• robogeek@sh.itjust.works
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    1 day ago

    Sumerians, 4-5000ya counted to 12 on one hand. 4 fingers with 3 sections each with the thumb as a pointer. Then the other hand counted off 5x12 which gave us yhe hexadecimal system of counting which is still in use today.

    • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      I can count to 31 in one hand in binary. It’s not a super useful skill, but it’s won me a bar bet more than once.

      • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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        5 hours ago

        If you add things like arm position and rotation, you can add even more bits. Using 4 arm positions and 2 rotations, you can get a full byte of data with one hand.

      • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        I want to go to the kinds of bars where counting in binary wins bets. Most of the time it’s things like “open a beer bottle with your eye socket”.

        • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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          5 hours ago

          The trick is to be the one making the bets and to word them in a way that makes the losing side sound like the winning side (or one that generates enough curiosity about how you can actually do it that people accept the bet knowing you probably have a trick).

    • Jax@sh.itjust.works
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      1 day ago

      Sexagesimal, hexadecimal is base 16. You could say that simply improving on mathematics lead to the hexadecimal system eventually but they did not create the hexadecimal system.

      • CrowAirbrush@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Use your thumb to “point” (touch) a section of your index finger, middle finger, ring finger, pinky…now move up a section of the finger.

        Tada you learned it.

        The other hand goes 1 when you maxed out your finger sections, then 2 when you do it again where one equals 12 and 2 equals 24 etc.

        There’s really nothing to it, no research needed…just attempt to mimic what the comment describes and you’re there.