this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2025
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[–] sxan@midwest.social 9 points 6 hours ago (3 children)

Duodecimal is provably superior, and the world now uses it instead of decimal. This means that the metric system is now base-12, and inches, feet, and yards are the common units.

Surprising to many people, very little else changes.

  • Analog clocks stay the same
  • There are still 12 months in the year
  • Your eggs still come in dozens
  • There are still 30 divisions of 12 degrees in a compass.
  • There are still 12 face cards in a deck of cards
  • Humans still have 12 pairs of ribs
  • A bouquet of roses still has 12 flowers
  • A box of doughnuts still comes with 12 doughnuts
  • Colas still come in half-dozen packs, and boxes of cola still usually come in a dozen.
  • Muffin trays still bake 12 muffins
  • Packs of toilet tissue are still sold in some multiple of a dozen: ½-dozen, 1 dozen, or 2 dozen.

Meanwhile, everyone learns they can count to 12 on one hand, and to 144 using both hands.

[–] untorquer@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Count to 31 on one hand, 1023 on both, just using the digits.

[–] sxan@midwest.social 1 points 35 minutes ago

12 is easy: you have 3 phalanges on each of your 4 fingers, leaving your thumb as a placeholder to count to 12. How do you count to 31?

I'm aware of the abacus hand method, but sadly it wasn't taught when I was a kid in school, when my brain was still elastic. I'd probably have enjoyed math more if they had. Is counting to 31 part of that method?

[–] thenextguy@lemmy.world 6 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

"I do not mean to pry, but you don't by any chance happen to have six fingers on your right hand?"

[–] sxan@midwest.social 4 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

"You killed my father. Prepare to die."

And, for those who don't know:

Although I find out more comfortable to count across and then down; at least the first 4 numbers are the same as base-10 finger counting.

[–] bricklove@midwest.social 1 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

The best part is that with 2 hands you can count to 156 (12 * 12 on the dozens hand and 12 on the ones hand)

Edit: I missed your bit at the end about 2 hands and spent like 10 minutes counting on my hands like a dork double checking my work.

[–] sxan@midwest.social 1 points 2 hours ago

It should be a gross, or 144. How did you get 156? I'm curious! Maybe there's a counting method with which I'm unfamiliar.

[–] LilaOrchideen@feddit.org 1 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

US-centric? Half of these don't apply here now

[–] thenextguy@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago

12 divides evenly by more integers than 10. Metric would be better in base 12.

[–] sxan@midwest.social 2 points 5 hours ago (2 children)

Well, yeah. That's where I live. Maybe it's not common where you live, but I think in most countries in the world humans still have 12 pairs of ribs, 24 hours in a day, 360° on a compass, 12 face cards in a deck of cards, and so on. Do you have more than 12 signs on your zodiac (for whatever that superstition is worth).

I'll grant that a bouquet of roses might mean other than "a dozen" in other countries, and you might not even have doughnuts or cola where you live. How many beers come in a carry-able pack, where you live? Not 6? Do you not have muffin tins in your country? Toilet paper - you buy it by individual rolls, maybe?

Well, you'll just have you learn to adapt, because the world is dozenal, now. Everything comes in multiples of 12: a half-dozen, a dozen, a small gross, or a gross.

[–] Nollij@sopuli.xyz 1 points 44 minutes ago

Are....Are you doing math with cards? Or zodiac signs? Or human ribs?

[–] Hossenfeffer@feddit.uk 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

12 face cards in a deck of cards

?

A to 10 + JQK = 13

[–] sxan@midwest.social 1 points 2 hours ago

Face cards are cards with faces on them: J, Q, K: 3. Times 4 suits is 12. None of A-10 are face cards.