this post was submitted on 24 May 2024
1186 points (97.6% liked)

Science Memes

11448 readers
1896 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.

Rules

  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
  2. Keep it rooted (on topic).
  3. No spam.
  4. Infographics welcome, get schooled.

This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.

Research Committee

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
1186
Every base is base 10 (lemmy.world)
submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
196 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (4 children)

Can't do base 12 on fingers. I prefer base 8.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 7 months ago (2 children)

You can do base 12 on fingers! You count each of the 3 segments on each finger and ignore the thumb (you can use it to keep your place), so you can count up to 12 on just one hand! :)

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago (2 children)

This is why I'm not totally sold on the idea that we use base 10 because we have 10 fingers. There are a lot of ways to count with your fingers. Plus, there are many cultures throughout human history that use something else. Base 10 in modern times might just be a historical quirk.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

iirc, the reason that time is base 60 is because some ancient peoples figured out how to count to 60 on their fingers.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

I can count to 1023 using both hands but only to 31 using one.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Some societies used base 27 from counting body parts. Sumeria famously used base 60. It’s why minutes and hours are divided by 60

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

8 fingered Johnny...

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

Base 6. One hand and a arm. Let's me get all the way to 41.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Just add left arm, right arm to it or, if you're a guy nose and dick.

Certainly, especially the male version, it would make the visual act of counting far more funny to watch.

I think I'm starting to warm up to the whole base 12 idea...