• yetiftw@lemmy.world
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    9 days ago

    absolute scales are still arbitrary. you would probably want to use a scale that measures “perceived heat” which is different than average kinetic energy

    • KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      8 days ago

      Kelvin is just our word for it, but that is the point of “no heat”. It isn’t arbitrary, there is no “negative kelvin” just like you cannot make something colder than absolute zero.

      So if you take the difference between “coldest possible temp” and “average summer temp”, then slice it in half, you’re getting temperatures that would kill most life on earth.

      • frezik@midwest.social
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        8 days ago

        Just to nitpick, there are negative kelvins. I don’t really understand it, myself, but I know it exists due to the specifics of how temperature is defined. Negative kelvins are actually extremely hot.

      • yetiftw@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        just because it has a reason doesn’t make it not arbitrary. you can ultimately come up with a reason for all arbitrary decisions

        • frezik@midwest.social
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          8 days ago

          Is there a way to distinguish between arbitrary and non-arbitrary? Or is literally everything ever arbitrary?

            • frezik@midwest.social
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              3 days ago

              Then what’s the point of even calling it arbitrary? If it covers everything, then there’s no reason for the word.

              • yetiftw@lemmy.world
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                17 hours ago

                that’s not true. there are things that are not definitions. like my bed for instance, there are aspects that are arbitrary (my personal preferences, design choices, etc) and aspects that are not arbitrary (its physical form that exists beyond definition)