YSK You can count past 1,000 on your fingers by using binary, instead of just 10

With just one hand, you can count to 31, and with both hands you can reach a whopping 1,023. This is because the placement of the held up fingers matters, rather than the amount.

It can be very useful in everyday use, being able to count to huge numbers when you don’t have your phone or pen and paper nearby.

  • Em Adespoton@lemmy.ca
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    6 hours ago

    I taught my kids to count in binary on their fingers before I taught them base 10.

    Having that skill also makes base conversion relatively simple because base 10 is intrinsically understood to be a way of expressing quantity instead of the literal truth about that quantity.

  • teft@piefed.social
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    13 hours ago

    I count mine in base 12. 1-12 on each knuckle segment of my right hand and multiples of twelve on my left. I can get up to 144.

    • m0darn@lemmy.ca
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      9 hours ago

      You could use left hand finger binary for multiples of twelve

      Thumb=12

      Index=24

      Middle=48

      Ring=96

      Pinky=192

      Then all your fingers would be like 384