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> If you multiply in base 18 Why would anyone be expected to multiply in base 18? Why 18? Where does it come from?
by CodeCompost 5mo ago
> If you multiply in base 18
Why would anyone be expected to multiply in base 18? Why 18? Where does it come from?
- quuxplusone 5mo agoTo paraphrase Tom Lehrer: Base 18 is just like base 20... if you're missing two toes! At least that mathematical interpretation does hold up logically all the way to the punch line (even if the interpretation wasn't obviously intended by Carroll). The following section on the Tea Party is just nonsensical slop.
- croes 5mo agoIt comes from the result 4*5 = 12 is either wrong or base 18
- debugnik 5mo agoMakes more sense to me that 4*n here means n+7, which fits the pattern and would make her stop at 12+7=19, one short of 20, because Anglosphere countries teach multiplication tables up to 12. (I definitely didn't get this until I read the rest of the comments here. This is apparently explained in The Annotated Alice.)