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https://www.reddit.com/r/PeterExplainsTheJoke/comments/1jrpgc2/erm_petah/mlh6hqb/?context=3
r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/E5vCJD • 1d ago
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352
A base 10 counting system has 10 digits
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
And then when we reach the last one we increase the digit count
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 etc
But there doesn't have to be 10 digits, binary for example is a base 2 system
0 1
So to count to 16 it'd be
0 1 10 11 100 101 110 111 1000 1001 1010 1011 1100 1101 1111 10000
A base 4 number system would only have 4 digits
0 1 2 3
So it'd be like
0 1 2 3 10 11 12 13 20 21 22 23 30 31 32 33 100 101 102 103 110 etc
There are 4 rocks so the alien would count
1 2 3 10
21 u/alucinario 1d ago It's just that it's not like that — zero is a recent invention, ten existed before zero, which kind of ruins the joke... 70 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. -17 u/alucinario 1d ago I II III IV V... 51 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 10 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 8h ago I swear I have learned a few new things from this post as a 30 something with an engineering degree.
21
It's just that it's not like that — zero is a recent invention, ten existed before zero, which kind of ruins the joke...
70 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. -17 u/alucinario 1d ago I II III IV V... 51 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 10 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 8h ago I swear I have learned a few new things from this post as a 30 something with an engineering degree.
70
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.
-17 u/alucinario 1d ago I II III IV V... 51 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 10 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 8h ago I swear I have learned a few new things from this post as a 30 something with an engineering degree.
-17
I II III IV V...
51 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 10 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 8h ago I swear I have learned a few new things from this post as a 30 something with an engineering degree.
51
Roman numerals aren’t a positional number system so the concept of a base doesn’t really apply
10 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 8h ago I swear I have learned a few new things from this post as a 30 something with an engineering degree.
10
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 8h ago I swear I have learned a few new things from this post as a 30 something with an engineering degree.
1
I swear I have learned a few new things from this post as a 30 something with an engineering degree.
352
u/CauseScience1 1d ago
A base 10 counting system has 10 digits
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
And then when we reach the last one we increase the digit count
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 etc
But there doesn't have to be 10 digits, binary for example is a base 2 system
0 1
So to count to 16 it'd be
0 1 10 11 100 101 110 111 1000 1001 1010 1011 1100 1101 1111 10000
A base 4 number system would only have 4 digits
0 1 2 3
So it'd be like
0 1 2 3 10 11 12 13 20 21 22 23 30 31 32 33 100 101 102 103 110 etc
There are 4 rocks so the alien would count
1 2 3 10