Comment on Every base is base 10
reiseno_@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 months agoYou can do base 12 on fingers! You count each of the 3 segments on each finger and ignore the thumb (you can use it to keep your place), so you can count up to 12 on just one hand! :)
frezik@midwest.social 6 months ago
This is why I’m not totally sold on the idea that we use base 10 because we have 10 fingers. There are a lot of ways to count with your fingers. Plus, there are many cultures throughout human history that use something else. Base 10 in modern times might just be a historical quirk.
teft@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Some societies used base 27 from counting body parts. Sumeria famously used base 60. It’s why minutes and hours are divided by 60
problematicPanther@lemmy.world 6 months ago
iirc, the reason that time is base 60 is because some ancient peoples figured out how to count to 60 on their fingers.
dukatos@lemm.ee 6 months ago
I can count to 1023 using both hands but only to 31 using one.