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When I've asked people why Celsius is so much better than Fahrenheit, they always state, "Because freezing water is 0 and boiling water is 100." Well, so what? How often are you taking the temperature of water?
Almost every day. I work in an experimental facility called a water-tunnel, and I need accurate water-temperature to calculate viscosity.
Quote:
Originally Posted by saibot
When people use the Fahrenheit scale, they have an intuitive grasp of the actual feeling of temperatures from 0 all the way to 100. And the ranges in groups of 10 are useful. Say the temps are in the 70s, or in the 90s, and I will know exactly what you mean.
In Celsius, it makes no sense to say the temperature is in the 20s. That's way too wide a range to be useful. You have to be precise all the time.
To me, there's a stark difference between 70 deg F, and 79 deg F. 70 is really comfortable. 79 is already too warm. By that measure, even the Fahrenheit scale is too coarse.
But as for "being precise all of the time" - isn't that the whole point of a measurement system?
Quote:
Originally Posted by snj90
Putting the month first comes more naturally in American English. Neither is inherently more logical. But intuitively, putting the month first makes more sense to me. Because you're starting with the month, then specifying the day.
To me personally, it's more logical to write dates in the numerical order that a computer would sort them, thus: 20050713. This means the year 2005, the 7th month and the thirteenth day. Exactly 8 digits, with no ambiguity of August appearing before July (because "A" is earlier in the alphabet than "J") , October appearing before September (because "10", the month of October, is smaller than "9", the month of September), or other possible mistakes of ordering
While it seems like everyone has fallen off the topic here, I find Fahrenheit an excellent measure of what it is.
Temperature in relation to weather and the human body.
Long term exposure to <0 Degrees = You'll die.
Long term exposure to >100 Degrees = You'll die.
It's very easy on a scale of 0 to 100 to know what's acceptable, and what isn't.
Centigrade may make sense for science and some cooking, but on the whole doesn't offer a wide range of outdoor or swim temperatures.
But that's just because you are only used to using fahrenheit, for all those that use celcius it is very easy also to know what temperatures are acceptable...
Many people in the UK use both anyway & older people generally use fahrenheit more. They know that 75F is warm but wouldn't know what 24C was, even on TV weather forecasts the temperatures on screen will be in celcius but the forecaster will say what it is in farenheit too...
Honestly, adults arguing about "sounds more formal" or "sounds more natural" or "sounds more sensible"?
The way you're used to sounds right to you, of course. The way you're not used to sounds unnatural.
Driving on the right is much more natural and sensible than driving on the left.
I agree with the first part..
Second part in bold I do not agree with. Majority of people are right handed, it makes more sense to therefore have your weaker hand on the gear stick and stronger one on the steering wheel..
Why? Do you say the minute before the hour when stating the time? Do you say 10:15 to indicate 15 minutes into the 10th hour? Or do you say 15:10, putting the more specific first as you do with dates?
The natural order for categorization in most systems is to move from general to specific. So you start with the month, March. Ok, what day in the month? The 14th. Ok, what time on that day? 10:15am.
Not when you include the year, and the year is an integral part of the date.
Why? Do you say the minute before the hour when stating the time? Do you say 10:15 to indicate 15 minutes into the 10th hour? Or do you say 15:10, putting the more specific first as you do with dates?
The natural order for categorization in most systems is to move from general to specific. So you start with the month, March. Ok, what day in the month? The 14th. Ok, what time on that day? 10:15am.
No, but there are generally 3 variables when writing the date - day, month, year. It makes much more sense to do it in a 1-2-3 DDMMYYYY than any of the other two. Even YYYYMMDD would be preferable to MMDDYYYY.
Sorry, this is one thing that just does not make sense, I know you guys are used to it, but it is not natural to muddle it up like that..
No, but there are generally 3 variables when writing the date - day, month, year. It makes much more sense to do it in a 1-2-3 DDMMYYYY than any of the other two. Even YYYYMMDD would be preferable to MMDDYYYY.
Sorry, this is one thing that just does not make sense, I know you guys are used to it, but it is not natural to muddle it up like that..
Almost every day. I work in an experimental facility called a water-tunnel, and I need accurate water-temperature to calculate viscosity.
To me, there's a stark difference between 70 deg F, and 79 deg F. 70 is really comfortable. 79 is already too warm. By that measure, even the Fahrenheit scale is too coarse.
But as for "being precise all of the time" - isn't that the whole point of a measurement system?
To me personally, it's more logical to write dates in the numerical order that a computer would sort them, thus: 20050713. This means the year 2005, the 7th month and the thirteenth day. Exactly 8 digits, with no ambiguity of August appearing before July (because "A" is earlier in the alphabet than "J") , October appearing before September (because "10", the month of October, is smaller than "9", the month of September), or other possible mistakes of ordering
I think "logical" is the wrong word choice. There's nothing inherently more logical about one convention or the other. But many people think the more Latinized features of English are more "logical." This isn't so in any intrinsic way.
The calendar is of Roman origin, so it tends to be expressed with the day first, conforming to the grammatical rules of Latin. Putting the month first is grammatical in English, but not Latin. That's my opinion anyway as to how this happened in American English.. I tried doing a quick search on this and couldn't really find anything, and I'm running out of time to write this.
When people use the Fahrenheit scale, they have an intuitive grasp of the actual feeling of temperatures from 0 all the way to 100. And the ranges in groups of 10 are useful. Say the temps are in the 70s, or in the 90s, and I will know exactly what you mean.
To be fair, that's a matter of what you're used to. If you grew up with Celsius you would have an intuitive feel for temperatures given in Celsius. Learning a new system is like learning a new language. As long as you are mentally translating the new system unit to the old system unit it will be slow and awkward. Only over time through repeated usage (why immersion is the best way to learn new languages) will your brain begin to associate the new unit directly with your feeling or knowledge.
Location: Northern Ireland and temporarily England
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Quote:
Originally Posted by P47P47
Thinking about it some more, it seems that when giving the general weather report on the TV or radio news, they give wind speed in miles per hour; but when giving the tide info and water temperatures, they'll also give wind speed in knots, particularly if it's high enough that small craft warnings are in effect.
I'm not sure. I think knots are only used in Aviation.
Location: Northern Ireland and temporarily England
7,668 posts, read 5,264,137 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by snj90
Putting the month first comes more naturally in American English. Neither is inherently more logical. But intuitively, putting the month first makes more sense to me. Because you're starting with the month, then specifying the day.
But you would say that anyway because never find any fault in America.
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