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  3. Why (western) humans use the decimal system?

Why (western) humans use the decimal system?

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  • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

    Well, he was an alcoholic! Bruce's Song[^]

    Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

    L Offline
    L Offline
    Lost User
    wrote on last edited by
    #13

    Of course now I'm absolutely clear about it :laugh: :wtf: :laugh:

    It does not solve my Problem, but it answers my question

    1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • L Lost User

      strange you are all, fingers have 8

      Signature ready for installation. Please Reboot now.

      OriginalGriffO Offline
      OriginalGriffO Offline
      OriginalGriff
      wrote on last edited by
      #14

      public class Finger
      {
      ...
      }
      public class Thumb : Finger
      {
      ...
      }

      Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

      "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
      "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt

      D D 2 Replies Last reply
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      • L Lost User

        Is it really because we have ten fingers? Would it then not be more logical to use then a system based on 11?:confused: :laugh: Btw: I'm Aware, it took a longer time to recognize that "Zero" also exists. From what I remember it was somebody from India who recognized this fact first. [Edit] Try to imagine we would have only one finger...

        It does not solve my Problem, but it answers my question

        C Offline
        C Offline
        CPallini
        wrote on last edited by
        #15

        0x01AA wrote:

        Is it really because we have ten fingers?

        That's it, I guess, a sane application of the KISS principle (crazy people like Boole, found simpler counting with the arms).

        L 1 Reply Last reply
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        • C CPallini

          0x01AA wrote:

          Is it really because we have ten fingers?

          That's it, I guess, a sane application of the KISS principle (crazy people like Boole, found simpler counting with the arms).

          L Offline
          L Offline
          Lost User
          wrote on last edited by
          #16

          I know about another bool System, especally invented by (hu)man ;P :laugh: (I agree this is more soapbox now, sorry...)

          It does not solve my Problem, but it answers my question

          C 1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

            Quote:

            Roman Numerals are a non-positional notation

            Roman numbers don't depend for value on their relative distance from the decimal point like ours does: they had different markers for Ten, Fifty, Hundred, and so on (until they needed really big numbers, when they started using bars over the number which multiplied it by 1000).

            Quote:

            incorporate base #5, as well as base #10

            They used a kinda composite system , which used both base five (V, L, D) as well as base ten (X, C, M). Division in roman numbers was ... um ... interesting. whi8ch might have been why they used abaci (though we have no idea if they invented it or teh Chinese, they both used very similar devices).

            Quote:

            Romans used a duo-decimal system for fractions

            I didn't know that!

            Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

            L Offline
            L Offline
            Lost User
            wrote on last edited by
            #17

            Everything clear now, at least after I a take two or three pints :laugh:

            It does not solve my Problem, but it answers my question

            1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • L Lost User

              I know about another bool System, especally invented by (hu)man ;P :laugh: (I agree this is more soapbox now, sorry...)

              It does not solve my Problem, but it answers my question

              C Offline
              C Offline
              CPallini
              wrote on last edited by
              #18

              Quote:

              I know about another bool System

              Boob system, we call it.

              B 1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • L Lost User

                Holy ... whatever, can you please explain what you are discussing about in "my" thread :laugh:

                It does not solve my Problem, but it answers my question

                B Offline
                B Offline
                BillWoodruff
                wrote on last edited by
                #19

                0x01AA wrote:

                explain what you are discussing

                Re-read the title of your post, then re-read the links in my post. If you're still confused, don't feel you need to tell me :)

                «... thank the gods that they have made you superior to those events which they have not placed within your own control, rendered you accountable for that only which is within you own control For what, then, have they made you responsible? For that which is alone in your own power—a right use of things as they appear.» Discourses of Epictetus Book I:12

                L 1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                  public class Finger
                  {
                  ...
                  }
                  public class Thumb : Finger
                  {
                  ...
                  }

                  Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

                  D Offline
                  D Offline
                  Daniel Pfeffer
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #20

                  Fingers eight Yoda has.

                  Ad astra - both ways!

                  J 1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • L Lost User

                    Is it really because we have ten fingers? Would it then not be more logical to use then a system based on 11?:confused: :laugh: Btw: I'm Aware, it took a longer time to recognize that "Zero" also exists. From what I remember it was somebody from India who recognized this fact first. [Edit] Try to imagine we would have only one finger...

                    It does not solve my Problem, but it answers my question

                    D Offline
                    D Offline
                    Dr Walt Fair PE
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #21

                    No, octal would be more natural, since we actually have 8 fingers.Ayt least I do!

