Why (western) humans use the decimal system?
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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).
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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!
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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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:-O Ok let us use the toes :-O :-O :-O
It does not solve my Problem, but it answers my question
The danes and the french does.
Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello
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public class Finger
{
...
}
public class Thumb : Finger
{
...
}Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
[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:
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Fingers eight Yoda has.
Ad astra - both ways!
Interesting it makes when guitar he plays
Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello
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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
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
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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
[Because every base is base 10](https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-c9468c7f3d7bcef7b0f2d0fdf83328d4)
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The danes and the french does.
Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello
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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!
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
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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
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 -
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!
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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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
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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but, that's binary, most often !
«... 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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but, that's binary, most often !
«... 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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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
I have nothing to add, just wanted to say that this is a great example of why I like this place. i. Interesting questions ii. Lot's of really smart people here with intelligent or humorous (both entertaining) answers ..even on a weekend! :)
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
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I have nothing to add, just wanted to say that this is a great example of why I like this place. i. Interesting questions ii. Lot's of really smart people here with intelligent or humorous (both entertaining) answers ..even on a weekend! :)
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
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[Because every base is base 10](https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-c9468c7f3d7bcef7b0f2d0fdf83328d4)
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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
Earth to Heaven: The Royal Animal-Shaped Weights of the Burmese Empire: Joan Gear, Donald Gear: 9789747551204: Amazon.com: Books[^] To Format a link I'm usually go to Q/A, paste the link into an answer, copy the formated preview and cancel answering. This works reliable most (all the) times.
It does not solve my Problem, but it answers my question
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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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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
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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
70 = soixante-dix 80 = quatre-vingts 90 = quatre-vingt-dix And danish: 50 = halvtreds 60 = tres 70 = halvfjerds 80 = firs 90 = halvfems In Paris you have (Or had) l’Hôpital des Quinze-Vingts, which used to have 300 beds. Mostly remnants today, the Swizz (and if I recall correctly the Belgians) have gone full decimal. Switzerland uses septante for 70, octante or huitante for 80 and nonante for 90 In english there are small rests of it too: "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." (The Gettysberg Address, 1863)
Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello
