I posted this further upthread, but it bears repeating. Don’t manufacture fake precision. Nobody says “It’s 69.8 degrees out”, just like nobody says “It’s 21.1°C”. 70F is 21C, and if you need more precision than that, it’s not in a Lemmy comment!
This is a sciency thing about precision. The classic example is the old joke of “this dinosaur skeleton is ten million years and two weeks old - they told me it was ten million years old when I started, and I’ve been working here two weeks”, the point being that the age was roughly ten million years, not tell million years exact to the day.
Scientists talk about “significant figures”, the number of digits that are actually important and not just extra zeroes, e.g. 10000 has one (probably!) and 0.0103 has 3. So when someone says it’s 70°F they are probably rounding to two significant figures, so for the conversion you should do the same, i.e. 21°C. If they said it’s 70.0°F then you’d convert to 21.1°C.
Sure, it’s a simple unit conversion, but it’s a rough figure. When I say it’s 70 degrees, I’m not saying that it’s 70.000 degrees.
What I’m really saying is that it’s about 70 degrees, so the true temp could be between 69.6 and 70.4 degrees (I don’t know, I’m not looking at the thermometer that closely).
69.60 F = 20.89 C
70.40 F = 21.33 C
Turning my “70F” into “exactly 21.11111C” is just silly.
Did no one else learn about significant figures in grade school?!
It’s slightly below freezing and snowing here in West-Central Indiana. We haven’t been above the 50s yet this Dember.
Now admittedly, the 50s in December is not the same as when I was a kid and we are definitely doing great damage to the Earth’s climate and biosphere, but saying kids aren’t going to grow up because of it is a bit hyperbolic.
You’re right, we do get used to seeing information deliberately exaggerated for comedy and then taken seriously. It’s why the internet is so braindead.
No need to discourage people from getting the facts straight. Just agree and move on.
Of course they are going to grow up. 20 years are nothing. Those are issues that will only start to get serious after that time. Which is exactly why so little is happening now.
Two years ago, a “once in a hundred years” wind storm downed trees that had been around for decades. Many of them fell on houses, garages, etc. Last year, the once in a hundred years wind storm took down even more. We haven’t had the every hundred year storm this year yet but I am expecting it. The issues are serious.
On a positive note, more of us are adding our voices and resources to combat the profiteers. Join us if you can.
I agree. Just look at how many blindly downvote me for stating the obvious. People want to live based on feelings instead of facts. A real issue in today’s society.
I think the guy above you was calling out the fact that the picture in the post is using a temperature scale that is only used by very few countries as if it was the default for the Internet.
70 degrees of what? Freedom?
Temperature translation for non-Americans:
70°F ≈ 21.1°C
50°F = 10°C
20°F ≈ -6.7°C
I posted this further upthread, but it bears repeating. Don’t manufacture fake precision. Nobody says “It’s 69.8 degrees out”, just like nobody says “It’s 21.1°C”. 70F is 21C, and if you need more precision than that, it’s not in a Lemmy comment!
If you need more precision about less precision?
That’s in a Lemmy comment! 🤓
I get what you’re saying, but there are threads on Lemmy that get super technical. Those do require quite a bit of specifics in some cases.
Super-technical threads need to respect significant figures. Your result can’t be more precise than your inputs.
Fake precision? It’s a simple unit conversion.
This is a sciency thing about precision. The classic example is the old joke of “this dinosaur skeleton is ten million years and two weeks old - they told me it was ten million years old when I started, and I’ve been working here two weeks”, the point being that the age was roughly ten million years, not tell million years exact to the day.
Scientists talk about “significant figures”, the number of digits that are actually important and not just extra zeroes, e.g. 10000 has one (probably!) and 0.0103 has 3. So when someone says it’s 70°F they are probably rounding to two significant figures, so for the conversion you should do the same, i.e. 21°C. If they said it’s 70.0°F then you’d convert to 21.1°C.
Sure, it’s a simple unit conversion, but it’s a rough figure. When I say it’s 70 degrees, I’m not saying that it’s 70.000 degrees.
What I’m really saying is that it’s about 70 degrees, so the true temp could be between 69.6 and 70.4 degrees (I don’t know, I’m not looking at the thermometer that closely).
69.60 F = 20.89 C 70.40 F = 21.33 C
Turning my “70F” into “exactly 21.11111C” is just silly.
Did no one else learn about significant figures in grade school?!
-40
I’m in the US and it’s below freezing here & now. Do I need to translate that somehow?
Separation. Kevin Bacon wanted nothing to do with this.
sweet memory thanks :)
It’s slightly below freezing and snowing here in West-Central Indiana. We haven’t been above the 50s yet this Dember.
Now admittedly, the 50s in December is not the same as when I was a kid and we are definitely doing great damage to the Earth’s climate and biosphere, but saying kids aren’t going to grow up because of it is a bit hyperbolic.
Yes. It’s a facetious tweet… You are in a meme community. You’ll have to get used to seeing jokes here.
The Skywalkers always regretted their appearance on Maury
You’re right, we do get used to seeing information deliberately exaggerated for comedy and then taken seriously. It’s why the internet is so braindead.
No need to discourage people from getting the facts straight. Just agree and move on.
We’ve been over 50 north of you in southeast Michigan multiple times this December
Of course they are going to grow up. 20 years are nothing. Those are issues that will only start to get serious after that time. Which is exactly why so little is happening now.
Two years ago, a “once in a hundred years” wind storm downed trees that had been around for decades. Many of them fell on houses, garages, etc. Last year, the once in a hundred years wind storm took down even more. We haven’t had the every hundred year storm this year yet but I am expecting it. The issues are serious.
On a positive note, more of us are adding our voices and resources to combat the profiteers. Join us if you can.
That are not serious issues on the scale we are looking at (kids not going to grow up = all dead).
True, not quite there, but working on it.
I agree. Just look at how many blindly downvote me for stating the obvious. People want to live based on feelings instead of facts. A real issue in today’s society.
I’m in Indiana and it was 60 fricken two days ago.
Hush
I think the guy above you was calling out the fact that the picture in the post is using a temperature scale that is only used by very few countries as if it was the default for the Internet.
it didnt say degrees whatre u on about?
unless you cant use context clues to decipher a unit but blaming another country for existing isnt a proper exuse for your own shortcomings.