We should not just ditch imperial measures, but switch to a hexadecimal number system (with elegant new numerals for 10-15, of course). Not only will arithmetic become much easier, we will also be able to remember 4x4 patterns, and define all 8x8 pixel images with 4 short words!
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Replying to @Plinz
Can you expand on how arithmetic would "become much easier"? Since computers use base-2 anyway, you're probably referring to human usage of arithmetic, but wouldn't that be harder because you have to remember more atomic primitives (i.e. a larger Einmaleins)?
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Replying to @stefanmajewsky
Fast mental addition (a combination of hashing and shifting) requires learning more hashes, but they are easy to visualize in a 4x4 matrix. Multiplication and division get easier: you can use sub bases. Bonus: you can visualize vector operations much better.
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Replying to @willyOTule @stefanmajewsky
When you perform mental addition, you have usually memorized the operations over single digits (=hashing), and for multiple digits, you exploit the power of log10 notation (even if you don't know that) and carry over whatever does not fit into single digits (=shifting).
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When you multiply, you will often use an intermediate division or multiplication. In a system that is made of multiples of 2, this becomes much easier: in binary, multiplication or division by two are just shifting one digit, and you can easily convert to quaternary, octal, hex.
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In a system that uses base 16, you can also mentally arrange the numbers in a 4x4 grid, and use that to not just shift around in one dimension, but in two.
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Replying to @Plinz @stefanmajewsky
Wow, now I can imagine. Do you have any visual examples?
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