We’re taught both metric and US customary units in school. I prefer metric for most things, to the point I have a metric-only tape measure among other things.
However, I’ll die on the hill that Fahrenheit is superior for ambient air temperature. 0 degrees to 100 degrees neatly encompasses the range of average surface temperatures seen throughout the year in the contiguous US.
For F and C, C is better for things like cooking, where what water is doing is useful. F is better for what we feel. Low numbers feel cold, hot temperatures (approaching 100) feel hot. I know people get used to C, if you’re using it every day, but I still think F is the better system for it. That doesn’t mean we should use it though. I think we should just switch to C and deal with it.
Metric 100% when I’m working with mechanical stuff my mind works in metric but my brain has been poisoned to use imperial in other things and I actually really dislike it.
Metric - so much easier to understand and work with. I personally hate the imperial system, but I know it because of where I grew up. I would shed no tears if the U.S. switched to metric tomorrow.
I would prefer that we had continued on the path of converting to metric until Reagan killed it.
Metric
I normally don’t talk about this in public.
But I’m Bimeasurable. I go both ways. Sometimes at the same time. That 7 inch 5mm I got packing is exciting.
Excluding a few examples like frequently used gym weights, common fastener sizes, and short distances, I still have to do rough conversions in my head to have an idea of what a metric measurement is, so I guess I’d say imperial.
But I wouldn’t be upset if the US converted to metric.
I use metric when working on personal projects and cad, I would vote yes if a miracle happened and switching all of the us to metric was on the ballot.
Imperial system (or whatever the US system is called ) should go away. Let’s all just one standard.
Unfortunately, since I’m from the US, I only really know this one, and it’s hard to switch when nothing else has switched. I’d put up with the pain of switching though.
Sadly, the US system is not the same as imperial. As far as I know the main difference is the gallon.
1 gal. Imp. = 1.201 gal. U.S.
I also hate having lb.f. and lb.m (pounds force and pounds mass), which have different units and at sea level are different by a factor of about 32).
Raised in imperial land but studied science in college, so I prefer metric for almost everything other than talking about large distances.
I hop back and forth.
For temperature, Fahrenheit just makes more sense because a human useful range is basically 0 to 100 instead of 0 to ~30.
For measurements I use a mix. Feet and inches are useful for medium size things, but below a quarter inch I use millimeters because fractions of an inch is just a fucking mess.
Metric in logic, but standard measurements are ingrained into my brain so it’s more practical. I think that sucks.
Agreed. If I am making it building something then I prefer metric. If I am thinking about how tall something is or how long it is I think in standard. I just feel that one foot is a good size to measure something rather than meters or centimeters. It’s much easier for me to imagine a 6 foot tall object than a 1.83 meters or 183 centimeters. It’s just easier to break something up into 6 parts than it is to break something into 1.83 parts or 183 parts.
I know you could use a unit that equals 25 centimeters and that would be similar to a foot, but no one uses that for some reason.
Metric ARE standard measurments, the others are wierd.
Both are standard, just who’s standard.
ISO (metric) are standard. All others are regional, therefore not standard. Standard of one is not a standard, it is an exception.
Fahrenheit is nice for talking about the weather, but metric is just better for everything else.
I always preferred metric and Celsius. When I lived in South Korea, I was able to adapt immediately. Now I live in Europe and it makes all of the conversions easier.
Americans resistant to metric, in my opinion, are not very smart.
Murican’ here. The only place I prefer Fahrenheit is in weather mainly for how ironically base 10 it scales for human related comfortability for outdoor activity.
100°+ dangerous heat
90s very hot, drink lots of water
80s shorts weather
70s comfortable
60s long sleeves
50s jacket weather
40s bring a coat
30s coat and hat (water freezing is here at 32°)
20s layers
10s insulated layers
0s very cold, protect exposed skin
-0s dangerous cold
Everywhere else I’m fine for C°
30 is hot
20 is not
10 is cool
0 is freezing
-10 is terribly cold
You can just scale it down and have the same experience. It’s all just habit and familiarity
The whole point is that it is ironically base 10. I thought that was the goal?
Base 10 is nice for crossing regimes of scales, orders of magnitude. But we don’t really engage with temperature that way. The problem I have with F-heit on its own, is that it’s much too precise. The difference of a degree is meaningless, especially when considering weather. Fahrenheit weather maps are cluttered, dials and buttons on thermostats and in cars are slow, thermometer readings change too frequently, etc. USian shoe sizes have the opposite problem. If you need to use half sizes all the time then FFS just multiply the scale by 2.
That’s incidental:
he adjusted the scale so that the melting point of ice would be 32 degrees, and body temperature 96 degrees, so that 64 intervals would separate the two, allowing him to mark degree lines on his instruments by simply bisecting the interval 6 times (since 64 = 2⁶).
I mean, base 2 is superior imho.
Dangerous heat depends on humidity, it varies wildly.
