test
06 Dec 2013, 1:57 pm
06 Dec 2013, 2:03 pm
06 Dec 2013, 3:10 pm
Shatbat wrote:
Max000 wrote:
I have always liked the number 12, for that reason. I've always thought that 12 should be the number 10 and there should be two additional digits.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, X, Y, 10
Math would be so much simpler. But no, we are stuck with 10 being the base number. Because the dumb people have to be able to count on their fingers.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, X, Y, 10
Math would be so much simpler. But no, we are stuck with 10 being the base number. Because the dumb people have to be able to count on their fingers.
I dunno, I do use my fingers to count sometimes; although I wouldn't consider myself "dumb", I've got a really awful memory
. Perhaps another base would be more convenient for calculations, but base 10 is probably more convenient for everyday tasks, and our 10 fingers also make it more natural. A base 12 would make division by 5 less straightforward, so it's not a total win. Btw I was taught there was actually a 12-base numeration system, that came from having three phalanges in each of our four fingers, excluding the thumb which was used to count. If my sources are right the 60 second minute, 60 minute hour and 24 hour day might have an origin there.Sorry I din't mean anything with the "dumb" comment. I count on my fingers sometimes too. I just think that it is dumb that we have a number system based on ten, for no other reason then, that we have ten fingers. When other numbers would work better.
12 Dec 2013, 2:11 pm
12 Dec 2013, 5:19 pm
13 Dec 2013, 6:27 am
13 Dec 2013, 6:28 am
13 Dec 2013, 5:08 pm
Max000 wrote:
Shatbat wrote:
I also like multiples of 12. Easily divisible by 2, 3 and 4
I have always liked the number 12, for that reason. I've always thought that 12 should be the number 10 and there should be two additional digits.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, X, Y, 10
Math would be so much simpler. But no, we are stuck with 10 being the base number. Because the dumb people have to be able to count on their fingers.
I guess if we had 12 fingers we'd be using a base-12 number system! I indeed like, in addition to the powers of two that are so important in computer science, highly composite numbers like 12. 60 is even better, which is why, like Shatbat said, we have 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in an hour. And 360 degrees in a circle, for that matter. 60 is divisible by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20 and 30.
The intriguing thing about powers of two is that NONE are divisible by 3, 5, 7, 11 or any other prime. Expressing these numbers as 2^n IS, in fact, expressing their prime factorization!
Oh, and guess what you get when you multiply 60 by 7, giving a number divisible by that prime as well?
05 Oct 2014, 6:01 am
05 Oct 2014, 7:40 am
06 Oct 2014, 2:02 pm
06 Oct 2014, 2:08 pm
superluminary wrote:
I did this at lunchtime today. Can't tell you how warm it made me feel inside 
(0..256).each {|i| puts "#{i}: #{2**i}"}
(0..256).each {|i| puts "#{i}: #{2**i}"}
i get an intellectual stiffy just looking at it.
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