• voldage@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    0 C being the temperature water freezes is useful for knowing if there is ice outside, which has practical use. If we keep going the way we are, soon 100 will be an indicator that there is no water outside. Practical if you’re a hydrophobe or hydrophile.

  • MIDItheKID@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    There was something I read once upon a time that was like:

    F is how hot/cold people are C is how hot/cold water is K is how hot/cold matter is

    I feel like that’s pretty accurate.

  • prodaccess@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    I got used to Celsius while living abroad in Europe and Japan and prefer it to Fahrenheit. The extra granularity of the latter scale doesn’t really add much more utility.

    However, while 32 F and 212 F are pretty arbitrary, so is calibrating to the freezing and boiling temperatures of water. I’d rather have a scale that’s calibrated to humans rather than H2O.

  • Smoogs@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Soon it won’t matter anyways. Isn’t AmericaUS like…done now? We can move on with our normal shit and chuckle at it like a museum piece.

    • Mostly_Gristle@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Also, fix the damn calendar

      13 months, 28 days per month = 364 days. New Year’s Day can be its own holiday separate from the rest of the year, and every fourth year it can be 2 days long.

      Now we just need to get Big Calendar on board.

    • technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      2 days ago

      Also, fix the damn calendar.

      The calendar has been intentionally mangled to obscure the solstices, equinoxes, etc. for the sake of religion. The shitty and arbitrary nature is a feature, not a bug. It’s emphasizes hegemonic control of our lives.

      A similar thing is happening with time where solar noon, sunrises, and sunsets are obscured for the sake of capitalist work clocks.

      The system doesn’t want our lives based on the natural world around us. It wants control.

      They’re never going to “fix” this because it already works as designed.

    • [object Object]@lemmy.ca
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      3 days ago

      I had an American explain “well you just know that 68 is long sleeve warm, 80 is shorts” or something, as if people cannot memorize that 18 is chilly and 21/22 is usual room temperature, 26 is shorts.

      The only thing I dislike like about Celsius is that my thermostat supports both, but doesn’t allow half degrees Celsius, so it provides less granular control in Celsius than if you set it to Fahrenheit.

    • imetators@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      3 days ago

      And weight also revolves around water. 1L of water is 1KG which is 1000cm3 whereas 1cm3 is 1g. Super easy to calculate things.

      Edit: correction

    • Soggy@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      *at sea level, assuming pure water

      It’s intuitive with respect to water. Applying it to anything else is exactly the same as the Fahrenheit scale: you associate various things with numbers.

  • Melllvar@startrek.website
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    3 days ago

    The one thing that bothers me about the metric system is how much of it is never actually used. No one says “1 megameter”, for example. They say “1,000 kilometers”. When you think about it, most metric prefixes are never used with most metric units.

      • la508@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        We use decimetres in chemistry a fair bit. 1 mole of any gas will occupy 24 dm³ at rtp

      • calcopiritus@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        “deci” is very popular. Just not in the “correct” form “decimeter”.

        In Spanish it’s normal to say “8 décimas”, which means 8 tenths. It is context dependent though. For example if speaking in a context where millimeters are used, it will be 8 tenths of a milimiter. That is, 0,8mm.

        But yeah, it is very uncommon to use deci and deca. Because they’re just not very useful. We are used to 2 digit numbers, or numbers with 2 decimal places. So 87m is not harder to use than 8,7dam.

        It’s probably also the reason there is no prefix between kilo and mega, or milli and micro. (They are x1000 increments instead of x10).

        For the same reason, when in a context of millimeters, it’s preferred to say “87mm” instead of “8,7cm”.

    • Bilb!@lemmy.ml
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      3 days ago

      I’ve thought that was weird too. Decimeter’s seems like a good unit for measuring a person’s height, for instance.

    • Holytimes@sh.itjust.works
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      3 days ago

      It’s because metric sucks at anything on a human scale and most people deal with things on a human scale. Imperial was developed over hundreds of years to be extremely narrow and scope in a specific two things at a human scale.

