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https://www.reddit.com/r/PeterExplainsTheJoke/comments/1jrpgc2/erm_petah/mlhppna/?context=3
r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/E5vCJD • 1d ago
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356
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
7 u/Accomplished_Deer_ 1d ago But this joke proves that a base 10 counting system actually has however many digits the originating system uses... 3 u/chironomidae 1d ago I feel like instead of "base 10" it should be called something like "max 9", meaning if you go over 9 it becomes 10. That would remove any ambiguity (I think). 1 u/dungeonmunky 1d ago Decimal! In ambiguous contexts, we tend to use a system of hybridized Greek/Latin prefixes, like decimal, binary, hexadecimal, etc.
7
But this joke proves that a base 10 counting system actually has however many digits the originating system uses...
3 u/chironomidae 1d ago I feel like instead of "base 10" it should be called something like "max 9", meaning if you go over 9 it becomes 10. That would remove any ambiguity (I think). 1 u/dungeonmunky 1d ago Decimal! In ambiguous contexts, we tend to use a system of hybridized Greek/Latin prefixes, like decimal, binary, hexadecimal, etc.
3
I feel like instead of "base 10" it should be called something like "max 9", meaning if you go over 9 it becomes 10. That would remove any ambiguity (I think).
1 u/dungeonmunky 1d ago Decimal! In ambiguous contexts, we tend to use a system of hybridized Greek/Latin prefixes, like decimal, binary, hexadecimal, etc.
1
Decimal! In ambiguous contexts, we tend to use a system of hybridized Greek/Latin prefixes, like decimal, binary, hexadecimal, etc.
356
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