this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2023
1380 points (100.0% liked)

196

16484 readers
1895 users here now

Be sure to follow the rule before you head out.

Rule: You must post before you leave.

^other^ ^rules^

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Sagifurius@lemm.ee 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

212 and 100 are both equally random numbers. There's nothing special about either. Besides, water boils about 205/95 on my hill.

[–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

No, 212 and 100 are not equally random. Unless you're trying to say that literally all numbers are equally random, 100 in the decimal system is much less random that 212.

[–] Sagifurius@lemm.ee 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Assigning the number 100 to the temperature pure water boils at sea level under specific conditions is as random as it gets. At least Farenheit numbers were based on a chemical concoction that exhibits the same temperature output regardless of elevation or pressure that they used to calibrate.

[–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

Assigning the number 100 to the temperature pure water boils at sea level under specific conditions is as random as it gets.

No, it's literally not. 212 is much more random. Any number like 10, 100, 1000 etc. is less random than any other number, simply by virtue of our decimal system. Just like 2,4, 8 etc. are less random in a binary system.

[–] Sagifurius@lemm.ee 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

This isn't kilometers, area, volume, distant measurement. It's temperature. What that 100 is based on is random as fuck, and having the temperature of one elements boiling point at sea level divisible by 10 doesn't really help anything. There is a 100 degree point in Farenhenheit too, you could simply use that for...well whatever reason you need ten to go in evenly.

[–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

My guy, I'm not arguing whether the boiling temperature of water is a random point (because it isn't random in any way, and I'm not interested in arguing that). I'm arguing one simple thing: assigning something on a scale to 100 is much less random than assigning it to 212.

[–] Sagifurius@lemm.ee 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

I don't think you have a very clear grasp on what random means, and 212 wasn't assigned.

[–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

You have no understanding of randomness if you think that 100 is equally random as 212 in our decimal system. No, not every number is equally random, no matter how often you repeat it.

[–] Sagifurius@lemm.ee 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

I understand you have a fetish for numbers that are multiples of ten, but that doesn't make them special. Picking a number out of a hat is as likely to be a 9 as a 100.

[–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Acknowledging that powers of a number systems base are special in that system isn't something I ever thought people would disagree with.

Why do you think we have concepts like "percentages"?

[–] Sagifurius@lemm.ee 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Because you people have ten fingers and use them to count.

[–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

You're so close to getting it - why is it not a fraction of 10, but a fraction of 100?

[–] Sagifurius@lemm.ee 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Because base 60 was too useful for a bunch of French fuckwits couple hundred years ago

[–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

So we use fractions of 100 instead of fractions of 10 because base 60 was too useful? How does that make any sense? The question wasn't why we use base 100 instead of base 60.

[–] Sagifurius@lemm.ee 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Not really knowledgeable bout history either, are you?

[–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Not really able to lead a conversation without non-sequiturs, are you?

[–] Sagifurius@lemm.ee 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

It's not a non sequitur. You'd know that if you ever read a book.

[–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

No, it's a full-on non-sequitur. As I said, the question wasn't why we use fractions of 100 instead of fractions of 60, but why we use fractions of 100 instead of fractions of 10. What you're saying doesn't relate at all to my question.

But I'm done here, you're either arguing in incredibly bad faith, or you're not capable of understanding my questions. Either isn't something I'll spend more time on.

[–] Sagifurius@lemm.ee 1 points 11 months ago

Just cause you don't understand doesn't make it a non-sequitur