Very confusing title. Let me explain. Our number system is base 10. There are 10 numbers before the system starts over. 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9. So my question is this: Do you think if humans had 6 digits on each hand (instead of 5) we would have a base 12 number system. 10 would still be the point where we start the system over but there would be 12 numbers before 10 instead of 10 which we have now. Let me know what you think, or if you need clarification of this abstract idea.
It is entirely possible... particularly since in the absence of numbering system, our ancestors might have used fingers to keep count and I guess... the number of fingers might have played a lot of influence in keeping the base numbers to 10! Regards, RightMan
The Mayans used base 20... they used the digits on their legs as well. Some Nigerians used base 12 :-/
@LMcallahan i guess base 10 is fine. base 12 sounds very complicated. glad we dont have 6 fingers on each hand. 5 is good enough.
@vibinhari Thta's interesting that some have used the base 12 system. Duodecimal. Apparently it is much more practical for fractions... I'm impressed they came up with it, because it clearly took more thought than just counting the number of digits on each hand... haha. good stuff