                    CQ de W5ALT

                    Walt Fair, Jr., P. E. Comport Computing Specializing in Technical Engineering Software

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                      Quote:

                      Roman Numerals are a non-positional notation

                      Roman numbers don't depend for value on their relative distance from the decimal point like ours does: they had different markers for Ten, Fifty, Hundred, and so on (until they needed really big numbers, when they started using bars over the number which multiplied it by 1000).

                      Quote:

                      incorporate base #5, as well as base #10

                      They used a kinda composite system , which used both base five (V, L, D) as well as base ten (X, C, M). Division in roman numbers was ... um ... interesting. whi8ch might have been why they used abaci (though we have no idea if they invented it or teh Chinese, they both used very similar devices).

                      Quote:

                      Romans used a duo-decimal system for fractions

                      I didn't know that!

                      Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

                      B Offline
                      B Offline
                      BillWoodruff
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #22

                      OriginalGriff wrote:

                      Romans used a duo-decimal system for fractions

                      Hi, There is some wonderful scholarly work going on by a modern generation of historians who are correcting the optics of the warped eurocentric/western lens prior generations' scholars looked through, and used to frame the interaction between "West and East." Lisa Jardine (deceased 2015) is one of my favorites; her work "Worldly Goods" is a masterpiece. Stewart Gordon's "There and Back: Twelve of the Great Routes of Human History" is a newer (2018) contribution. My own amateur research in this area is more oriented to intra-Asian trade, and cultural transmission of ideas, art, and culture. 1300 years ago, in (what is now) China, we could have leased Bactrian camels to take our precious silks and luxury crafts across the Silk Road, a journey of 185 days; the Bactrian Camels, carrying a load of 100~200kg. each, could go for three days without water as we crossed the Taklamakan desert, even though we couldn't. For money, we might have used Sasanian silver (ancient Iranian empire: a high-quality mintage widely used). But, of course, silk itself was a currency all along the Silk Road. If we survived our journey, we might have come back rich, perhaps laden with Roman gold. More importantly, we might have had stories to tell that induced wonder in all who heard them.

                      «... thank the gods that they have made you superior to those events which they have not placed within your own control, rendered you accountable for that only which is within you own control For what, then, have they made you responsible? For that which is alone in your own power—a right use of things as they appear.» Discourses of Epictetus Book I:12

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                      • L Lost User

                        :-O Ok let us use the toes :-O :-O :-O

                        It does not solve my Problem, but it answers my question

                        J Offline
                        J Offline
                        Jorgen Andersson
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #23

                        The danes and the french does.

                        Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello

                        P 1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                          public class Finger
                          {
                          ...
                          }
                          public class Thumb : Finger
                          {
                          ...
                          }

                          Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

                          D Offline
                          D Offline
                          David ONeil
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #24

                          [Is a thumb a finger? | Oxford Dictionaries](https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/explore/is-a-thumb-a-finger/). 'Appendage' or 'digit' would be a better base class. :-\ :laugh:

                          The forgotten roots of science | C++ Programming | DWinLib

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                          0
                          • D Daniel Pfeffer

                            Fingers eight Yoda has.

                            Ad astra - both ways!

                            J Offline
                            J Offline
                            Jorgen Andersson
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #25

                            Interesting it makes when guitar he plays

                            Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • L Lost User

                              Is it really because we have ten fingers? Would it then not be more logical to use then a system based on 11?:confused: :laugh: Btw: I'm Aware, it took a longer time to recognize that "Zero" also exists. From what I remember it was somebody from India who recognized this fact first. [Edit] Try to imagine we would have only one finger...

                              It does not solve my Problem, but it answers my question

                              L Offline
                              L Offline
                              Lost User
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #26

                              0x01AA wrote:

                              Btw: I'm Aware, it took a longer time to recognize that "Zero" also exists.

                              I've recently been watching some YouTube videos late at night about the Sumerian Sexagesimal (base 60)[^] system. It's extremely interesting. The Sumerians absolutely knew about zero.. but they did not have a symbol for it. In all of the clay tablets with calculations requiring a zero... there is a blank space where the number zero should be. That makes perfect sense to me... with zero being NULL. Best Wishes, -David Delaune

                              B 1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • L Lost User

                                Is it really because we have ten fingers? Would it then not be more logical to use then a system based on 11?:confused: :laugh: Btw: I'm Aware, it took a longer time to recognize that "Zero" also exists. From what I remember it was somebody from India who recognized this fact first. [Edit] Try to imagine we would have only one finger...

