666 its demonic number. 6 60s in 360 and six appeared 3 times explaning it. The earth revolves around the sun not 360 days but 365.25 days. Its deceiving wat of satan to control humanity.
Many ancient peoples used duodecimal system for counting. You count to ten with your fingers as normal nowadays, but then you get the 2 extra with the thumbs either along the other fingers, or sticking to the sides. For some reason, this got stuck in time measurement. All common units are divisible by 12. Otherwise, using an actual 28-day lunar month would give 13 months and less left over than the 12 month year.
Nah. Using your thumb, you count the segments of your other 4 fingers. Bottom, middle, and tip of your finger. You get 60 by, when you've counted all the segments of your fingers on one hand, you put a finger down on the opposing hand and start the counting cycle again. 5 x 12 = 60.
And the fact that the Sun moves through the star dome approximately 1/360 of a circle per day has nothing to do with it? (in other words, "360 is close enough to 365 and is a nice round number")
A circle doesn't have 360, it has what is known as an angular displacement, the full rotation around the center point of the circle. That's why we have pi to calculate the area of a circle, not 360.
what are the chances of some sauce for this, both because i like it and hope there is more, and i would like to have more pieces of Pi from the person who made this
There are also practical considerations. You cannot evenly divide 100 by 3, 6, 7, 8 or 9. 360 is the lowest common multiple of 5, 8 and 9 and can be evenly divided by any number from 1-10 except for 7. (To divide by 7, you'd need to use 2520 for a full rotation) If you didn't mind being unable to evenly divide by 9 you could simplify a full rotation to 120, but it's still 3 digits, and basically inferior to the preexisting 360 framework.
I pretty strongly believe that base 10 is incredibly stupid and humanity would be better off with base 12 as we could then easily divide by thirds & fourths
Base 10 is good for 3-5 year olds learning to count, but that is a dumb reason to use it for everything we need numbers for
Yep and it’s a dumb reason to have our number system based off the number of fingers we have
Imagine if it was normal to have 5 fingers on one hand and 6 on the other, and then we used a base 11 number system that can’t be divided evenly at all
That is even more dumb, right?
And even if it was “well it’d be hard to teach kids to count” well that’s just ignorant as it isn’t hard to teach kids to count to 12 by having their thumb touch the 3 sections on the 4 other fingers to count to 12
I feel like we derived pi from base 360 not pi gave 360. Just like I feel like we use base 10 because that's how many fingers we have. Im sure with enough research i could find the answers but I dont wanna ruin the little fun image in my head so ill keep the myth instead of the fact.
We use base 60 for seconds and minutes, also we use 12 hours per AM/PM. 12 is part of base 60. The numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20 and 30 can all divide 60 cleanly, easy fractions. 10 is inferior as we can divide it by only 1, 2 and 5 cleanly. Computers use different base numbers all the time such as base 2 (binary) and base 16 (hexadecimal). Theres lots of different ways we count.
Na, pi was not derived from 360. It’s a geometrical constant that defines the ratio between the circumference and the diameter. The number of angle divisions is immaterial.
A unit of angular measurement convenient for some calculations is the radian. From Wikipedia: One radian is defined as the angle at the center of a circle in a plane that is subtended by an arc whose length equals the radius of the circle. Or 2*Pi radians = 360 deg And it has been a very loong time since I needed to know that.
I was trained as a surveying technician and we used gradians (aka gon) instead of degrees. They're somewhat simpler since 100 gon equal a right angle. So there are 400 units in a full circle instead of 360.
Although less simple for e.g. an equilateral triangle. 360 is often convenient because among other things it's divisible by so many numbers without having to deal with fractions.
When i was in tradeschool, all the surveying machines were with 400 units. Few german ones had 360. But because in Finland, and in the 1980's most of the equipment was Soviet made and they used only 400.
