this post was submitted on 12 Nov 2025
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Science Memes

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[–] ChicoSuave@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago (11 children)

Fahrenheit is vibe temperature. It just feels good use bigger numbers to describe being very hot. "It's 30 degrees outside" sounds hot but "it's 100 degrees outside" is more expressive, like built in exaggeration. That could be why it is preferred by Americans.

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago (6 children)

No, it's just because the US never really converted to the metric system. Degrees Fahrenheit are zeroed at the freezing temperature of brine, and there are exactly 180 degrees from freezing to boiling water because that was an easy number to divide (like the 360 degrees in a circle).

[–] eletes@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 week ago (5 children)

But really it's because when you're used to big numbers all your life, why would you limit yourself to puny smaller numbers

[–] Allero@lemmy.today 5 points 1 week ago

Seems like Americans also choose cars by this principle

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