this post was submitted on 27 Dec 2023
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[–] jastyty 55 points 11 months ago (3 children)

In binary the answer is good, which is fun

[–] [email protected] 82 points 11 months 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.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 13 points 11 months ago

Alright, you've got me there.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months 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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago
[–] Zoboomafoo 8 points 11 months ago

The rainbow represents Alan Turing, who taught the child binary

[–] joucker29 16 points 11 months 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).

[–] [email protected] 16 points 11 months ago

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

[–] unreachable 16 points 11 months ago

flawless answer and arguments

[–] [email protected] 15 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)
[–] Godnroc 18 points 11 months ago (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 14 points 11 months ago

listen here u little

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

No, the -10.

[–] yokonzo -1 points 11 months ago (3 children)

I mean technically zero is not a number

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Who told you that nonsense?

[–] yokonzo 1 points 11 months 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

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)
[–] yokonzo 1 points 11 months ago

It's just a thought experiment, chill out

[–] TotallynotJessica 2 points 11 months 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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago
[–] aeharding 2 points 11 months ago

This is something I would do in school unironically.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

i too am gay and can't do maths

[–] platypus_plumba 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] FlyingSquid 6 points 11 months ago

Too fabulous for calculus.

[–] affiliate 9 points 11 months 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 8 points 11 months 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 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] Daft_ish 1 points 11 months ago

Are you a computer?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

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

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

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

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

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months 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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

10 Skittles < 3 elephrants.

[–] bfg9k 1 points 11 months ago

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