> The first one is to split a batch of something: there's more ways to split 12 of something than 10 of something, but you can use base 10 and still do things i

> The first one is to split a batch of something: there's more ways to split 12 of something than 10 of something, but you can use base 10 and still do things in batches of 12. I think you minimize how useful that is. If I am at the grocery store and want to figure out how much something is relative to something else, I have to divide quantity by price for two different things, which is annoying to do when you only have 1/2 and 1/5 be round numbers. When splitting a check between people the same thing applies. Just because we have credit cards and calculators doesn't mean these abilities aren't useful, or wouldn't have been useful for the vast majority of human existence. I mean, British money was on a 12 / 20 basis up until the 1970s, and Romans used 12 which is still present in US measures. So obviously people found it useful. It is by chance and history that we ended up basing SI units on decimals -- it could have easily been 12 if say a few French scientists who would have convinced the rest hadn't had their heads chopped during the revolution or whatever.