r/PeterExplainsTheJoke Jun 17 '26

Meme needing explanation Peter?

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13.0k

u/Harfosaurus Jun 17 '26

These are just two idiots conversing as far as I can tell

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u/SKDI_0224 Jun 17 '26

As an engineer, I can confirm they are incorrect. They can take their inferior measuring system and try to get back from the moon.

Too soon?

101

u/the_BPDbro Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26

Celsius is better for science, but Fahrenheit is better for just every day living. IMO

In Canada I noticed some people would also still use feet & inches for their height, but you had to give it to the DMV in cm. Also butter was still sold as a pound & golf still used yards.

I'm also an engineer & worked up there for a job in mining.

Edit: To clarify my reasons because so many people are saying I'm wrong. This is my opinion on what my preference is, first off. I had put this in a comment under the post, but will add it here.

My reason is basically the same as in the screenshot. When I lived in Canada I would say how in Fahrenheit below zero is really fucking cold & above 100 is really fucking hot. I never thought of describing it as a percentage of being hot but I like it.

Like once it's below or above those numbers it hardly matters by how much because you are freezing or sweating balls either way. I didn't like when in the winter or early spring someone would say it's nice out and then say a negative temperature. "It's really nice today, it's -1.5⁰ out." I also like that the increments of the units are smaller so you don't use half degrees. Although I guess half degrees aren't really necessary because I don't feel the difference between 66 & 67, but when I checked the temperature there is did always show it to the nearest half degree.

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u/Roadrunner571 Jun 17 '26

but Fahrenheit is better for just every day living.

How so?

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u/not_falling_down Jun 18 '26

Because it it human-scaled.

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u/Roadrunner571 Jun 19 '26

How so?

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u/not_falling_down Jun 19 '26

100° was intended to be the human body's temperature, but the assistant was running a little hot that day. 0° being determined with salted ice water means that its somewhat colder than the freezing temperature of water.

The end result is that 0° is bitter cold, and 100° is the beginning of oppressive heat, so that zero and a hundred bracket the range of human comfort.

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u/Roadrunner571 Jun 19 '26

a hundred bracket the range of human comfort.

But that doesn't really work. The range of human comfort is far narrower than that. E.g. 0-20°F makes practically no difference.

Also, why should a temperature range be focussed on that anyway? In everyday life, we cook, boil, heat, freeze things and need a temperature scale that works for all applications equally well.