[ 3 / biz / cgl / ck / diy / fa / ic / jp / lit / sci / vr / vt ] [ index / top / reports ] [ become a patron ] [ status ]
2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/sci/ - Science & Math

View post   
File: 5 KB, 237x212, 36-42-12-19-07-2017-.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
9047642 No.9047642 [Reply] [Original]

What would've happened to math if we were born with six fingers on each hand & toe instead of five?

>> No.9047645

>>9047642
Uh... nothing? I don't understand how having an extra finger per hand and toe would change the way we saw math.

>> No.9047666

>>9047645
Think about it. How humans created letters for math in the first place, they used their fingers, 1 finger, 2 fingers etc...

The letter 0 has a value (which is nothing) but also signifies an end or a start of a new sequence of numbers. for example, the 0 in 10 is a sign that a new sequence have started which will im the number 19 and than 20 will symbol a new set of numbers.

So if we created our math letters with our fingers, we wouldve had to add two new number (their value would stay the same but the way we wouldve written those two numbers would be different).

>> No.9047669

>>9047642

We'd use base 12 instead of base 10. This would actually be better, since 12 has 4 divisors while 10 only has 2.

>> No.9047707

>>9047669
Hmmm youre correct. In fact, i think we wouldve advenced much more faster and eariler than expected.

>> No.9047720

The babylonians had 6 fingers, that's why they used base 60.

>> No.9047722

>>9047642
We might have it worse since the bigger amount of brainpower required to manipulate our hands would take more than it does today.

Or maybe this:
>>9047669

>> No.9047738

>>9047720
So 1 finger = to 10 by their logic?

>> No.9047741

>>9047720
They had twelve fingers on one hand and five on the other.

>> No.9047744

>>9047642
We would be able to encode 3072 more numbers with digit state.

>> No.9047745

>>9047738
Ops im an idiot

>> No.9047748

>>9047666
I would like to correct myself. We would only add one more new letter cause the 12th finger would have 0 in it.

>> No.9047754

>>9047741
I would imagine that 90% of the population didnt have 17 fingers on their arms.

>> No.9047768
File: 581 KB, 1320x966, hand binary counting.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
9047768

>Basing your bases on fingers.

Ndom: Base 6
Janji, Gbiri-Niragu, Piti, Nimbia, Chepang, Mahl: Base 12
Huli: Base 15
Muisca, Aztec, Maya: Base 20
Telefol, Oksapmin: Base 27
Babylonian/Mesopotamia: Base 60
Ngiti: Base 32 /w Base 4 cycle

>> No.9047782

>>9047669
found the american
only people that deal with 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 inches get excited over base 12

>> No.9047787
File: 4 KB, 622x626, bait.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
9047787

>>9047782

>> No.9047790

>>9047768
The only one that is relevant to anything is Babylon, and they're all dead.
The only reason we use base 10 is because 10 fingers.

>> No.9047798

>>9047707
Faster still if we had 4 fingers on each hand. 4 and 8 (and hex and base64 etc) are powers of 2 and binary math is superior for carrying out logic operations (and, or, not, xor).
All of the interesting math is between 0 and 1 (unit circle for example) and having a natural intuitive shorthand for base2 would've given us deeper, earlier insight into the math behind nature/reality.

>> No.9047840

>>9047798
How would you display& write large valued number with only 5 math symbols without making it too confusion?

For example, how would you write 795 million?

>> No.9047842

>>9047840

*5 math letters

>> No.9048333
File: 59 KB, 640x1136, IMG_3133.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
9048333

Sumerians used a base 12 system if I recall. That's why we have twenty four hours and sixty seconds as opposed to 10 hours and 100 seconds in metric time

>> No.9048563

>>9047642
We would unironically know all the secrets of the universe by now.

>> No.9048607

>>9047842
795 million in base 8 (octal) is
Base 8 (Octal): 5730536300

In hex and in based of higher powers of 2, that string of "digits" is shorter.

12 is not a power of 2. Yes, it has many factors, but base 2 (binary) and its higher powers shorthand is better IMO.

>> No.9048621

>>9047768
>this art
More proof Americans can't draw.

>> No.9048634

>>9048333
>not 100 hours

>> No.9048881

>>9048621
>can go to the moon
>can't draw
Good thing we have a Japanese puppet state full of people who can

>> No.9048890

>>9047642
why cant i understand different bases /sci/. I just cannot. Like i understand what i was taught, base 10, perfectly, but just cannot wrap my head around what the implications of a base 12 system would be. what would be the major societal changes?

>> No.9048900

>>9048890
inches would be more cool

>> No.9048912
File: 7 KB, 370x281, Bases.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
9048912

>>9047790
>he uses base ten

Kek

>> No.9048917

>>9047642
>born with six fingers on each hand & toe
>& toe

Well, you better find your personal cordwainer for starters.

>> No.9049231

>>9047748
So our number symbols 'might' be slightly different? Who cares? They'd all still mean the same thing.

>> No.9049236

>>9048881
TAKE THAT BACK!

>> No.9049284

>>9047768
I want to give a 4 to whoever drew that horrible art