      It’s a big reason why imperial makes far more sense. If you actually need to talk about anything on a human scale, everything no matter how nonsensical makes sense the moment, it’s explained because it’s all extremely intuitive.

      While metric is basically a tiny fraction of a technically Superior system that basically makes no f****** sense in 99% of cases for a day-to-day life.

      Try metric is the measurement of science, engineering and other fields of study because they actually do with things outside of day-to-day human scope

      As the saying goes, use the right tool for the right job and only a dumb f*** uses the wrong tool for the wrong job

      • Deme@sopuli.xyz
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        2 days ago

        Could you give an example of a situation where metric makes less sense than imperial? I will then explain to you that it only appears to you like that, because those are the units you’ve lived your whole life using. Without that baggage, the adaptability and easy conversions make SI-units objectively superior in every situation.

      • thebestaquaman@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        I have no idea what you’re talking about… humans are around 1-2m tall, weigh about 40-80kg, have a body temperature of about 37 C, and need to drink a couple litres of water per day. How are these units not the proper order of magnitude for measuring things “on a human scale”?

      • ReluctantMuskrat@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Except 5km is not 3 miles… it’s 3.1069 miles so off by a considerable factor. 1 mile = 1.6km is a much more accurate approximation that’s easy to remember.

        • Knightfox@lemmy.world
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          That’s 4%, that’s not a significant amount for functional purposes and it’s a whole number to whole number conversion. Most of the time, if I’m converting, it’s from metric to imperial so 1 km is 0.62 miles. If you tell me the speed limit is 70 km/h it’s way easier for me to calculate 70 ÷ 5 x 3 = 42 mph than to calculate either 0.62 x 70 or 70 ÷ 1.6 = 43.49.

  • folekaule@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    As a European living in the US now for many years the temperature scale is the least of my annoyances. It’s easy enough to memorize be ranges for what to wear. Fahrenheit is more granular, which is nice sometimes but really doesn’t matter.

    No, let’s convert all the ridiculous weight/volume measures first. Having two kinds of ounces makes no sense. Measuring solids by volume (mostly) doesn’t make sense. Having different units for different magnitudes doesn’t make sense.

    Fortunately things are often labeled in both metric and customary units so I can convert way easier.

    Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to have my 12 fluid ounces of coffee and a 1/3 cup of oatmeal.

    • JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
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      3 days ago

      I very much prefer to cook/bake/prep in metric grams.

      2c white flour, sifted.
      1c brown sugar, packed.
      1c room temperature water.
      2tsp active dry yeast.
      2tbsp vegetable oil.
      1/2tsp baking powder.
      2 egg yolks.
      5 egg whites.
      Pinch of cinnamon.

      Fuck you. Tell me how many grams that is. I don’t need five different tools to measure out my ingredients. I need a wet bowl, a dry bowl, and a scale.

      Also this isn’t a real recipe I just started naming shit at random.

      • folekaule@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        I’ve had to translate recipes from Norwegian to American and this struggle is real. Never thought I’d need to look up material density tables for cooking.

        • prettybunnys@piefed.social
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          3 days ago

          “To American” … what?

          We have kitchen scales, we know how to weigh ingredients.

          Old recipes in English often use volume measurements, across the pond too.

          Modern recipes use weights when possible.

          Idk why you’d convert to ye olde style.

          • folekaule@lemmy.world
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            3 days ago

            I accidentally a word. Converting recipes from Norwegian and metric to American and US customary units.

            I’m aware. I have a scale, too. But most people didn’t weigh dry ingredients. So when I translate for someone else I have to use the “normal” measures they’re used to. For myself, I speak the language and just use metric, my scale, and a measuring cup with both markings.

    • jaybone@lemmy.zip
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      3 days ago

      Having the more granular temperature seems more practical. I often find myself adjusting my thermostat by just a single degree F. Do heating/ac thermostats in Europe use half degrees as increments? Even then I don’t think it’s as granular. But just integer values would be super annoying.

