Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Number Base Twelve

What if? It's the basis of many stories. We ask. We ponder. We wonder. 

On Tuesdays I throw one out there. What if? It may be speculative. It may stem from something I see. It may be something I pull from the news. 

Make of it what you will. If a for instance is not specified, interpret that instance as you wish. And if the idea turns into a story, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements 😉

This is my 4000th post. At least, that's what Blogger's little counter thingy says at the top of my screen. Which got me thinking about milestones...

What if our number system was based on 12? (Or 6? Or 7?)

(Because I was curious, my 3000th post was in 2020 and my 2000th post was in 2017.)

11 comments:

  1. If we were all used to it, fine. But switching? I remember learning this concept in school…ugh.

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  2. This is Birgit…so..it is based on 12… so what. I probably am not getti;g the significance.

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  3. Congrats on 4000 posts! It's a great accomplishment.

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  4. We played around with different bases in one of my math classes. People who use their fingers to do math would have a hard time with base 12, I suspect. I think some science nerds would vote for base 16. There's some interesting discussions on Reddit on the question of which base is best. Me, I'll stick with base 10 since it's too ingrained.

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  5. A very long time ago, when I was in the Navy, we were taught a numbering system based on 12 (certain electronics require it). It went something like 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12, 1A, 1B...and so on. I think. Like I said, a very long time ago.

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  6. I looked up todays post, and it number 4,558

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  7. I would not like it at all! I already had to adapt to the inches versus meters when I moved here. It still does not make sense to me. 10 makes it so easy….

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  8. Congratulations!
    I'd be in trouble, as I had a problem learning my 12 times tables! Plus, 10 is so easy, anything else would be a pain. Even if we weren't used to it, it makes sense. Now, our 32 degrees for freezing is silly. 0 should be the start!

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  9. It would certainly change our everyday math and even our cultural references.
    Congrats on your 4000th post!

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I appreciate your comments.

I respond to comments* via email, unless your profile email is not enabled. Then, I'll reply in the comment thread. Eventually. Probably.

*Exception: I do not respond to "what if?" comments, but I do read them all. Those questions are open to your interpretation, and I don't wish to limit your imagination by what I thought the question was supposed to be.