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

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 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

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

iirc, the reason that time is base 60 is because some ancient peoples figured out how to count to 60 on their fingers.

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

I can count to 1023 using both hands but only to 31 using one.