+219 It seems like people (especially Americans) have this weird infatuation with the number 12. There are 12 inches in a foot, two 12 hours segments in a day, 12 in a dozen, and it doesn't make sense since our number system is based on the number 10, amirite?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

americans are "obsessed" with the number 12 because they haven't moved on from the imperial system to the metric system and in the imperial system the units are bases around the number 12 because 12 has alot of factors 1,2,3,4,6,12 where as 10 only has 1,2,5,10

by Anonymous 12 years ago

also 12 segments of 5 in an hour

by Anonymous 12 years ago

no

by Anonymous 12 years ago

It was a good try...

by Anonymous 12 years ago

12 would be the best choice for a number base, but 10 is what we use since it's how many fingers we have, so its most convenient to learn.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

So everybody except America is so dumb they have to count on their fingers?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

ono //You// seem to be so dumb you have to count on your fingers.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Hey, you were the one who said it.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Well, everyone else seems to have understood it. Okay, I'll explain it to you in parts, since you seem a bit slow. 1) Base 10 means we count to 10 such as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and then start the digits over. 2) Americans use the same fucking system, because they still count to that. 3) Base 12 would be if there were 12 digits in existence instead of 10. And Americans, as you can probably guess, don't have 12 digits. 4) "a number base to learn" means in other words "a set of digits to learn just like to learn an alphabet", which means people don't need it to be easy to USE, just to LEARN, as in during childhood. 5) Americans use 12 often in their system, so that you could divide a foot into 4 parts or 2 parts or 3 parts or 6 parts and so on, while a (centi)meter can only divide in 2 and 5. They don't use it as a number base.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Only the first one is really specific to Americans.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

And the UK... And Australia... And, even though it's not official, Canada. Some other countries, too, (they're all British colonies).

by Anonymous 12 years ago

So, none of them are American-specific, basically.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

How exactly is our number system based around 10? Am I missing something?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Well you see, the OP said it. So fuck you, that's how.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

It's based on ten. That's something you learn in the number theory curriculum in 8th grade math.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

8th grade math was algebra 2 for me.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I said 8th grade math, not what you learned in 8th grade, but what the math curriculum for 8th grade is.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

The curriculum was all algebra 2. That's what the entire year was. I don't recall number theory.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Yeah what the hell is number theory.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I know you can take it at some point, but it wasn't part of my 8th grade math.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Base 10. So you have ten digits (0-9) and then start a new column.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Does this make Obama a terrorist?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Guess not.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Why especially Americans? The measuring system is British >_>

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I thought they used the metric system in Britain? If not, my bad.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Well I know the system they use in the US is British, and I'm fairly certain they still use it. Also, other British colonies besides the US don't use the metric system, and, although they're officially metric, the majority of Canadians use inches and the like - at least from my experience.

by Anonymous 12 years ago