      • folekaule@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        I have not seen any thermostats in Europe with decimal degrees. But I also don’t think a thermostat is necessarily accurate to that level anyway.

        • jaybone@lemmy.zip
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          3 days ago

          lol you don’t think it’s accurate to a degree Fahrenheit? Why wouldn’t it be?

          • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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            3 days ago

            Because it’s mass produced consumer goods operating on a “below x temperature turn on heat/turn off AC” and “above y temperature turn off heat/turn on AC”. Old ones are just bimetallic strips where you change the trigger position with a slider, and modern ones use commodity grade temperature sensors, and neither is guaranteed to be placed particularly far from the vent.

            • jaybone@lemmy.zip
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              3 days ago

              The sensor is typically on the thermostat. Not at the vents. You would typically place the sensor in a central location in the house. A high quality multi speed motor AC is designed to keep a decently consistent temperature which is a bit more complex than just turn on / turn off. If you’re dropping $15k to $30k on central AC, they aren’t going to cheap out on a poor quality temp sensor.

          • folekaule@lemmy.world
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            3 days ago

            It’s just not that fine tuned of an instrument. The furnace also runs on intervals so it’s just going to naturally fluctuate a bit. Like with anything “it depends”, but I doubt it’s possible to keep the room within a tenth of a centigrade just with a consumer level thermostat. Maybe in a small room with resistive heating? I’d love to see actual measurements of this.

      • allan@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        Half a C is actually quite close to a whole F in delta. I don’t have a thermostat though.

    • GraniteM@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      Measuring solids by volume (mostly) doesn’t make sense.

      This could be apocryphal, but I seem to recall hearing that a lot of American recipes got established during times of westward expansion, and that it made more sense for people moving out to the frontier to carry a measuring cup and a set of spoons that it did for them to carry a carefully-calibrated scale.

      • folekaule@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        Yeah that makes sense. And in a pinch (no pun intended), measuring your solids by volume or even just eyeballing it is good enough for a lot of cooking (baking is a different matter).

        But let’s not forget that Europe was not always metric, either. They went through the same process. They had the same units (or similar units) as US has now, with a lot of the same quirks. That was the entire point of the metric system: have one consistent set of units. United States was onboard early for metrication, but backed out before it completed it, so here we are.

    • GirthBrooksPLO@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      It’s funny because all of the imperial units are mathematically based on metric anyway.

      I’m an American, so I started with imperial units, but I am making the very slow progression of converting to metric. I already use metric for work, and it’s already the scientific standard here and has been since the 70s. It’s just turbo annoying to try and get used to a new measuring system that I use reflexively especially when surrounded by imperial units. Makes it too easy to trip up and fall back.

    • DahGangalang@infosec.pub
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      3 days ago

      different units for different magnitudes

      I’m not sure I get what you mean? Are you saying how we use ounces for tiny weights, pounds for “human”-ish weights, and tons for huge weights?

      • exasperation@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        3 days ago

        I think they mean ounces, cups, quarts, gallons, with no intuitive sense of conversion between them. I personally use ounces for almost everything (cocktail recipes are in 0.25 ounce increments, big cups are 40 ounces, big ol buckets can be 256 ounces). I might mess with gallons for very large amounts, but anything that can be expressed in cups or pints I’m usually just talking ounces anyway.

        • folekaule@lemmy.world
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          3 days ago

          Your assumption is correct. I meant using cups, ounces, etc separately or in combination. Especially annoying when trying to figure out portions. Serving size: 8oz, package size: 1lb 4 oz. You have to do math every time.

  • Hansae@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    3 days ago

    Tbf as someone who grew up with the imperial system due to being raised by a British boomer its fairly easy if you’re familiar with it, I still often cook in imperial due to a load of old cook books I have.

    Having said that anyone who wants the imperial system in the modern day is a absolute idiot, metric is objectively superior.

