4 ms·

I didn't read the article... but why 1 to 9? Is it because we have 10 fingers and 10 symbols that represent numbers? We're this numbers chosen for another reaso

I didn't read the article... but why 1 to 9? Is it because we have 10 fingers and 10 symbols that represent numbers? We're this numbers chosen for another reason?

andrepd 10y ago
There are 10 one-digit numbers in decimal. 0 is excluded because of obvious reasons, leaving numbers 1 through 9.
- monochromatic 10y ago
  In other words, yes, we use decimal because we have ten fingers.
  - saghm 10y ago
    Is that actually why base 10 became the norm? I've never really learned why exactly decimal was chosen, and I'd be interested in learning about what historical evidence there is for its origin.
    - throwaway982749 10y ago
      Well... there's evidence right there in the English language. dig·it [ˈdijit] NOUN 1) any of the numerals from 0 to 9, especially when forming part of a number. 2) a finger (including the thumb) or toe.
      - saghm 10y ago
        Right, but that doesn't really say anything about causation; there is definitely a linguistic link between the body parts and numerical digits in this word, but that could have easily developed after base ten became common for other reasons.
    - nullc 10y ago
      It's often claimed, but I'm not aware of any strong evidence for it. In particular, since our hands can show "10" the natural base this would imply is base _11_ and not 10. Another argument I've heard presented is that since 10 is divisible by 2 and 5 this simplifies many common calculations. There were groups in the past advocating use of other bases (in particular 12 but also 16). The mayan's number system is base 20 (though the digits are are drawn out of sub digits in base-5).
      - saghm 10y ago
        > Another argument I've heard presented is that since 10 is divisible by 2 and 5 this simplifies many common calculations. To me, it always seemed like 5 was only a common number because of its place in base 10, not the other way around. There doesn't seem to be any reason that 2 and 5 would have been chosen as more significant than 2 and 3 or 2 and 7.
      - jon_richards 10y ago
        >In particular, since our hands can show "10" the natural base this would imply is base _11_ and not 10. I'd disagree. Having base 10 allows us to easily imagine 60 as 6 people worth of fingers.
      - saghm 10y ago
        > The mayan's number system is base 20 (though the digits are are drawn out of sub digits in base-5). I think I remember learning in school that one of the ancient Mesopotamian civilizations (Sumerian, I think, but I could be wrong) used 60 as the basis for their system because it was divisible by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
      - andrepd 10y ago
        11? How so? If I have 10 fingers I can count from 1 to 10. When I start again I count from 11 to 20. Again from 21 to 30. In base 11 it would go 1 to A, 10 to 19, 1A to 28, etc. It doesn't make sense.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
  - nicolas314 10y ago
    Many civilizations used base 12, most probably because you can count 12 phalanges using your thumb. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duodecimal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duodecimal

I didn't read the article... but why 1 to 9? Is it because we have 10 fingers and 10 symbols that represent numbers? We're this numbers chosen for another reason?

andrepd 10y ago

There are 10 one-digit numbers in decimal. 0 is excluded because of obvious reasons, leaving numbers 1 through 9.

monochromatic 10y ago
In other words, yes, we use decimal because we have ten fingers.
- saghm 10y ago
  Is that actually why base 10 became the norm? I've never really learned why exactly decimal was chosen, and I'd be interested in learning about what historical evidence there is for its origin.
  - throwaway982749 10y ago
    Well... there's evidence right there in the English language. dig·it [ˈdijit] NOUN 1) any of the numerals from 0 to 9, especially when forming part of a number. 2) a finger (including the thumb) or toe.
    - saghm 10y ago
      Right, but that doesn't really say anything about causation; there is definitely a linguistic link between the body parts and numerical digits in this word, but that could have easily developed after base ten became common for other reasons.
  - nullc 10y ago
    It's often claimed, but I'm not aware of any strong evidence for it. In particular, since our hands can show "10" the natural base this would imply is base _11_ and not 10. Another argument I've heard presented is that since 10 is divisible by 2 and 5 this simplifies many common calculations. There were groups in the past advocating use of other bases (in particular 12 but also 16). The mayan's number system is base 20 (though the digits are are drawn out of sub digits in base-5).
    - saghm 10y ago
      > Another argument I've heard presented is that since 10 is divisible by 2 and 5 this simplifies many common calculations. To me, it always seemed like 5 was only a common number because of its place in base 10, not the other way around. There doesn't seem to be any reason that 2 and 5 would have been chosen as more significant than 2 and 3 or 2 and 7.
    - jon_richards 10y ago
      >In particular, since our hands can show "10" the natural base this would imply is base _11_ and not 10. I'd disagree. Having base 10 allows us to easily imagine 60 as 6 people worth of fingers.
    - saghm 10y ago
      > The mayan's number system is base 20 (though the digits are are drawn out of sub digits in base-5). I think I remember learning in school that one of the ancient Mesopotamian civilizations (Sumerian, I think, but I could be wrong) used 60 as the basis for their system because it was divisible by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
    - andrepd 10y ago
      11? How so? If I have 10 fingers I can count from 1 to 10. When I start again I count from 11 to 20. Again from 21 to 30. In base 11 it would go 1 to A, 10 to 19, 1A to 28, etc. It doesn't make sense.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
- nicolas314 10y ago
  Many civilizations used base 12, most probably because you can count 12 phalanges using your thumb. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duodecimal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duodecimal