Comment on Every base is base 10

• Wanderer@lemm.ee ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  There are 12 sections on your fingers (excluding your thumb) you then use your thumb to count to 12 on one hand.

  Two hands can allow you to count to 24. Which is way higher than 10. Base 12 is better!

  source

  • BudgetBandit@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Binary’s the way. 1023 with 10 fingers

    source

    • techt@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I like the idea of some numbers being popular hand gestures.

      4 - Fuck you 17 - Shaka (hang loose) 18 - Metal horns 19 - “I love you” 132 - Double fuck you

      source
  • venoft@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    With 2 hands you can count to 144.

    source

    • lenuup@reddthat.com ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      156. 12*12 on one hand + 12 on the other one

      source
  • Khrux@ttrpg.network ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Bold of you to assume I’d ever remember this counting technique. Hell I’m shocked I remember counting my fingers for base 10…

    source
  • Skua@kbin.social ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Use the other hand to count twelves! Each time you fill up one hand, add one to the other. That way you can get all the way to 156, which is probably more than you'd ever want to count one by one anyway

    source
  • Kuragi2@lemmynsfw.com ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    To be fair, you should be comparing 2 hands in base 12 to 2 hands in base 10, I. E. 20:24. Still a real difference, but not the 10:24 difference you pointed out.

    source
• Cethin@lemmy.zip ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Binary is very good for counting with your fingers. With both hands you can count to 1023. One hand is 31, which is still usually more than you typically need to count.

  source

  • Daft_ish@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I made it to 27 on my first attempt, so def messed up somewhere. Also, my fingers don’t want to work that way.

    Doable.

    source

    • Cethin@lemmy.zip ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I agree it can feel weird, but first this isn’t how we are used to doing it so it hard to compare, and also normally we want our fingers in very precise positions (probably because it’s easier to show other people). When doing binary I feel it’s easier to ignore precise positions. I just use the half of my finger after the middle knuckle and let my fingers move as they please. We only need to track up or down, so it doesn’t need to be precise.

      Practice helps. I’m not good at it, but I can manage it fine at this point. For sure it’d doable, but I rarely have to count, and when I do I can generally do it in my head fine. I could see myself using it maybe if tracking a large number over a long time, but I don’t see that case ever coming up organically.

      source
    • chellomere@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Also 4 might insult people, and some conservatives may take issues with 18.

      source
• rockerface@lemm.ee ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  When was the last time you’ve actually needed to count something on your fingers?

  source

  • GiveOver@feddit.uk ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    ✌🏻 days ago

    source
  • Skua@kbin.social ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I find it useful if I'm counting only specific instances of something that meet some criteria. That way my brain can focus on picking out the right things and not have to worry about keeping the current count in mind. I use the method with your thumb on each segment of your fingers though, so you can get up to twelve with one hand and 144 with both

    source
• frezik@midwest.social ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Billions of years ago, our collective great-great-great-[several million more]-grandparent evolved a fin with a five bone structure. That idiot didn’t know anything about common denominators, and now we’re stuck with this numeric system that can’t divide things into thirds without causing issues.

  source

  • Danquebec@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Vertebrates appeared less than a billion years ago.

    source