Conversation

Notices

1. Embed this notice
   ?? Humpleupagus ?? (humpleupagus@eveningzoo.club)'s status on Friday, 11-Apr-2025 18:55:57 JST ?? Humpleupagus ??

   in reply to

   • sj_zero
   • Cuddly Lovely Sassy Motherfucker
   I use base 1. It makes the math really easy.
   • Embed this notice
     Cuddly Lovely Sassy Motherfucker (themadpirate@detroitriotcity.com)'s status on Friday, 11-Apr-2025 18:55:58 JST Cuddly Lovely Sassy Motherfucker

     in reply to

     • sj_zero
     @sj_zero 60 is divisible by 12, not 24. 120 is divisible by 60.
   • Embed this notice
     sj_zero (sj_zero@social.fbxl.net)'s status on Friday, 11-Apr-2025 18:55:59 JST sj_zero
     Honestly, using base 10 for everything is actually super recent in historical terms.
     
     For a lot of things throughout history going back the babylonians, things were base 60, the babylonians were base 24, and a lot of stuff in English history is based around these as well, which is why you'd have "sixpence" -- their entire money system was base 240 or something nuts like that. So the idea that other cultures would set up their number naming conventions on another base than 10 then look strange because of it isn't so insane.
     
     We use base 60 more in our lives than you think -- 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours (which is divisible by 60) in a day, 360 degrees in a circle.
     
     If you think about it, it makes some sense -- in a world before calculators, having a base that can be divided in many ways without getting into long division would be quite efficient, even if it doesn't match our number of fingers (or the number system we're using)