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> Having 10 fingers probably helps. Yes, so we can count to 31 on one hand. Somehow, no civilization invented a base-32 notation.
by laurent92 5y ago
> Having 10 fingers probably helps.
Yes, so we can count to 31 on one hand. Somehow, no civilization invented a base-32 notation.
- bobsmooth 5y agoA few civilizations have used base 60 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexagesimal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexagesimal
- bee_rider 5y agoThe idea of counting to 12 by pointing to knuckles is something I hadn't encountered before, and really neat. Kinda surprised base-12 didn't end up dominating. Having so many factors would have made division so much more convenient for mental math, and it is only 2 extra characters to remember.
- bee_rider 5y agoI don't think the choice of base is really dependent on finger encoding efficiency. Going 0-5 on a hand has the advantage that we only really care about the "last" finger. Anyway, if we really want to go crazy, the knuckle and first joint on (my, at least) fingers can be controlled somewhat independently, so I think we can fit in 4 states per finger: | _ | | __ _ |
- sipos 5y agoYou might be able to. Personally I can't raise my ring finger without my little/pinkie finger also being raised. Also, some numbers in finger binary are liable to get you punched if shown the wrong way round.
- flo123456 5y agoTry using that to explain arithmetic to a child. In a base-10 system the explanation is as simple as holding up both hands and then holding up the number of fingers for each hand you want them to add. The kid can count and intuitively learn how to add up two numbers. It’s really simple and really efficient.