Re: [GZG] gross counting was weights

K.H.Ranitzsch wrote:
> Ryan Gill schrieb:
>> At 1:21 PM -0400 10/28/08, Tom B wrote:
>> 
>> And you can count to 144 (a gross) with your two hands an nothing
>> else to mark on. Grocers bought things in units of a gross or more
and
>> sold them individually or in smaller sets (dozens).
> 
> How do you do that ? Is that the limit of the counting method or
> could you go higher ?
> 
> I can count up to 1023 (2**10-1)using both hands by using the fingers
> as binary digits, and I have seen people count to 10 on one hand -
count
> from 1 to 5 normally (I.... is 1, IIIII is 5) and then go on bending 
> fingers in reverse order ( .IIII is 6, ..III is 7 etc.)-
> 
> But I never heard of counting specifically to 144.

You count in base 12 using the one digit per hand, and tracking each 
digit by using the thumb to point to one of the 12 finger segments on 
each hand.

Personally I use binary (2x32) when counting teas vs. coffees.	Or 
either 359 (using 5x60/5x10/10-mental) or 1024 (10x2).	If I have to do 
calculations then 2x32 and working in powers of 2 rounded to the nearest

0.5 (remembering that 2^0.5 is a factor of 1.4, not 1.5) is both more 
accurate than base-10 (obviously) and simpler to handle fractional 
components (1.4 vs 1.3).

Andrae

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