+138 since numbers are arbitrary in another world 9+10 could equal 21, amirite?

by Anonymous 2 years ago

The symbols are arbitrary, not the concept.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

that's what i'm getting at. The symbols value could be different

by Anonymous 2 years ago

But a different word wouldn't use the same symbols

by Anonymous 2 years ago

That's a false pretense though. Nine does not have an arbitrary value- only an arbitrary name. Whatever you wish to call it IIIIIIIII of something added to IIIIIIIIII will be IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII of something

by Anonymous 2 years ago

The concept is always the same.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

That equation makes perfect sense in Base 12 arithmetic in this world.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

10+9 in base 12 is 19 in base 12.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

No, 10 is 12 in base 12. It's 1*12 + 0.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Why would you add two base 12 numbers and respond with the answer in base 10. That makes no sense. 10(base 12)+9(base 12)=19(base 12)

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Because, as a software developer, I do that all the time. If you replace base 12 with hexadecimal (base 16), I frequently add up hex numbers in order to compare them with a known decimal (base 10) data value.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Math is arbitrary, but so is language/written language, so 9, 10, 21 likely wouldn't exist either.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Impossible if it's a base-10 system like ours though.

by Anonymous 2 years ago