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Faldage #174403 03/10/08 12:04 AM
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Originally Posted By: Faldage
One way to derive a base twelve system from finger counting is to count on the knuckles.

base 14 if you include the thumb

Zed #174406 03/10/08 10:09 AM
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When I'm finger-counting base twelve I use the thumb as the counter. It's done on the outside of the hand and starts with the thumb on the tip of the index finger for one, to the first knuckle for two to the second knuckle for three, to the tip of the middle finger for four, etc. When I finger-count base sixteen I start with the thumb on the tip of the little for one, the distal knuckle, palm side, for two, the pendistal knuckle for three, the base of the finger for four, the tip of the ring finger for five, etc. I won't bore you with finger-counting base forty-eight; I never do it anyway, except to show that it can be done.

Faldage #174441 03/10/08 05:28 PM
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I use the chisanbop system to count on my fingers up to 99. I've seen demonstrations of children doing multiplication and division using it, but I haven't taken the time to learn it.

Non-cartoon rabbits have 5 digits ( Watership Down's numbering system - 5 or greater = thousands (hrair) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magical_Number_Seven,_Plus_or_Minus_Two ).

I assume that like other canines, foxes have 4 toes and a dew claw.

Myridon #174466 03/11/08 12:22 AM
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I just take my shoes off if it gets above 10.
edited cos I started to think about this some more.
Actually that is a cool way to count but do you have different words for the numbers? (serious question) Base 10 actually has words for one thru twelve but betrays its baseness with thirteen (three +ten) and up. What do you call twelve +one in base twelve? The next major change in base 10 would be 20 (2x10). The equivalent whether written as twenty-four or 24 is by the notation/name linked back to base 10.
In order to work in base anything-other-than-ten do people use other names to keep it straight? Or does anyone other than Hal work in other bases?

Last edited by Zed; 03/11/08 12:40 AM.
Zed #174474 03/11/08 01:22 AM
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>Or does anyone other than Hal work in other bases?

people who work *with Hal use base two, eight, and sixteen.
two and eight are simplistic (base two : 1,10 and eight = 1-7,10)
base sixteen took rather more imagination : 1-9,A,B,C,D,E,F,10

I don't know about 'speaking' base twelve, it doesn't seem very practical.

tsuwm #174484 03/11/08 03:16 AM
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Originally Posted By: tsuwm
>Or does anyone other than Hal work in other bases?


Did you mean H.A.L. 9000?

tsuwm #174499 03/11/08 08:35 AM
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Originally Posted By: tsuwm

I don't know about 'speaking' base twelve, it doesn't seem very practical.

It ain't practical unless you got Six fingers, lima oscar lima. However hexadecimal has an older more universal appeal.

olly #174504 03/11/08 11:16 AM
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Originally Posted By: olly

It ain't practical unless you got Six fingers, lima oscar lima. However hexadecimal has an older more universal appeal.


Originally Posted By: Faldage
When I'm finger-counting base twelve I use the thumb as the counter. It's done on the outside of the hand and starts with the thumb on the tip of the index finger for one, to the first knuckle for two to the second knuckle for three, to the tip of the middle finger for four, etc.


I still don't do it very much. Naming would be simple enough if I did:

1 one
2 two
3 three
4 four
5 five
6 six
7 seven
8 eight
9 nine
A ten
B eleven
10 onety
11 onety-one
12 onety-two
.
.
.
A0 tenty
A1 tenty-one
.
.
.
B0 eleventy
B1 eleventy-one
.
.
.
BB eleventy-eleven
.
.
.

I'm more likely to count base sixteen, though. I do it whenever the local County Legislature has a vote in one of their meetings. It takes eight ayes to pass a measure, regardless of how many are attending the meeting and that comes out to reaching the tip of my ring finger. I use the right hand for ayes and the left hand for nays.

olly #174517 03/11/08 02:44 PM
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It ain't practical unless you got Six fingers

Many cultures move past counting on their fingers. The Sumerians (and later the Babylonians) and the Maya had non-decimal numeric systems The former used base-60 (sexagesimal) and the latter base-20 (vigesmal).


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
zmjezhd #174527 03/11/08 10:04 PM
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What's the evidence that the Sumerians and Babylonians used base 60 for ordinary counting? Is that true or just conjecture based on things like their calendars etc?

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