Re: Base 8 counting in Gevey

> * Andreas Johansson said on 2001-10-15 19:04:50 +0200
> > Is there a "reason" for base 8? I don't know any real-world language that
> > uses it (octal numbers in compsci don't count!), and unlike base 10 or base
> > 20 I can't think of any obvious conection to countable appendages etc.
>
I assume that the Bartaks, Istrans and Teliks (and a lot of other
colonisers who didn't make it to this stage of survival) preferred
base 8 to base 10. As the planet's population degenerated from
space-faring humanity, one possible reason could be that a base 8
system melded easier for them with computer binary than base 10.

Base 10 seems natural to me, because I've been bought up with it. But
I've also been bought up with other base system (seconds and
minutes (60, 5x12), days (7), months (12), quantities (dozens),
fractions, etc, so I'm not completely decimal-centric.

And base 8 may have some advantages over base 10 (I tried working out
the value of pi in base 8 - I think it comes out at 3.1111continuing,
which [assuming I'm correct, can anyone confirm?] would make some
aspects of geometry a little easier to do in your head).

But in the end it's just a counting syystem in an artlang, and doesn't
need to be justified in "real world terms". This is the way things
are in the Istran culture :->

> What about the space -between- the fingers? :)
>
I really like this answer.

>
> t.
>
Rik

--
  http://www.kalieda.org/poems/
  Pop in for a browse, when you have a moment to spare...

Replies