@[email protected]M to Strange Planet by Nathan W. [email protected]English • 11 months agologicallemmy.worldimagemessage-square468fedilinkarrow-up12.97Karrow-down192
arrow-up12.88Karrow-down1imagelogicallemmy.world@[email protected]M to Strange Planet by Nathan W. [email protected]English • 11 months agomessage-square468fedilink
minus-squareAlien Surferlinkfedilink8•11 months agoBrilliant. Now if we only used base 12 numbering system, things would be even easier to halve.
minus-square@[email protected]linkfedilink5•11 months agoWhy stop at base 12. Let’s go base-60. Divisible by 2,3,4,5 and 6.
minus-squareSneezycatlinkfedilink0•11 months agoAll-in, let’s do base 210. Divisible by 2, 3, 5 and 7, covering all the small primes. And we can do even better: base-420 which is also divisible by 4 and a funnier number.
minus-squareAlien Surferlinkfedilink3•edit-211 months agoBecause at some point the difficulty increases with regard to the number of symbols to memorize. A balance exists. I surmise it’s 12. Only 2 more to memorize than 10 and more ways to halve and double than 10. Easier for mental work.
minus-square@[email protected]linkfedilink1•edit-211 months ago16 is not hard, we use it for hexadecimal all the time. Could as easily use base 32, if it’s a matter of memorizing symbols. Base 30 would be better overall: divisible by 1, 2, 3, 5, and everyone reading this knows more than 30 basic symbols (0-9,a-z).
minus-squarethemeatbridgelinkfedilink1•11 months agoBase 12 is better than base 10, but base 16, aka Hexadecimal is better still.
minus-square@[email protected]linkfedilink1•edit-211 months agoBase 16 is only divisible by a single prime, just a fancy name for base 2.
Brilliant. Now if we only used base 12 numbering system, things would be even easier to halve.
Why stop at base 12. Let’s go base-60. Divisible by 2,3,4,5 and 6.
All-in, let’s do base 210. Divisible by 2, 3, 5 and 7, covering all the small primes.
And we can do even better: base-420 which is also divisible by 4 and a funnier number.
Because at some point the difficulty increases with regard to the number of symbols to memorize. A balance exists. I surmise it’s 12. Only 2 more to memorize than 10 and more ways to halve and double than 10. Easier for mental work.
16 is not hard, we use it for hexadecimal all the time. Could as easily use base 32, if it’s a matter of memorizing symbols.
Base 30 would be better overall: divisible by 1, 2, 3, 5, and everyone reading this knows more than 30 basic symbols (0-9,a-z).
Base 12 is better than base 10, but base 16, aka Hexadecimal is better still.
Why? (genuine question)
Base 16 is only divisible by a single prime, just a fancy name for base 2.