My reasoning is that the period is a "stronger" punctuation mark than the comma, and it should be used for the more important separation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal_separator
Why do so many cultures accept using colons to separate divisions of time (posted around 08:30:45 local time) but none of them use it for separation of general numbers? (It is sometimes used for division or ratios, i.e. 10:1 for 10 to 1 odds.) Seems like we could use units (like with measurements) or prefix units (like with currency) to indicate different uses for numbers, and maybe ratios just use double colons?
Designing programming languages, you will spend way too much time obsessing over things like this. Some languages use underscores as a grouping separator. What about bases? Exponential notation?
I don't care which decimal separator you use, but please use a space for the thousands separator!
If you're going to use commas, just use the Oxford Comma.
110,042,500, and 38
One of those jokes that you laugh really hard at and somebody asks you "what's so funny" and you just feel ashamed at having to explain it in a way that's verbally funny.
> come back to hexbear while taking a Christmas break
> People are once again arguing that Fahrenheit is "objectively" better for laypeople.
Thank you, feels like I've never been gone
In a sentence, the comma denotes a continuation of that sentence, whereas the period means full stop. Why should it be different for numbers?
A comma means you are continuing on the whole part of the number, whereas the period means the whole part is over, now on to the fractional aspect.
I mean, wouldn't that lead you to spaces and commas being the actual choice
after all, both space and commas continue sentences in different ways, but a full stop ends a sentence, so why would you use it in this context to actually continue the same number
Because without a visible delineator readability rapidly declines. Using space means the reader has to interpret each page with regards to its kerning
burgerland has a superior formatting system for once
superior formatting system or are you just used to it and have subjective biases
it's a superior formatting system ma'am
the period is "stronger"
I use celsius in everyday interactions with Americans and it's fun to watch their face wrinkle up
temperature is so easy to convert check it out:
10 C = 50 F
20 C = 68 F
30 C = 86 F
40 C = 104 Fthey're all 18 degrees F apart since a C is 9/5 of an F
i just double it and add 30 since its easy to do and close enough for most room temperatures
i think someone here posted this, or maybe it was on lemmy, but here's how I remember the range of temperatures in C
0 is freezing
10 is not
20 is warm
30 is hotDreading next week. I'm pretty sure we can cook eggs on the barbecues left in the sun
I don't know, the period might feel stronger to you because you have already accepted this meaning for text. For others, the comma feels "stronger" in the context of numbers. Partly because they are used to it, but it makes some sense too, because it is larger and has a defined direction. A period is just a little dot and, when written by hand, could easily be mistaken for a random smudge and vice versa an accidental contact of pen to paper could more easily be mistaken for a dot than for a comma.
You're right; it's because of the established meaning. If I were creating a writing system from scratch in a contextless vacuum I'd switch them.
I don't care. Just unify it. If you work with data and databases in an international company it constantly fucks you over. Excel still falls apart when mixing seperators from different sources. It's so utterly dumb that we can't agree on how to write down numbers.
The dot decimal separator is fine, but the comma should be left as a list separator. As in 3, 4, 10 000.0, 23, etc. So IMO none of them get it right. :)
Why not just use a semicolon or colon? You'll certainly have fewer collisions than with a heavily used symbol.
If you write a check for 1.00, it's easier to turn it into 1,000.00 than 1,00 is to 1.000,00
Edit: when you write the tip on a check at a restaurant, it is just one field for the numbers, no words.
You just wrinkled my brain.
That's one of the reasons why they make you write it in words I suppose. Ideally, we shouldn't base our writing system on an outdated payment method.
Numbers existed before checks. Was the formatting system changed when handwritten checks were invented?
The critique is valid for all written documents using the format, not just checks.
Checks are not the only numbered document throughout all of history where tampering of said document would be undesirable.
