It seems like a weird point to bring up. How often do y’all convert your measurements? It’s not even a daily thing. If I’m measuring something, I either do it in inches, or feet, rarely yards. I’ve never once had to convert feet into miles, and I can’t imagine I’m unique in this. When I have needed to, it’s usually converting down (I.e. 1/3 of a foot), which imperial does handle better in more cases.
Like. I don’t care if we switch, I do mostly use metric personally, it just seems like a weird point to be the most common pro-metric argument when it’s also the one I’m least convinced by due to how metric is based off of base 10 numbering, which has so many problems with it.
Edit: After reading/responding a lot in the comments, it does seem like there’s a fundamental difference in how distance is viewed in metric/imperial countries. I can’t quite put my finger on how, but it seems the difference is bigger than 1 mile = 1.6km
I haven’t really been trying to convince people to switch, but I have been telling people I’ve switched to metric for at least temperature (so far).
And that’s less to conversation about how it’s just objectively better than fahrenheit in literally every single way, except familiarity. Which given that any switch in life would have that problem, I see that as a non-issue.
Scales should never be based on arbitrary things, or creatively-decided things. They should have a concrete, absolute, and objective thing they’re based on, and keeping it based on a certain number for scales of units is better than 12in to a foot, 3 feet to a yard, etc.
It doesn’t necessarily have to be base 10, but given that’s what it society uses, that’s probably best for us, but any base will do, as long as it’s consistent.
I’m fairly certain the only reason we don’t know the things Fahrenheit was based on is because he didn’t write it down.
While Celsius is based on something real (the freezing, and boiling points of distilled water at sea level), it’s not something that someone can measure at most locations? Fahrenheit has the same issue, mind you, the only calibration point it had that’s always measurable is the average body temperature, which is also inconsistent, as anyone who’s tried getting pregnant will know.
At the end of the day anything we base a temperature scale on could be considered arbitrary, though modern Fahrenheit is also based on freezing/boiling water, we just put the points at 32 and 212 (180 degrees between) instead of 0 and 100 (100 degrees between). AFAIK the reason the freezing point is at 32 was because the original 0 point was based on the freezing point of a brine solution? Either way, point is now they’re both based on the same thing: When a specific uncontaminated liquid changes phases at on specific parts of the planet that don’t exist in a lot of countries
If scales shouldn’t be arbitrary then a temperature measurement system that picked the state change of fresh water at atmosphereic pressure where you find a bunch of salt water which has a different state change temperature, might be just slightly arbitrary. Kelvin trys to fix it by moving the zero to eliminate negatives, but doesn’t change the scale making all the other temperatures arbitrary.
Metric is great, as long as humans are living on Earth. Any other planet or a major change to the atmosphere or Sea level and everyone is going to be why did they pick such random points. Luckily nothing is happening to change the atmosphere or Sea level on Earth so nothing to worry about.