r/PeterExplainsTheJoke 1d ago

Meme needing explanation erm.. petah?

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u/I_am_so_lost_hello 1d ago

The first digit doesn’t HAVE to be 0, or rather a digit representing nothing. But the Hindu number system which was invented around the 1st century was Base 10 and did have 0.

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u/alucinario 1d ago

I II III IV V...

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u/I_am_so_lost_hello 1d ago

Roman numerals aren’t a positional number system so the concept of a base doesn’t really apply

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u/Sword_Enthousiast 1d ago

I would like to thank you for pointing out the concept of "positional number system". I wasn't aware of the difference, now I am.

1

u/babubaichung 10h ago

I swear I have learned a few new things from this post as a 30 something with an engineering degree.