Either way it can easily be turned into 1,001.00 or 1.001,00. That's why there's a written out form of the number.
that's not even close to a eurasian thing
also there's way better things where burgerland is better. farenhite, for example, where the range of realistic temperatures goes from 0-100, instead of -17 to 37 (all positive, nice range, and higher resolution)
Fahrenheit is dumb as fuck
realistic temperature
Burgerlander unable to conceive of other countries
higher resolution
Burgerlander unable to conceive of decimal points
If you want a temperature range that is optimised for indicating the weather, you wouldn't use fahrenheit, you'd come up with something not based on "the freezing temperature of a solution of brine made from a mixture of water, ice, and ammonium chloride"
yeah fahrenheit sucks lol it's hilarious when Americans are like "it's so intuitive" my friend that is not what intuitive means you just learned it since the age of 4
I think it highlights how temperature is a uniquely underused scale in ordinary life, with anything that gives some decent from -50 C to 550 C being enough
Whereas millimetres and kilometres are still useful despite being many orders of magnitude apart
centigrade is cool because the 0 point is something that makes sense, if it's negative degrees out you could see snow, you need to be super careful when driving, and if you have frost sensitive plants outside you need to take them inside. what happens at 0 degrees fahrenheit? nothing? what happens at 100 degrees? the outside temperature is the same as body temperature? ok good, cool and useful scale.
like everything else in burgerland it's completely based on nothing, impossible to convert to normal scale, and also it's only used by burgerites.
If you want a temperature range that is optimised for indicating the weather, you wouldn't use fahrenheit, you'd come up with something not based on "the freezing temperature of a solution of brine made from a mixture of water, ice, and ammonium chloride"
Poppycock! Next you'll be saying that it doesn't make sense for 100 degrees to be defined by the body temperature of a horse.
Burgerlander unable to conceive of other countries
do you just not know anything about other countries? tropical countries have an even narrower temperature range so Celsius would give them even less resolution
Burgerlander unable to conceive of decimal points
if you're using this logic then we should all just use Kelvin and eliminate the middle man
If you want a temperature range that is optimised for indicating the weather, you wouldn't use fahrenheit, you'd come up with something not based on "the freezing temperature of a solution of brine made from a mixture of water, ice, and ammonium chloride"
absolutely based that that mixture just happened to produce such a great scale (which could be slightly tweaked to perfection, but is still pretty good at the moment)
The “resolution” argument is silly because there’s no way you walk out and think to yourself “I know the weather app says it’s 98 today but it sure feels like 99 to me.”
I might maybe just be able to detect a difference of 2C or really more like 4-5C before it’s a difference I really care about in terms of how I dress or what activities I choose.
dude I stopped caring about this argument 2 days ago. you win, whatever
do you just not know anything about other countries? tropical countries have an even narrower temperature range so Celsius would give them even less resolution
I've never known a time when it's important to say it's 27 degrees instead of 26.5 degrees.
Air temperature matters even less in tropical places anyway because it's the humidity that will get you
we should all just use Kelvin and eliminate the middle man
If you hated Celcius you wouldn't go to kelvin, kelvin is what you get when you start with celcius and figure out absolute zero
absolutely based
cringe
we should all just use Kelvin and eliminate the middle man
good opinion
Fahrenheit's range of temperatures goes from "salt water starts to freeze" to "slightly higher than body temperature". I guess if you live on the coast the salt water kinda sorta makes sense, but the only thing that makes it seem "realistic" to you is that you use it. Like really, your list of pros is that the numbers are positive - don't ask what happens when the salt water freezees - it's a "nice range" (what is that even suppoosed to mean), and that it's higher resolution, despite humans not being able to tell the difference between 72 and 73°F and scientific instruments using celsius or kelvin instead. It's all nonsense american exceptionalism.
but the only thing that makes it seem "realistic" to you is that you use it
nah, it's the fact that 95% of the places where 95% of people live, will 95% of the time be between 0-100 on an F scale
-5 F is "really fucking cold"
-5 C is just an average temperate winter's dayhilarious that people are offended by this for whatever reason. The only legitimate reason would be if you're from a tropical country where differences between 93 and 94 F start making a huge difference, and you'd be better served by a different scale, but Celsius would be even worse at that.
despite humans not being able to tell the difference between 72 and 73°F
The celsius blind spot is bigger than that, and the "feelability" of small temp differences is higher at certain ranges
nah, it's the fact that 95% of the places where 95% of people live, will 95% of the time be between 0-100 on an F scale
You definitely made those numbers up because it regularly goes above 40°C in a lot of places. The mediteranean regularly enjoys those kinds of temperatures, never mind equatorial countries.
