• Wanderer
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    24 days ago

    Can we all use base 12?

    It will be a shower of shit for like 50 years but then it will be marginally better for pretty much everyone.

    • ted@sh.itjust.works
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      24 days ago

      42* years. Centuries are now 84 years. We are living in the 19th century! I rate this idea 12/12.

    • lowleveldata@programming.dev
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      24 days ago

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

    • Khrux@ttrpg.network
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      24 days ago

      Some people argue that it would be harder to count on your fingers but we could just surgically give everyone more?

      • Wanderer
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        24 days 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!

          • techt@lemmy.world
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            24 days 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

        • Khrux@ttrpg.network
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          24 days 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…

        • Skua@kbin.social
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          24 days 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

        • Kuragi2@lemmynsfw.com
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          24 days 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.

      • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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        24 days 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. It’s also trivial to do once you know how binary works. It takes very little thought, though potentially the decoding could take a bit depending on your proficiency.

        • Daft_ish@lemmy.world
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          24 days 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.

          • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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            24 days 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.

      • rockerface
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        24 days ago

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

        • Skua@kbin.social
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          24 days 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 156 with both

      • frezik@midwest.social
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        24 days 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.

    • Nafeon@pawb.social
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      24 days ago

      This would be great. I was researching why we don’t have 10 based clocks and then I saw a video about why a 12 and 60 based system is actually much more convenient and now I would love a ‘dozen based metric system’

      • Wanderer
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        23 days ago

        Every civilised country on earth uses metric.

        Only the really shitty ones use imperial. Imperial is just stupid (unless you count in base 12 ironically)

    • FreeFacts@sopuli.xyz
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      24 days ago

      Why base 12 though? Base 16 is even better. And base 60 is even better than that!

      • frezik@midwest.social
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        24 days ago

        Common denominators. You can divide base 12 into half, thirds, fourths, and sixths and still use integers. I find thirds to be particularly useful, so base 16 is out. Base 60 can do it, but that’s getting unweildly.

        • Aceticon@lemmy.world
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          24 days ago

          There are no common denominators in base 12 that you can’t use in base 84, and the latter also has 7 as a common denominator.

          I, for one, vote for changing our base to 84.

          • reiseno_@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            24 days ago

            You 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
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              24 days 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
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                24 days 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

                • dukatos
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                  24 days ago

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

          • Aceticon@lemmy.world
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            24 days ago

            Just add left arm, right arm to it or, if you’re a guy nose and dick.

            Certainly, especially the male version, it would make the visual act of counting far more funny to watch.

            I think I’m starting to warm up to the whole base 12 idea…

    • Xanthrax@lemmy.world
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      24 days ago

      That’s Acadian, right? It was originally based on the number of easy to count bones in your fingers (12-24)