This is a bigger culture shock than the metric vs imperial system to me. - eviltoast
  • gamermanh@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    2 months ago

    In order to get symmetry, floor 0 should be the ground floor

    Floor 0 is “not in the building”, nobody calls first/ground “0” in reality

    Then, we apply your own logic of adding a floor on going up to include “going in” and vice versa for “going out” and we get why the US does it the way we do

      • gamermanh@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        2 months ago

        0 is nothing, non-existent, etc., so it represents not being in the building, where there is no floor (we call it ground)

        It’s the first floor that you encounter of a building, not the zeroeth floor you encounter

        Normal human convention is to count physical existing items from 1, I wouldn’t say I’m wearing 0 shirts right now at work for example, or that I’m wearing 1 shoe

        • fallingcats@discuss.tchncs.de
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          2 months ago

          Oh, you’re so close. Ground Zero is nothing, no elevation above or below ground level. The literal ground you walked on, into the building. You’re on ground level (outside) and then you’re on the ground floor (inside), as opposed to the American version where you suddenly “jump” to first floor once you’re in a building.

          • gamermanh@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            2 months ago

            The first floor of a building is usually on a foundation, raising it above ground level

            We call the thing you stand on outside ground and inside we call them floors, “ground floor” is silly