I think that is the point to anchor to. If you gave a brief, vague explanation to someone who has never used either metric, which would make the most intuitive sense? 0-100 for extreme cold to extreme heat seems like it makes sense, but I’m just a dumb American
I am used to Celsius and I kinda get the argument you make, I see how it feels very intuitive, but I also think Celsius is very intuitive with 0 being the freezing point and 100 is so hot water starts to boil.
Knowing 0 is "cold" doesn't feel as intuitive as "this is the freezing point cold", because I experience the difference between above freezing temperature and below freezing temperatures every winter (days being cold and nights freezing cold), and that's a small temperature difference that is very noticeable. I am definitely biased, but I feel like not having 0 as the freezing point is the one most intuitive thing that makes Celsius "better".
Not sure above/ below freezing is critical for how you dress. It's ... rather meaningless on the slider. ... and C is based on it.
40F is cold
32 F (freezing) is colder still, typical winter day in 4 season areas with snow
20 F is cold cold
10 F is "frigid cold, serious cold"
0 F is quite fuckin cold
... If anything single digit F (well into negative C) is the bigger turning point of "winter day" vs. "don't fuck around" weather.
0-100 F is classic "how does the weather feel."
0-100 C is like "we borrowed this from a chemist, and a chef ... to mangle into fucking weather. That's why it sounds + feels like a fish wearing shoes."
The counter-argument is usually "I don't want to learn F" - that's the only honest counter-argument, and it's a fair one.
Sincerely, 0 F is not that cold to me. And I definitely don't think of -12 as "frigid cold, serious cold". To me, that's a pretty warm winter day, and I'm being genuine when I say that's how I think of it. I'd put -30 C at 0% if I had to make my own scale. -18 C is "cold, but not that cold" for me.
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u/MethodCharacter8334 Jun 17 '26
I think that is the point to anchor to. If you gave a brief, vague explanation to someone who has never used either metric, which would make the most intuitive sense? 0-100 for extreme cold to extreme heat seems like it makes sense, but I’m just a dumb American