]

I was looking up a measurement for a hose/pipe on my car not long ago - it was something like 13/57th of any inch. There was face palming involved. Seriously, you guys are going to stick with these imperial measurements? Really?

 

[daw123]

Not true, England is somewhere in a state of flux. Some of their stuff is in the metric system, but other stuff is in the imperial system. Driving on the road? Things are in mph, getting gas? It is measured in liters, Buying milk? It is measured in gallons, and liters.

Many people still use Feet and inchs. It is sort of messed up really.

This is correct and it is annoying - two examples:
Timber; where the cross-sectional dimensions are given in inches and the length in metres.
Tyres; where the width of the tyre is in millimetres and the diameter is in inches.

I can't understand why we can't change all the measurements to metric units, with the exception of speed on the road (it would cost too much to have all the vehicle speedos and road signs changed).

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

And what does it buy you? Great, you know when water boils, that's just peachy. Does the Fahrenheit system buy you anything? Nope, but neither does the Celsius system. We need a reason to switch besides "Well, now you know when your water boils!".

Well if you're ever an engineer or scientist you'll certainly be using C/K primarily, that should be reason enough in my opinion *shrug*

 

[PokerGuy]

Tell that to most of Denver, amongst other places.

What, pray tell, isn't simple about 32F and 212F? What, pray tell, isn't simple about 12" = 1', 3' = 1yd, 1760yds = 1mi? What, pray tell, isn't simple about 16oz. = 1lb? Or 2000lbs = 1 short ton? It's no less simple than metric. Metric is for the arithmetically challenged. If you don't like it, move to Canukistan.

The metric system is simple because everything is in multiples of 10. Remembering that 12" is a foot, and how many feet go into a mile etc etc is more a matter of simply memorizing constants than it is a logical "system". The metric system makes more logical sense, which is why it's used everywhere, including the US when it comes to science.

 

[Modelworks]

Metric is simpler but I still use feet and inches in my work, just because I can visualize it easier having grown up with it.
If you are using windows 7 the calculator now does C to F or K and other metric conversions.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Nobody says that. who the eff says that. Round it out. 22. there. done. simple. 22 degrees. never have i heard that room temperature is 22.222222*C.

you proved my point. F is more precise than C for daily use.

 

[Cogman]

Well if you're ever an engineer or scientist you'll certainly be using C/K primarily, that should be reason enough in my opinion *shrug*

And in fact, I do use the Celsius scale quite often when I am doing engineery stuff. However, the general public does not generally do that sort of stuff. They need a GOOD reason to switch.

I was looking up a measurement for a hose/pipe on my car not long ago - it was something like 13/57th of any inch. There was face palming involved. Seriously, you guys are going to stick with these imperial measurements? Really?

See what I stated earlier. There are definitively GOOD reasons to switch to the metric system for just about every measurement (IE Distances, volumes, power, ect). I just don't see a good compelling reason to switch our temperature system over, other then perhaps the fact that we are switching everything else.

BTW, Just read up on the wikipedia where the Fahrenheit scale came from. It is the freezing point of brine to the freezing point of water. 0 to 32. Later it was adjusted so that the number of degrees between freezing water and boiling water was 180.

 

[Mike Gayner]

you proved my point. F is more precise than C for daily use.

WTF are you seriously that stupid? That's equivalent to me saying that 22c equals 71.6f, therefore Fahrenheit isn't precise enough. Wow, this is mind bending idiocy.

 

[Deeko]

Its actually very simple.

America uses our superior measurement systems because we are smarter than you, and therefore able to understand it with ease, whereas you aliens cannot.

Sorry.

 

[Train]

The metric system is simple because everything is in multiples of 10.

And that's useful how?

It's 50 degrees outside, why do I need to multiply/divide that by ten again?

I drove 120 miles to my mom's house. Why the fuck do I need to convert that to something else again?

My house went through two gallons of milk this week, why the FUCK do I care how many of another unit that is?



.

 

[Krazy4Real]

Fahrenheit is retarded.

