Are numbers Real #2

[ignoramus]

Guys, our decimal system we use to do maths with.
Is is ideal for complex maths/physics? Or does it just suit our monkey analogue brains?
Could it be stagnating our progress? When can we know if it is?

Also, curiously, does it have anything to do with us having 10 fingers?
Are there aliens out there with 8 fingers total who use a maths system based on 8? And have already developed warp drive via better maths/physics theory?

Ours, has gotten us pretty far so far, maybe all civilizations adopt the same system we use when they evolve a high enough mental capacity?
I'm leaning towards, one set of actual universal rules and laws of physics, but only one way to discover them. Our way. The decimal way. What say?

[robvalue]

I’d say it’s pretty certain that we use base 10 because we have that many fingers. Any other base would work just as well in theory. (Lower bases will produce longer strings, while higher bases require more characters to remember.)

It’s the best tool we have for forming scientific models, and it’s working incredibly well. I wouldn’t doubt that there are better ways, and we shouldn’t give up hope of finding them. They may be beyond our current capabilities as a species, but we're always extending our reach via technology.

[purplepurpose]

Romans were badass math masters for their time. While their savage opponents were doing warfare in more primitive way at that time, Roman Generals made hand sing's to direct backup much more efficiently and won themselves an empire.

[Abaddon_ire]

Guys, our decimal system we use to do maths with.
Is is ideal for complex maths/physics? Or does it just suit our monkey analogue brains?
Could it be stagnating our progress? When can we know if it is?

Also, curiously, does it have anything to do with us having 10 fingers?
Are there aliens out there with 8 fingers total who use a maths system based on 8? And have already developed warp drive via better maths/physics theory?

Ours, has gotten us pretty far so far, maybe all civilizations adopt the same system we use when they evolve a high enough mental capacity?
I'm leaning towards, one set of actual universal rules and laws of physics, but only one way to discover them. Our way. The decimal way. What say?

Nonsense. Base 8 has been in use since forever in computers, base 16 is de riguer, base 2 is fundamental to computers, the babylonians and the mayans used base 60, the aztecs used base 20. The number system is irrelevant.

[robvalue]

Wow that’s cool. I didn’t know they came about that way (the Romans).

I was thinking what base 1 numbers would look like. I realised that it would just be adding a 1 every time. I’m not sure without checking whether that’s considered a valid system. It’s obviously very stupid, and is the equivalent of putting objects along the floor in a line. Weirdly, the 0 character would only ever appear once at the start.

0
1
11
111
1111
11111

[purplepurpose]

Wow that’s cool. I didn’t know they came about that way (the Romans).

I was thinking what base 1 numbers would look like. I realised that it would just be adding a 1 every time. I’m not sure without checking whether that’s considered a valid system. It’s obviously very stupid, and is the equivalent of putting objects along the floor in a line. Weirdly, the 0 character would only ever appear once at the start.

0
1
11
111
1111
11111

You mean this?

[robvalue]

Wow that’s cool. I didn’t know they came about that way (the Romans).

I was thinking what base 1 numbers would look like. I realised that it would just be adding a 1 every time. I’m not sure without checking whether that’s considered a valid system. It’s obviously very stupid, and is the equivalent of putting objects along the floor in a line. Weirdly, the 0 character would only ever appear once at the start.

0
1
11
111
1111
11111

You mean this?

That's base 2, which is of course totally valid and very useful. I was thinking what happens if you try to drop down to base 1. Technically it works but it’s rather pointless.

1111 (base 1) = 1 * 1^3 + 1 * 1^2 + 1 * 1^1 + 1 (base 10) = 4

[ignoramus]

REDACTED

[Abaddon_ire]

Wow that’s cool. I didn’t know they came about that way (the Romans).

I was thinking what base 1 numbers would look like. I realised that it would just be adding a 1 every time. I’m not sure without checking whether that’s considered a valid system. It’s obviously very stupid, and is the equivalent of putting objects along the floor in a line. Weirdly, the 0 character would only ever appear once at the start.

0
1
11
111
1111
11111

It's called Unary and it is used in primitive accounting. Think marks on a tally stick for counting.

[I_am_not_mafia]

I’d say it’s pretty certain that we use base 10 because we have that many fingers.

Considering that it's a man's world I'm surprised we haven't been using base 11.