-5 F is "really fucking cold"
-5 C is just an average temperate winter's dayDepends on the climate you're used to. Sure, in Scandinavia that might be the case, in the UK -5C is definitely "really fucking cold", and in Qatar it's unheard of. You are assuming your personal experiences are the worldwide norm.
where differences between 93 and 94 F start making a huge difference,
....what do you think is important about the difference between 93°F and 94°F (33.8°C and 34.4°C)?
The celsius blind spot is bigger than that
What blind spot? Have you not learnt about decimals?
the "feelability" of small temp differences is higher at certain ranges
Oh please, do explain. I can't wait to hear this.
Edit: Right, I forgot to mention:
hilarious that people are offended by this for whatever reason
I'm not mad you're mad
You definitely made those numbers up because it regularly goes above 40°C in a lot of places. The mediteranean regularly enjoys those kinds of temperatures, never mind equatorial countries.
I'm literally from an equatorial country, lmao. Check the "regular" temps for yourself https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumbai#Climate
in the UK -5C is definitely "really fucking cold"
I mean by that logic why do anything at all, because everything is relative? Absolute quantities matter, you could justify the worst sort of suffering elsewise. Brits feeling -5C aren't gonna feel colder than Dongbeiers at their normal -18 C (0 F btw) just because it's relatively out of the ordinary.
I'm not mad you're mad
eh I just use "mad" when people are vehemently against something without providing a real counterargument
I'm literally from an equatorial country, lmao.
India
Nothing I could have possibly said would make you look more uninformed.you could justify the worst sort of suffering elsewise.
I was gonna talk about the sentences around it and that literally being my point, but what the fuck is this sentence? Why did you include this? What the fuck are you trying to imply about Celsius?
without providing a real counterargument
Hey, while we talk about real and fake arguments, why don't you answer the questions you skipped: What is special about the 93/94°F boundary, what "blind spot" does celsius have, and what are the temperature ranges at which people become more sensitive to small differences?
Honestly it's pretty pathetic that you've been reduced from passionately asserting that Fahrenheit is a superior system, to a meek little "ok" when directly asked to explain your reasoning. Maybe next time just shut up before adding your opinion.
when people are vehemently against something without providing a real counterargument
I don't think anybody's offended by your stance, just that we feel it's a weird hill to die on. I'm a scientist, so I use Celsius and Kelvin all day. I've switched my home's thermostat and refrigerator to both display in Celsius since my brain is already in that mode. It would be easier if the whole world standardized on something instead of it being split like it is, and since science has standardized on Celsius, that standard for everybody else should be Celsius.
fahrenheit's strongest soldier, the funniest type of american online lol. nobody is "offended", take it easy.
can you give me a few more paragraphs on why fahrenheit is better, i'm almost convinced but still not quite sure
I pick the nice round numbers and declare them sensible boundaries, then I convert them to the other system and remark! They are ugly numbers! Haha! Truly the superiority of my system is self evident.
and higher resolution
Celsius thermostats have temperature adjustments of 0.5° C. This is the first time in over a decade that I've dug up that memory.
Over 40 is deadly, 35-40 is very hot, 30-35 is hot, 25-30 is warm, 20-25 is reasonable room temperature, 15-20 is cool, 10-15 is chilly (threshold of winter layers), 0-10 is cold, below 0 is freezing, below -10 you need multiple layers, below -20 moisture will freeze to your eyebrows and eyelashes and you can feel the air sucking the warmth out of your body.
I'm a chemist so I like celsius.
I know Europe uses the decimal comma. I threw Asia in there because I assumed they had mix of everything I guess.
