On Wed, Oct 25, 2006 at 12:38:40PM -0700, James G. Sack (jim) wrote:
>
- the following quote was not from JimS-
> >...Only computers think in binary. I have 10 fingers and 10 toes so
> >I think in decimal numbers. ...
>
> If one can only suspend the conventional model implanted by years of
> institutional mathematics training, and objectively re-examine human
> architecture, it must be acknowledged that the canonical accumulating
> device for manual calculation is best represented by a hexadecimal base
-snip of much more-
The decimal-lover was also ignoring historical fact. Several primitive
cultures "naturally" selected the duodecimal (base 12) system because 12
divides evenly by more small primes than 10, and they didn't trust
remainders.
IIRC the Incas are in this group, but the major player was the
Babylonians who used base 12 and did the seminal geometric work on the
circle. Thus everything circle based today (the clock, the hours,
minutes, and months, and the degrees of a circle) are not in base 10 but
in base 12 and its derivatives (24 hours in 2 12 hr divisions, 12 months
(13 is _much_ better for rectifying the solar and lunar calendars), 360
degrees, etc).
Generally, that which we find intuitive is that which we were trained
in, a principle that was driven home to me the first time I tried to
make a call on a pay phone in the UK.
If you convince me otherwise, I'll do a 500 degree shift in my thinking.
--
Lan Barnes
Linux Guy, SCM Specialist
Tcl/Tk Enthusiast
If you can't laugh at death, you really have no right to be here.
- Robert Altman
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