 

[SunnyD]

That's so unabashedly pig-ignorant and stupid that it bears repeating. Disclaimer: I'm American, I've been using the American units all my life, and I don't find them complicated. In any discussion of simplicity, metric wins, hands down. It's not even a contest. Not only is the math easier, but you have to remember arbitrary numbers depending on what units you happen to be looking at. 3, 12, 36, 5,280, 1,760, 16, 8, 32, 212, 128... all those numbers have some significance in the American system. 1, 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000, etc... Which is easier? And you have to remember which units are which. That's not a problem if you've grown up with it, but what about someone who needs 8 ounces of flour. Well is that 8 ounces in volume or in weight? Because ounces is both in the American system. And don't get me started on regional measurements, like using "stone" in Britain (14 pounds? How the fuck is that math easy?).

There's no rational reason to oppose the metric system outside of "I don't want to learn something new." Which is fine. It's an excuse borne of laziness, but I'm right there with you on that; I don't want to learn the metric system either. But don't act like the metric system is somehow "inferior." That's just idiotic. You're just lazy, like me, and what we have works well enough to get by.

When was the last time you had a recipe that called for 8 ounces of flour rather than 1 cup?

Besides, you've answered your own question. While we're on the topic, why are there 7 days in a week? Why not 5? 5 would make a year so much more arbitrarily easy. Then we could have exactly 73 weeks a year. Why are there 24 hours in a day? Why not 30? Or 100 since we like being metric? And who put 60 minutes in an hour, and 60 seconds in a minute? Why do we talk about the speed of light in terms of KM or miles? We have astronomical units, wouldn't it be far easier to measure space in AU? We sorta do, but then we still have to arbitrarily convert those measurements into KM or miles anyway.

The metric system, while simple and efficient in its own right, is the lazy system. I never said it was inferior at all. I also never said it was superior. It is an arbitrary system, just like imperial/english measure. So it's divisible by 10, so fucking what. You said it yourself, what we have works well enough to get by. So why bother?

 

[BassBomb]

F for life!

damn, can't edit titles? missed a word in there.

click edit then go advanced to edit titles

 

[palswim]

I can't understand why we can't change all the measurements to metric units, with the exception of speed on the road (it would cost too much to have all the vehicle speedos and road signs changed).

We definitely don't want to even touch any vehicle Speedos.

 

[Cogman]

And that's useful how?

It's 50 degrees outside, why do I need to multiply/divide that by ten again?

I drove 120 miles to my mom's house. Why the fuck do I need to convert that to something else again?

My house went through two gallons of milk this week, why the FUCK do I care how many of another unit that is?
.

Your baking a meal, the recipe is for 2 people, you need to serve 20. Get back to me when you are finished converting tsp to tbsp to cups to pints to quarts to gallons. Ill just multiply the whole thing by ten instead.

For people that work heavily with measurements, the ability to convert quickly is pretty important. It is far less error prone.

But again, I don't see a good reason to switch the temperature scale.

 

[palswim]

I can't understand why we can't change all the measurements to metric units, with the exception of speed on the road (it would cost too much to have all the vehicle speedos and road signs changed).

I think in every vehicle I've driven, the speedometer has both mph and km/h units on it.

 

[nerp]

for day to day use, F makes MUCH more sense than C.

Only because YOU are comfortable with it. If you grew up in a country with celsius, you'd probably say the opposite.

It's fascinating how so many people look at the world through such a myopic lens.

 

[daw123]

I think in every vehicle I've driven, the speedometer has both mph and km/h units on it.

They do, but the mph is more predominant than the km/h on the speedo.

 

[Train]

Your baking a meal, the recipe is for 2 people, you need to serve 20. Get back to me when you are finished converting tsp to tbsp to cups to pints to quarts to gallons. Ill just multiply the whole thing by ten instead.

Thats retarded, considering 1 gallon = 768 teaspoons, you would never convert that many units. If I really got lazy, I would just add 10 teaspoons. but who the hell measures that accurately when cooking? If I needed 10 teaspoons (or even 20), I'd eyeball it anyways.

 

[Kev]

how is there more precision? There is this thing called a decimal point, you know.

 

[KeithTalent]

They do, but the mph is more predominant than the km/h on the speedo.

Opposite up here of course.

KT

 

[PieIsAwesome]

And that's useful how?

It's 50 degrees outside, why do I need to multiply/divide that by ten again?

I drove 120 miles to my mom's house. Why the fuck do I need to convert that to something else again?

My house went through two gallons of milk this week, why the FUCK do I care how many of another unit that is?



.

Making calculations involving different units is easier.