3 ms·
Use a finger on your right hand to point to a joint/pad on your left hand (not including the left thumb). First, your right index finger goes through 12 values,
by yencabulator 3y ago
Use a finger on your right hand to point to a joint/pad on your left hand (not including the left thumb). First, your right index finger goes through 12 values, then your right middle finger goes through the next 12 values, and so on. 5*12 = 60.
- riffraff 3y agoBut why not include the thumb? If you count using the thumb it makes sense, but if you use the other hand why would you skip it?
- yencabulator 3y agoMaybe because base-60 has some numerological property that makes it easier to use than base-72? All I can think of off-hand is that 60/5=12 while you can't divide 72 evenly by 5. 72 wins at dividing by 8 & 9, but it might be more rare to split a pile of things into that many. 60's divisors connect more neatly back to base-10, but that's probably a modern era concern, not valid back then. Also, your thumb has one fewer exposed joint/pad -- the base sort of blends in with the palm, the final joint is much further down -- so they might have felt it's "different".