• @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      351 month ago

      Jesus Christ.

      I just realized that we call binary base2 and there’s no 2 in that numbering system. We call hexadecimal base16 but there’s no 16 (at least not like we know it). But then why is base10 base10? We have a 10…but it’s not a single digit number.

      Why is this reminding me of Project Hail Mary?

      • @psud
        link
        English
        211 month ago

        Every base has ten, but it’s made of two digits

        Binary 0, 1, 10 Ternary 0, 1, 2, 10 … Decimal 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Hex 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F, 10

        Each has the right count of digits for its base before you go two-digit - binary has two (0, 1), etc

        • @Randelung
          link
          English
          31 month ago

          more precisely, every base has 10, but it’s usually not equal to ten. ten is a fixed value, while 10 depends on the base. you still count normally (one two three four five), even in a base two system. you just write it differently.

          • @psud
            link
            English
            116 days ago

            I don’t see the need to bring values into this, this is about the naming of number systems. We really have no more claim to ten being this many (…) than hexadecimal people have to claim ten has this many (…)

            • @Randelung
              link
              English
              116 days ago

              10 as the first overflow of digits is not a clear vlaue, it depends on the notation because its base is unclear.

              Ten as the English word is 100% defined. The issue is we translate seamlessly between the word and number, but there really is no confusion when writing ten. 10 in hex has a different english word: sixteen.

              English number names are mostly decimal-based, but their values are still fixed. Ten isn’t the word for “the first time our number system overflows”, it’s an amount.

              So I disagree. Ten will always be (…) this many, because it’s an English word.

      • @efstajas
        link
        English
        101 month ago

        It’s because we count the 0… no? 0 and 1, base 2. 0123456789, base 10.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          11 month ago

          The same is true for all bases. What we call base-4 in base-10 is 0123. In base-16 it’s 0123456789abcdef, where f is what we would call 15

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        English
        21 month ago

        because then every base would be ‘base 10’

        That or the decriarchy has been normalizing the decimal counting system as the default one for far too long!

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      151 month ago

      What is this “8” you refer to? Here in the land of people without thumbs, 10 comes after 7.

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        English
        21 month ago

        If there’s no agreed symbol for digit 37, you can call it Base 37A (or express it in another base of your choosing).

        In case the formatting doesn’t work, that A is supposed to be subscript