Mathematics

[Brandy]

Originally Posted by whswhs

I don't know Higgenbop, but I've used binary for many years now.

Originally Posted by Anthony

Though some of the required finger distributions are a bit unnatural. We don't normally extend, say, the ring finger by itself.

I'm not 100% sure, but I read about a technique that was being called Chi-San Bop back in the 80s I think. It would have met the description "count to 99 on your fingers, so it's likely the same thing or similar. Counting is done with the right hand for the ones place and the left for tens. Putting down 1 to 4 fingers represents that count, the thumb counts five. Not a binary method, but no awkward finger presses either.

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by Brandy

I'm not 100% sure, but I read about a technique that was being called Chi-San Bop back in the 80s I think. It would have met the description "count to 99 on your fingers, so it's likely the same thing or similar. Counting is done with the right hand for the ones place and the left for tens. Putting down 1 to 4 fingers represents that count, the thumb counts five. Not a binary method, but no awkward finger presses either.

That's it. Excuse my mondegreen.

Given your helpt with the spelling I was able to find an article on it on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chisanbop

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Though some of the required finger distributions are a bit unnatural. We don't normally extend, say, the ring finger by itself.

Playing clarinet as a youngster does wonders.

[tbone]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

. . . would have been base-36 when you look at the advantages of the system. . .

I say we switch the world to base-6. For the d6 lovers out there.

We'd mark our dice "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10", and we could use two dice for percentile "d100" gaming (generating results that we base-tenners would call "1 to 36").

(And while we're doing insane things in the name of a new d6 World Order, I'll suggest the perfect compromise between flat-earthers and globe-ists: The planet is a giant cube. Done.)

[RyanW]

Originally Posted by Brandy

I'm not 100% sure, but I read about a technique that was being called Chi-San Bop back in the 80s I think. It would have met the description "count to 99 on your fingers, so it's likely the same thing or similar. Counting is done with the right hand for the ones place and the left for tens. Putting down 1 to 4 fingers represents that count, the thumb counts five. Not a binary method, but no awkward finger presses either.

You can easily count to 12 one one hand (thumb to tip, then thumb to second bone, then thumb to third bone). Use the other hand for the thirteens digit.

And since 6*9=42 in base 13, that counting system's superiority is self-evident.

[Hide]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Aztecs I thought?

Aztecs employed a base 20 system not 35/36; fun fact, Mexican schools teach the system during early education.

[Mr_Sandman]

Originally Posted by RyanW

You can easily count to 12 one one hand (thumb to tip, then thumb to second bone, then thumb to third bone). Use the other hand for the thirteens digit.

And since 6*9=42 in base 13, that counting system's superiority is self-evident.

Add in the base of each finger on the palm and you can count to 16. That's how I was shown by a percussion teacher, for counting rests in music. I have the feeling that musical phrases are more often multiples of 4 measures than 3.

[Black Leviathan]

One of the most fun GURPS characters I played was a burnt-out theoretical mathematician name Angel. I think I had mathematics at 20? I had a smattering of other sciences at high numbers because of my high IQ and I was cook because it was a job suited to someone who thinks numerically and it had virtually no demands. I also played amateur league baseball because it was another math application. The campaign was mysteriously detailed so I ended up on a shipwreck isle that wasn't on any map with no survival or combat skills other than 1pt in broadsword from my comfort with baseball bats.

A lot of the other players made soldier-esque characters and those of us that didn't got some compensation. The GM largely let me default any skill that I could make a cinematic argument for at Mathematics-10. I just walked around everywhere with my pockets stuffed full of permanent markers writing equations on any surface I could find. I used it to fix the electrical lighting in an old bunker, navigate the central island using angles of landmarks and the position of the sun, and an intimidation check when I made a cultist **** himself with rapid fire statistics about the number of organs in the body that can be reached with a 2-inch pocket knife blade. The end-game was a duel against a mage that was able to conceal the island with an enchanted tower. After we won, I attempted a Thaumatology default based on my knowledge of chaos theory to construct an understanding of what the tower does, and the GM allowed me to buy the Margery to operate it . The Game ended with Angel lifting the weather veil and allowing the characters to sail home but remaining behind on the island he was desperate to escape to study the Math.

Mathematics at it's core is kind of an unexciting character BG skill but if you abuse it, it can be a lot of fun.

[RyanW]

Originally Posted by Hide

Aztecs employed a base 20 system not 35/36; fun fact, Mexican schools teach the system during early education.

In any event, by the time the ancestors of the Aztecs even reached central Mexico, the Babylonian number system was about 25 centuries old.