4 ms·
> eventually mastered an entirely new digit system (where ⌊ stood for 2, ⌈ for 8, etc.) Why invent a specialized number system? How difficult would it have bee
by aaron-santos 6y ago
> eventually mastered an entirely new digit system (where ⌊ stood for 2, ⌈ for 8, etc.)
Why invent a specialized number system? How difficult would it have been to teach him Chinese numerals for example.
Also very curious on his perception of Roman numerals.
- henriquemaia 6y agoBrilliant. Roman numerals are, after all, just letters. The "why haven't they used them?" becomes pretty jarring once you think about it.
- rocqua 6y agoRoman numerals are a lot harder to do arithmetic with.
- henriquemaia 6y agoTrue. Maybe that's the reason why they chose that new system.
- Sharlin 6y agoRoman numerals are not a place-value system and you can’t make a computer use Roman numerals just by switching to a custom font.
- scatters 6y agoOpenType font shaping is shockingly powerful ([e.g.](https://blog.janestreet.com/commas-in-big-numbers-everywhere/) https://blog.janestreet.com/commas-in-big-numbers-everywhere...), so I'd be surprised if someone hasn't made a Roman numeral font already.
- Sharlin 6y agoHeh, I knew I should have said something about OpenType shenanigans :)
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]