Ten is such a nice even number. It equals the number of fingers on both hands. Modern man looked for a way to keep track and that was the first thing he saw. What could be more obvious than building a counting scheme around 10? It's amazing how pervasive the number is and how much impact it has on our daily lives.
Everything we do is impacted by our base 10 system of numbering. The decimal system with all of it's inherent logic results from our system of 10s. The metric system of measures uses it to great effect. Our monetary system relies on this concept. We even use the number "10" to score the perfect result - whether we're talking about figure skating or the ideal physique.
What if we used a system based on the number of fingers that a Tyrannosaurus has? That would be 2 fingers on each hand for a total of 4. So your $5 bill would be "11" in a base 4 system. I don't even want to think about the number of slots you would need in the cash register drawer to handle the change.
1 Comment
What an age. It seems so old when you have been alive 17 years, but to the rest of the world it is so young. It is a gateway age. It's the last year to be considered a minor for legal purposes. But it is a very long year when you are trying to hurry through your childhood. No matter what you call it, Zero is a magical number. First of all, how many words do you know of that start with the letter "Z"? Three of them refer to a quantity of nothing. Nine has special significance for an accountant. And it has nothing to do with lives. That is the number of attempts it took me to set up this website using Weebly. But now that I've mastered it, it was well worth the effort. And it was certainly worth the price - $0.00. |
AuthorGeni Whitehouse, an accountant who thinks numbers can be art. Archives
September 2009
Want to subscribe? Register with Feedblitz to get an e-mail with all new postings. |