Expert: Jack Cheng - 4/9/2007

Question
This is kind of a bizarre question, but I'd like to know if ten really is the optimal increment for counting numbers.  Binary's perfect for computers, but what's the best for humans?  Have people tried out other numbers?

Thanks for your help!!

-Monkey the Juggler

Answer
Hi Bennett,

I think it comes more down to tradition than what is optimal. We are so used to the number 10 that we think it seems to be the best, but the sytem could have worked just as well with base 8 or 16 (though we might need more numbers for 16 :).

Binary is good for computers because programmers (well, hardware programmers) are lazy; it is much easier to differentiate between two voltages than 10 or 16 of them. Humans are much more flexible and such restrictions just don't apply.

Besides, what do we do with the extra fingers or toes, or get the extra ones if we use other bases?

~ Jack

P.S. I think some ancient American civilizations (Mayas, Aztecs, Incas - not sure which one) used base 6 or 60?  That's how our time got to be base 60.