Intestingly enough... this is somewhat true. Hear me out. Celsius is GREAT for water. Freezing? 0. Boiling? 100. But outside of a lab... who is particularly concerned with the temperature of water? It’s pretty easy to tell by looking of water has reached its boiling or freezing points- so beyond precision operations with temperature of water.... don’t you care more about AIR temperature or what the human body FEELS?
Now. That neat 0 degree freezing point? That becomes a liability in the real world. Say you’re planning what to wear, wether the pets will be ok, etc. you don’t quite totally catch the news, or glance wrong at the forecast. In F, the -5 and +5 aren’t so far apart from each other to matter, nor are they far enough from 0 to make a huge deal for most things in life. In C, the swing between those numbers is HUGE, and as we approach say 10,20- the F difference gets bigger but not as potentially disastrous as mixing up +20 and -20 C, as unlikely as most people would ever see -20C.
The point is that yes- there are many good arguments for adopting other aspects of the metric system - and some against. But the weakest argument is to adopt Celsius. As to wether she’s “smart,” well- “smart” means many things but perhaps here one might have asked what scale. The folks at NASA are pretty “smart” but that little mistake cost us a mars rover.
For -5 and +5 I'll still wear the same clothing though. I feel since we're used to using celsius, we know how to work with it. Usually you also get a "feels as" temperature (which is usually only a few °C off) in the forecast as well as the actual temp. There's also no mixing up -20 and +20 since one is winter temperatures and the other is spring temperature. There's enough to say about both of them
There is absolutely no issue determining how the body feels with celcius, and if you manage to mix up a -20 with a 20 in the middle of winter and you walk out thinking it's a summer day, that's your own fault. I use celcius in my everyday life and I have never seen anyone have issue with it. I know what a 20 feels like, and honestly it feels pretty similar to a 22. Maybe a touch different but are you actually going to change your day for something like that? No not really. Celcius is honestly helpful at separating warm and cold with just a negative sign. My place has had 'feels like' temperatures of both -40 and +40. They're both extreme values, but celcius divides them in half, and either way, the bigger the number the more extreme it feels on the body.
That being said, there are so many reasons why it would be easier in the mathematical and scientific aspect of your country. If you never learn Fahrenheit, you never have to convert units and be confused when Newtons are measured in kilograms (per meter per second squared? I think?). You never have to cause issues with the world, it just works out
Land a person on the moon, Land a spacecraft on a buoyant platform or back at it's base. Then talk to me about math and science.We are doing OK with our standard measures.
Hum I'm pretty sure scientists don't use imperial. The metric system is objectively better. That doesn't mean you can't use the imperial system and be ok, but it's harder for no reason and a hell of a lot less convenient.
Most scientists use metric because it works out better for precise measurements. But not ALL scientists use metric. As I say- if we ignore the costs of conversion and the period of adjustment to the metric system- there are very compelling arguments to convert to metric. That said there isn’t a definitive case for it as for several hundred years American citizens in general, machinists, architects, engineers, carpenters and craftsmen, etc. have used standard just fine. Old carpenters can do math calculations with some of the best engineers I know when it comes to fractions and the like because they have become human calculators from decades of working with inches and the like as well as their fractions and conversion. For many things I prefer metric. Most of my tools are metric and except where its easier to use existing standard numbers than convert I have always done most my engineering calculations in metric.
That said- the argument for conversion of temperature is less compelling. As for science- the “hardest of hardcore science” uses kelvin- a system not well suited for daily life at all, even more so than Celsius. But saying “scientists use it..” is like arguing we should put roll cages in all our cars because race car drivers use them, or use light years/minutes/etc to measure distance to the mall because “scientists use it.”
@poison_kat- as I also said- most people aren’t likely to mix up -20 and +20 even if they hear a forecast wrong. But... I love in a desert. In the day it can be 33.3c and night can be 13c. CAN. But we also have MANY micro climates here because of water bodies, mountains, etc. you can take a very short drive and go from a sunny 24 degrees in the day to a rainy 4. An hour drive can put you in the negatives depending on the day and time of year. What’s more- a local to any place knows seasons and seasonal weather- but a transplant or traveler does not. If you’re local to a place or know it- you don’t even actually need to know temperature measures. You intuitively will generally have an idea of what weather should be in the feeling range of.
But if we don’t just want to know the temperature but the FEEL of it- it becomes even a bigger issues because while air temp might not seem extreme, perceived temp can. The American East coast, especially the southeast- or places like the Philippines can have a day with seemingly nice weather by temperature but if you’ve never been the humidity can be OPPRESSIVE. Like air so thick and wet people with asthma literally can’t breathe, where walking outside feels like walking into a wet, hot blanket.
