this post was submitted on 19 Jun 2023
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I don't get the precision argument. It really doesn't matter for personal use because you wouldn't feel the difference anyways and if you really needed it to be as precise as possible (for... I don't know, science) you'd use decimals. And if you're sciencing, you'd use the system that allows easy conversion, which is metric.
I'm scared to ask now if Fahrenheit has decimals or if it's like 74 and one eighth degrees.
The worst thing about imperial is that it's not very consistent within itself. E.g. imagine that you need 100 pieces of wood, which are each 2.5 inch long. How do you quickly calculate how much wood you need to buy so you can cut it up? Do you just not think in units of 10 and 100s, but something else instead?
Don't forget to factor in the width of the saw blade. That'll be fun.
I think I came across as saying something different than I intended. I wasn't arguing that Fahrenheit IS more precise. I was saying it feels more precise.
If I'm measuring a length, then metric feels more precise. I can measure 1035mm in a nice, whole, number while 40.74803 inches is a length I can't measure well with a measuring tape and I'd probably end up calling it 40.75" which, even then, still isn't a whole number. I'm just talking about the perception, not the actual useful nature.
I get what you're saying. It just doesn't make sense to me. But that's because I'm accustomed to metric.
You can feel a difference between degrees Fahrenheit, people regularly dispute thermostat settings of 69 or 70F.