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>> If we were really smart, we'd switch from base 10 to base 12 But I only have 10 fingers! On a practical note, wouldn't that mean inventing 2 new symbols to

>> If we were really smart, we'd switch from base 10 to base 12 But I only have 10 fingers! On a practical note, wouldn't that mean inventing 2 new symbols to represent 10 and 11 as single digits, otherwise I could see that getting very confusing. You could't really use A and B, as then some people would be unable to find the correct seat on an airplane.

zeveb 11y ago
> But I only have 10 fingers! That's why I mentioned counting on the finger-joints :-) > On a practical note, wouldn't that mean inventing 2 new symbols to represent 10 and 11 Already been done, over a hundred years ago, and they're even in Unicode already[1]! [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duodecimal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duodecimal
- slavik81 11y ago
  Very cool. There are a few notations, but it seems the most popular one uses rotated digits (like 6 and 9). 10 is a rotated 2 (ᘔ) 11 is a rotated 3 (Ɛ)
scoates 11y ago
You have 12 finger segments per hand. "Finger-counting systems in use in many regions of Asia allow the counting to 12 by using a single hand."[0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finger-counting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finger-counting (Edit: silly me and trying to use Markdown)
epimetheus 11y ago
10 fingers, and two hands, so you could count raising your hand up to count as one, then 5 fingers, then the other hand, and 5 more fingers. I agree about the symbols, though.
rglovejoy 11y ago
There was an episode of "Schoolhouse Rock" that was about just this ("Little Twelvetoes"). After the number nine, they suggested two new numbers, "dek" and "ell", and for "10", call it "doe".
arh68 11y ago
What about X and E? (pronounced deck and ell) There are other symbols you could use instead of ASCII if you really wanted to distinguish them (like chi & epsilon). You can count to 10 with 5 fingers with not much practice (look up Chisanbop); I think most kids could pick up counting to 12 on their finger joints pretty quickly.

zeveb 11y ago

> But I only have 10 fingers! That's why I mentioned counting on the finger-joints :-) > On a practical note, wouldn't that mean inventing 2 new symbols to represent 10 and 11 Already been done, over a hundred years ago, and they're even in Unicode already[1]! [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duodecimal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duodecimal

slavik81 11y ago
Very cool. There are a few notations, but it seems the most popular one uses rotated digits (like 6 and 9). 10 is a rotated 2 (ᘔ) 11 is a rotated 3 (Ɛ)

scoates 11y ago

You have 12 finger segments per hand. "Finger-counting systems in use in many regions of Asia allow the counting to 12 by using a single hand."[0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finger-counting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finger-counting (Edit: silly me and trying to use Markdown)

epimetheus 11y ago

10 fingers, and two hands, so you could count raising your hand up to count as one, then 5 fingers, then the other hand, and 5 more fingers. I agree about the symbols, though.

rglovejoy 11y ago

There was an episode of "Schoolhouse Rock" that was about just this ("Little Twelvetoes"). After the number nine, they suggested two new numbers, "dek" and "ell", and for "10", call it "doe".

arh68 11y ago

What about X and E? (pronounced deck and ell) There are other symbols you could use instead of ASCII if you really wanted to distinguish them (like chi & epsilon). You can count to 10 with 5 fingers with not much practice (look up Chisanbop); I think most kids could pick up counting to 12 on their finger joints pretty quickly.