this post was submitted on 24 May 2024
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Every base is base 10 (lemmy.world)
submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] lowleveldata 30 points 6 months ago (3 children)

50 years? I bet we couldn't even agree on how to write "11" & "12" on such short notice. (See: date format, encoding, etc)

[–] [email protected] 18 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Well we write 12 like this: 10

It's easy

[–] lowleveldata 6 points 6 months ago

oops I mean "10" & "11"

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago (3 children)

we could just go with the hexidecimal way and go with A,B,C for 10,11 and 12

[–] [email protected] 16 points 6 months ago (2 children)

No, 12 in base 12 is 10, not C. But yes, 10 can be A and 11 can be B

[–] drcobaltjedi 24 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Dude's out here trying to get us to use base 13.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago (4 children)

Why not?

Why not use a large prime as the base?

[–] drcobaltjedi 8 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Honnest answer, 1/2 in DEC is 0.5 easy. 1/2 in base 13 is .6666666666.... Easy but ugly. You want a base that has comon fractions easily represented by decimals. People like dozenal since many fractions are easily represented. 1/2 = 0.6, 1/3 = 0.4, 1/4 = 0.3

I'm personally a fan of hexidecimal partly because I'm a programmer and partially because it can be halved several times

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

it's almost like you'd have to use a different notation system to express a different base...

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Is 1/2 in base 13 not 0.65?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

No, because the 5 in your answer is thinking in decimal. 0.05 is not the half of 0.1 in base 13.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

Ahh yes, let’s introduce floating point rounding errors for one half. Sounds fun.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

Lets use base Pi and put an end to that infinite digit bullshit.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Why use a fixed base? Or why not use an irrational number like e, the most efficient base

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

I still think some largish prime, like 37 hits the perfect spot of being usable enough for people to use, but still useless enough to stop almost everybody from learning any advanced math.

But yeah, making integers non-representable is a serious trade-off that deserves consideration.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

ah right, thanks

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago

That's pretty confusing in algebra, maybe normal sentences too

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

Over my dead body.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

The current standard seems to be an upside down 2 and 3

[–] lowleveldata 4 points 6 months ago (1 children)

An upsidedown 3 is just a 3...?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

Rotated, not flipped.