Reply-To: <ragnarok@pobox.com>
To: <lojban@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: RE: [lojban] periodic hexadecimal reminder
Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2001 00:24:54 -0400
Message-ID: <LPBBLNNHBOGBGAINBIEFKECACEAA.raganok@intrex.net>
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From: "Craig" <ragnarok@pobox.com>
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>>Tell me a culture that uses a base lower than 10 (as opposed to
>>no base at all).

>Look, I really don't want to have to start yelling RTFM, but statements
>like these are just inexcusable. Have you bothered to *check* that
>cultures using bases lower than 10 exist? And why should I have to do your
>homework for you?

>http://www.scit.wlv.ac.uk/~cm1993/maths/mm2217/ocm.htm
>http://euslchan.tripod.com/index.html

>Of course decimal is culture-specific.

the first lists only one that it gives an example for with a base (as
opposed to a lack of one a la one-two-many) lower than ten, and that is the
ancient Egyptians, who are all dead. The second lists a few lower bases
without any examples to back it up.
However, I must agree that Lojban does not in fact count as neutral vis a
vis the ancient egyptians, who will likely have trouble learning a higher
base. As soon as time travel is invented, we will need to switch lojban over
to base 4 before we can effectively teach it as a means of communication
5000 years ago.
Seeing as lojban has already chosen to use a higher base than would be
neutral, why not go to hex? I had felt that decimal was neutral, though I
had not known how ancient Egypt counted, but I like higher bases because
when you have to say out every digit as in lojban they are much less
verbose. My pgp key id in Lojban: in hex it is mugaicidaupaxeizevo, but in
decimal it is pamuvozeciparezemuxa - 8 vs 10 syllables. And the difference
is greater with larger numbers.

                             --la kreig.daniyl.

     'segu le bavli temci gi mi'o renvi lo purci
     .i ga le fonxa janbe gi du mi'
                     -la djimis.BYFet

xy.sy. gubmau ckiku nacycme:  0x5C3A1E74