Where I work the temperature is a few degrees cooler than it is inland, but with the way the wind gets the windchill is such that a spring or winter day that has temperatures suited for very light clothes, even in summer, you can get very cold without a jacket outside in the open. If you’ve ever been to a tall mountain the air temperature can be very misleading. It can be snowing but feel hot, or can feel much hotter or colder than temperature suggests, and can fluctuate rapidly. So while many places perhaps it’s not a huge issue- many places such a mistake is easy to make.
I mean at this point the only "advantage" of imperial is that "people in the US are used to it". Sure. Still pretty obvious that metric is superior if that's the only thing the imperial system has going for it.
And btw, you can apply that argument to temperature change. You're saying celcius isn't as good in daily life because you can get confused or w/e, as someone who has used celcius all his life I can guarantee you I don't get confused. 20 is 20, 15 is not 20 and 25 isnt 20. There's no confusion going on. I've heard that argument that farenheit is better for weather temperatures, and that might be true, that still doesn't change the fact that the rest of the imperial system is terrible.
Also, final note, Kelvin to Celcius conversion is linear, and that's a big deal, since any time you care about temperature difference (and not an absolute temp) then Kelvin or Celsius are the same, and in general conversion is trivial.
As I’ve said already- you won’t get an argument from me that I don’t prefer most of the metric system to standard, and as I said before- one of the only valid arguments against conversion is simply that there would be disruption and financial and other impacts while the US adjusted to it. But also as I said- temperature is the one place where “because we are used to it” isn’t the main argument against it. No one cares if it is 71.3 degrees outside or 33 and a quarter degrees. Those would just be given as 71 and 33. There’s no fractions or decimals needed to equate common temperatures or slight variations. A 1 degree jump in C is a 1.8 degree change in F. 2 degrees makes a difference to the average human in perceived temperature. So using only whole numbers F offers a more precise temp range.
If you like Celsius- that’s great. Ok not knocking it. Most of the world uses it and they seem to be doing fine. As I have been saying and will continue to say- the metric system is great, there are lots of valid reasons to convert to metric, temperature has the weakest case of all the metric measures to switch however.
I mean REALLY? the American argument to not switch to metric is often “we are used to this.” So far with Celsius the best argument anyone’s made to switch is “we are used to Celsius!” Ok. What else does it do that F doesn’t? “Water freezes at 0!” Ok. But.... who cares? Do metric freezers need to be calibrated or something? Because I just put water in mine and it freeze to ice without me having to know what temperature it is. And her win the USA we seldom confuse ice and snow for water and rain- so....
“Water boils at 100 degrees though!” Again....aaaand what? My stove burners have low to high settings. My microwave has a button for “boil water.” So even if I had no idea what temp water boiled at... I could figure it out when the water got hot enough the steam and bubbles are dead giveaways. If it gets hot enough ambient air temp to boil water you have bigger problems or likely won’t have to worry about the temp for more than a few moments either way.
So we can apply the same logic people say isn’t valid for the US NOT to switch to other forms of metric and say- alright. Besides being “used to Celsius,” and asides the not so useful outside the lab convenient boiling and freezing points of water (do you use a thermometer when you boil a pot or put ice in the fridge and check it periodically to see how close it is to 0 or 100?), what benefits does C Have over F otherwise? While the benefits I listed for F may not be world changing- they are true even if in a niche. So what about C?
Oh- and I might add that even IF we wanted to count the transitional temps of water- you still have to remember two numbers. Round numbers yes- but remembering the number 4 and the number 6 is remembering a number either way- so it’s somewhat arbitrary since you STILL have to remember 2 numbers. And of course- the range BETWEEN those temperature extremes is MUCH smaller in C than F which means using whole numbers you have less ability to express nuance in temperature ranges a human might encounter. So whooo. It’s easy to deal with freezing and boiling but the other 90% of temperatures a human cares about require the added complication of decimals. So the thing you seldom use and has little relation to daily needs is easier but the thing you’re more likely to use is harder vs. the opposite. I don’t call that “better.”
Celsius is just K+273.15 so yeah, all differences are linear, and celsius is just recentring the scale towards the temperature we use more in real life.
And btw, you can apply that argument to temperature change. You're saying celcius isn't as good in daily life because you can get confused or w/e, as someone who has used celcius all his life I can guarantee you I don't get confused. 20 is 20, 15 is not 20 and 25 isnt 20. There's no confusion going on. I've heard that argument that farenheit is better for weather temperatures, and that might be true, that still doesn't change the fact that the rest of the imperial system is terrible.
Also, final note, Kelvin to Celcius conversion is linear, and that's a big deal, since any time you care about temperature difference (and not an absolute temp) then Kelvin or Celsius are the same, and in general conversion is trivial.