>"Just as zero degrees celsius is a special number in thermodynamics," wrote Fredrickson in Positivity, "the 3-to-1 positivity ratio may well be a magic number in human psychology."
Well this statement still stands.
Well this statement still stands.
0C is at least special in in that important human systems of measurement are based on it. The 3-to-1 ratio is just some ill-fated psych superstition. It resembles the Celsius scale only by being a cultural construct. But by that measure it also resembles South Park and the MS-DOS kernel.
And that's ignoring the fact that 0C is actually physically significant, since it is (to a good approximation) the melting point of water over a very large range of pressures.
Maybe 0K (Kelvin) is special, since that implies zero gas entropy, but 0C doesn't have any magical properties.
[1] Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pressure_melting_point
Neither are special.