    • neidu3@sh.itjust.works
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      3 days ago

      A brit once told me that the imperial system makes sense if you look at it from the perspective of a peasant at the market - units of 12 was a lot easier to work with in the olden days because it’s easily divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6.

      I guess it makes sense from a historical viewpoint.

      • Hansae@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        Its basically entirely this, its not for no reason much of the world wound up using something akin to it. Honestly for small scale stuff such as cooking I do genuinely quite like using it but especially in the digital age its simply become obsolete I can’t imagine having to code something which requires employing imperial measurements.

      • seejur@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        I just wish it was always 12 instead of 3, 12, 1760 and whatever the eff they come up with.

        Farenheit on the other hand does not make sense at all

        • Knightfox@lemmy.world
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          3 days ago

          Fahrenheit makes more sense as a unit in use. 100 equals hot, but doesn’t equal death, 0 equals cold. In a lot of the world freezing is only kind of cold, not actually cold. Metric makes sense for science while imperial is more of a common persons unit; that’s also why Americans in science use metric.

        • Geologist@lemmy.zip
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          3 days ago

          Best way to use Fahrenheit is to consider it as a percentage of how hot it is. 0 degrees is zero percent hot, and 100 is fully hot. Beyond that you’re in super cold/hot territory.

          But yeah, Celsius is still better.

          • Holytimes@sh.itjust.works
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            3 days ago

            Fahrenheit is better at describing weather in reference to human interaction with temperature Celsius is better for everything else.

            But that’s the same for everything imperial. It’s always better when it comes to actual human elements. How big is that stick? How many things in that piece of bread? How much weight is that rock? I need to move.

            While metric is basically better anytime you have tooling you need to be extremely exact. You need to know something that is less human and more mathematical or abstract.

            Well each system can do the thing. They’re not great at it quickly falls apart. That’s a big reason why people tend to say imperial sucks. Most people no longer actually interact with the natural world anymore. Everything is computers, exact measurements, quantifiable numbers from shops. The only thing left that most people deal with on a day-to-day basis is the weather and why Fahrenheit may be better than Celsius. It’s only vaguely better since weather is already such an imprecise thing that really doesn’t matter.

            Well yes the granularity of Fahrenheit is far more useful. If you actually want to be like specific about things Celsius when it comes to weather it’s close enough f****** does the job

        • prime_number_314159@lemmy.world
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          3 days ago

          It makes a lot more sense if you know about chains. A chain is 22 yards, and there are 80 chains in a mile. There are also rods (a quarter of a chain) and furlongs (10 chains)

          So: 3 Barleycorn in an inch 4 inches in a hand 3 hands in a foot 3 feet in a yard 5.5 yards in a rod 4 rods in a chain 10 chains in a furlong 8 furlongs in a mile

          … And of course there’s the overlapping systems of length for manufacturing, agriculture, maritime, and horse racing, which have their own, separate subdivisions and largest units, but usually you can get away with just the nail, the fathom, the nautical mile, and the span.

      • Holytimes@sh.itjust.works
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        3 days ago

        Imperial is FAR more human and “natural” then metric. Metric fails frequently at being quantifiable with natural experiences and objects.

        But imperial falls apart the second your trying to do something at a large scale, super small scales or literally anything that isn’t “human scale”

        And basically every test I’ve ever seen. If you don’t have tools or some reference point, people will nine times out of 10 be able to more accurately gauge something using imperial measurements then using metric measurements.

        Metric relies far too much on reference in tooling, but that’s also its greatest strength. It’s absurdly, exact and reliable while imperial is loosey-goosey

        • la508@lemmy.world
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          And basically every test I’ve ever seen. If you don’t have tools or some reference point, people will nine times out of 10 be able to more accurately gauge something using imperial measurements then using metric measurements.

          That’s clearly utter bollocks

  • Knightfox@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    I’m so confused, you didn’t have the room to write “calculator”, but you had the room to write “(calc is short for calculator btw)”