this post was submitted on 27 Dec 2023
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[–] jastyty@lemmy.world 55 points 1 year ago (3 children)

In binary the answer is good, which is fun

[–] Eagle0600@yiffit.net 84 points 1 year ago (1 children)

In binary the one on the left is meaningless, and therefore the two cannot be compared. In any base in which they can be compared, the one on the left is smaller.

[–] itslilith@lemmy.blahaj.zone 28 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)
[–] Eagle0600@yiffit.net 13 points 1 year ago

Alright, you've got me there.

[–] Sonotsugipaa@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Wouldn't that require the number of available digits to be 1/10?

[–] itslilith@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 1 year ago

Fractional bases are weird, and I think there's even competing standards. What I was thinking is that you can write any number in base n like this:

\sum_{k= -∞}^{∞} a_k * n^k

where a_k are what we would call the digits of a number. To make this work (exists and is unique) for a given positive integer base, you need exactly n different symbols.

For a base 1/n, turns out you also need n different symbols, using this definition. It's fairly easy to show that using 1/n just mirrors the number around the decimal point (e.g. 13.7 becomes 7.31)

I am not very well versed in bases tho (unbased, even), so all of this could be wrong.

[–] Klear@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 year ago
[–] Zoboomafoo@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

The rainbow represents Alan Turing, who taught the child binary

[–] TonyHawksPoTater@kbin.social 17 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Goddang liberals wanna take God out of school and replace him with gay math

[–] Malgas@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

That rainbow is a promise from God that 10 will never be greater than 3 again.

[–] joucker29@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago

Obviously he is correct because the smallest base that can represent 10 is base 2 and 10 in base 2 is equal to 2 in base 10. And the smallest base in which you can represent the number 3 is base 4 and 3 in base 10 in equal to 3 so 2 is the smaller number hence "10" is the smaller number. And from the drawing of the rainbow you can infer that he wants to use a diverse range of bases and not just the common base 10. Btw I am only talking about the natural bases (whole number positive).

[–] Jumuta@sh.itjust.works 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)
[–] Godnroc@lemmy.world 18 points 1 year ago (3 children)
[–] Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 1 year ago

listen here u little

[–] user224 4 points 1 year ago

No, the -10.

[–] yokonzo@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I mean technically zero is not a number

[–] Klear@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Who told you that nonsense?

[–] yokonzo@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Zero is the absence of a number, or a placeholder, not a number 🤷‍♂️ there's been mathematicians arguing over this for years my dude

[–] Klear@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] yokonzo@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

It's just a thought experiment, chill out

[–] TotallynotJessica@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

By some definitions, maybe. However, definitions that exclude it probably do so for a specific reason. It's more a fluke of categorization than a real world distinction. Those distinctions might be critical to certain logic systems, but even most people who use that definition recognize reality.

Zero is a number in more cases than it isn't. It is a symbol that represents a value. Just like infinity, it doesn't matter if 0 doesn't exist in physical reality. It's still a useful value in most cases.

[–] aeharding@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

This is something I would do in school unironically.

[–] unreachable@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago

flawless answer and arguments

[–] cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

i too am gay and can't do maths

[–] platypus_plumba@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

TIL there's such a thing as being too gay for math.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Too fabulous for calculus.

[–] affiliate@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

they never specified the order relation, so we can’t really know what they meant by smallest. for all we know, 10 could be the right answer

[–] thisNotMyName@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago (4 children)

What are you supposed to write there? I guess 3 < 10 is not the answer. It also requires text, so drawing 3 vs 10 of something isn't suitable, too. "You taught us" or what do they want to hear??

[–] datelmd5sum@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If | A - B | != A - B then B > A

[–] Daft_ish@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Are you a computer?

[–] spujb@lemmy.cafe 3 points 1 year ago

i think when it says ‘or show’ it allows a drawing

id probably put dots … ………. then circle the bigger one

[–] kuberoot@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 year ago

I imagine you might say that 10 has two digits, so it has to be bigger. Or maybe you can list out the first 10 numbers in order.

[–] TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

says Tell or show, so probably math or drawings or words are all fine

[–] PixlShft@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 year ago

10 Skittles < 3 elephrants.

[–] bfg9k@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

They're out of line, but they're right