system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[ELI5] why do stoves use meaningless scales on their dials?

1-6 & Hi? Low-Hi and Hi+ on the power burner? Watts or rate of fuel flow would provide an easier basis of comparison between stoves and make cooking far more consistent.
gpt
The arbitrary scales are easy to implement and easy to understand. Using a "real" unit like watts or fuel flow would take extra instrumentation and careful calibration and, even then, would not give you consistent cooking because you care about how much energy gets transferred to the food, which is extremely strongly influenced by the shape of the burner, the shape of the flames, and the cooking vessel.