                                It does not solve my Problem, but it answers my question

                                M Offline
                                M Offline
                                Mladen Jankovic
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #27

                                [Because every base is base 10](https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-c9468c7f3d7bcef7b0f2d0fdf83328d4)

                                L A 2 Replies Last reply
                                0
                                • J Jorgen Andersson

                                  The danes and the french does.

                                  Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello

                                  P Offline
                                  P Offline
                                  Patrice T
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #28

                                  Jörgen Andersson wrote:

                                  The danes and the french does.

                                  En est tu certain ?

                                  Patrice “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.” Albert Einstein

                                  J 1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                                    0x01AA wrote:

                                    Would it then not be more logical to use then a system based on 11?

                                    But then you couldn't teach kids about numbers bigger than ten without being arrested... :laugh: Probably, "because it works" - the Babylonians used sexagesimal, which is somewhat unwieldy; the Egyptians were decimal; some native American tribes used pental; Aristotle favoured ten as we have ten fingers; the Gauls and the Mayans were vigesimal (and this can still be seen in how the French count between 60 and 100) Probably, we have the Roman empire to blame: they brought their culture - and decimal-based numbering system - to most of Europe, and it stuck.

                                    Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

                                    Sander RosselS Offline
                                    Sander RosselS Offline
                                    Sander Rossel
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #29

                                    OriginalGriff wrote:

                                    we have the Roman empire to blame

                                    As someone with a somewhat Italian sounding last name I am offended by your appropriation of the Roman culture! You might say I am actually Dutch, or that the Romans forced their culture upon Europe, but I will not hear it! Also, the world is flat, unlike Mars which we have observed to be round. I am also vegetarian and therefore I am ethically superior to you and everything you say will be twisted and turned and taken out of context so all your arguments are invalid. Last, but not least, I sexually identify as an Apache attack helicopter.

                                    Best, Sander Continuous Integration, Delivery, and Deployment arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly

                                    OriginalGriffO 1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • Sander RosselS Sander Rossel

                                      OriginalGriff wrote:

                                      we have the Roman empire to blame

                                      As someone with a somewhat Italian sounding last name I am offended by your appropriation of the Roman culture! You might say I am actually Dutch, or that the Romans forced their culture upon Europe, but I will not hear it! Also, the world is flat, unlike Mars which we have observed to be round. I am also vegetarian and therefore I am ethically superior to you and everything you say will be twisted and turned and taken out of context so all your arguments are invalid. Last, but not least, I sexually identify as an Apache attack helicopter.

                                      Best, Sander Continuous Integration, Delivery, and Deployment arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly

                                      OriginalGriffO Offline
                                      OriginalGriffO Offline
                                      OriginalGriff
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #30

                                      Interesting. I identify as the aroma of roses on a summer's evening.

                                      Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

                                      "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
                                      "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt

                                      Sander RosselS 1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                                        Interesting. I identify as the aroma of roses on a summer's evening.

                                        Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

                                        Sander RosselS Offline
                                        Sander RosselS Offline
                                        Sander Rossel
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #31

                                        So you're saying we should kill all plants? You monster... Don't say I didn't warn you :)

                                        Best, Sander Continuous Integration, Delivery, and Deployment arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly

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                                        0
                                        • L Lost User

                                          0x01AA wrote:

                                          Btw: I'm Aware, it took a longer time to recognize that "Zero" also exists.

                                          I've recently been watching some YouTube videos late at night about the Sumerian Sexagesimal (base 60)[^] system. It's extremely interesting. The Sumerians absolutely knew about zero.. but they did not have a symbol for it. In all of the clay tablets with calculations requiring a zero... there is a blank space where the number zero should be. That makes perfect sense to me... with zero being NULL. Best Wishes, -David Delaune

                                          B Offline
                                          B Offline
                                          BillWoodruff
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #32

                                          There is some very interesting speculation about west-to-east (from Egypt) cultural transmission of iconography and the mathematical basis for weights and measures in this book on the weights of Burma (now Myanmar): Note: CP editor is not displaying pasted in links as expected ... https://www.amazon.com/Earth-Heaven-Animal-Shaped-Weights-Burmese/dp/9747551209 It's an out-of print book for a specialist, and ridiculously expensive, now. And, frustrating to read because some very grandiose theories are proposed, but sources are not annotated satisfactorily.

                                          «... thank the gods that they have made you superior to those events which they have not placed within your own control, rendered you accountable for that only which is within you own control For what, then, have they made you responsible? For that which is alone in your own power—a right use of things as they appear.» Discourses of Epictetus Book I:12

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