10 upvotes, 2 direct replies (showing 2)
View submission: Ask Anything Wednesday - Engineering, Mathematics, Computer Science
It wouldn't. The way you write a number has no bearing on what that number is. It's like counting in German vs English. They're just different names for the same concepts.
Also, there is no reason to think that our hands are the reason we settled on 10. There have been cultures with a variety of bases.
Comment by ViaXSn1p3r at 24/07/2024 at 19:17 UTC
4 upvotes, 0 direct replies
As a further point, it is commonly recognized in introductory computer science classes that just counting on your fingers in different bases can take you to much higher numbers than 10
Comment by mfb- at 25/07/2024 at 06:53 UTC
0 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Multiples of 6 are a great idea because they give nice fractions for 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 and 1/6. You see 12 showing up as base in one way or another in many places. Using 10 gives nice fractions for 1/5 but that's far less important than 1/3. It's hard to see a reason to pick 10 except for matching the number of fingers.