I ALMOST wish they would divide up the Earth into 400 lines of longitude instead of 360, because that would mean the distance between two lines of longitude at the equator would be pretty darn close to 100 kilometers. My brain just thinks that'd be neater.
Is that similar to Feet (US), where we don’t use the metric system but instead divided a foot into 10ths? It’s super fun! Probably causes millions a year in re-work/delays due to conversion errors.
In army artillery we used “mils”, mili-radians. 1m at 1000 meters, you get used to it. There should be 6290-ish in a circle, but the military rounds it to 6400. Maybe they converted to ft/yards? I never knew why
The only issues I've seen with rework were related to carpenters needing dimensions converted to eighths of an inch because they couldn't just buy a new tape measure.
Exactly! I hate converting for them, but then again they screw up imperial measurements every time they have to add or subtract something like 3’ 4-9/16” from 6’ 7-1/4”. Just writing that makes me cringe, I wish we’d go metric already and get over it
No, that's not it as it's the same reason minutes and hours are in units of 60 . Why? The Babylonians' use of a sexagesimal (base-60) number system and we still use their notations thousands of years later.
No, we inherited a numerical system and still use it that's the reason. You're attempting to attribute much later Greek mathematics to Babylonian systems. To use your statement: it's akin to saying the ancients used rubber tires because we've found them superior to wood.
I think in this case the argument is "360 was used because it's an HCN" vs "360 was used because it's a multiple of 60, and 60 was used because it's an HCN"
"Why 12 inches?" Math by serf carpenters, no calculators, 2, 3, 4, and 6 divisors
"Why 60 minutes?" Same, add 5, 10 as divisors
"Why 360 degrees?" 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12... look at the easily arrived at parts of 360
Every time Imgur has the Imperial units discussion and screams "inches don't even make sense!" I want to pull my hair out of my skull and shove it into all of your throats. Yes, metric is better for Terry in accounting 2025. Not for Rodimus the serf in 1435.
The inch is fine. The mm/m is very marginally better in a few cases but the inch holds it's own. The hate on the inch is unfounded and unreasonable. Every other imperial unit however, they're all stupid and suck and are bodied by their metric equivalents.
You sound like somebody who thinks ancient people were stupid because they never developed electric dynamos. The imperial system was a tool for it's day. It wasn't adopted by slack jawed idiots too foolish to imagine something better, it was a serviceable method for measuring that the average, uneducated, person could practically use. The metric systems real advantage is in standardization (which, incidentally, is why it's been adopted by every civilization (yes, even the US)).
Oh yeah, let's just ignore the slug, dumb unit that sucks to use, or the BTU/hr which makes sense for why it came about, but so if the watt which is vastly superior in every way. Or how about the twisted bastard units like the ton? No... Not that ton, the other one.
The inch is a good unit. Solid 8/10. The rest of them suck. I know how any why most of them were created but maybe 2 of them have the same division justification as the inch, the rest are wacky arbitrary nonsense.
But the issue with imperial is not the conversion from inch to feet/yard. This is, if you want to use a base-12/base-36 system indeed elegant. However, when you go beyond simple distances imperial becomes utterly useless. In metric there is, just as one example, the beautiful Newton which is kg•m/s². This interchangeability makes metric superior to imperial.
Imagine that: units created after the industrial revolution and superior tolerances in machining, superior speed and relative position registering devices, etc. those units are all better in metric. Crazy how that do.
The elegance of the unit conversion is not at question. Rodimus didn't have a clue what a Newton was. Newton wasn't born.
Also what is up with measurements smaller than an inch? A "quarter of an inch"? How does a normal person write that? Or a "thou" for smaller stuff? Which is suddenly in the base 10 system again... ??
Yeah, same goes for how Americans write dates "wrong", with the month first. That's how they say it, "it's August 10th today". So they write it 8/10/2025. Nothing wrong with that, so long as you know that's the rule.
The solution to that, which I read at the time, was to instead count on the three knuckles/joints of each non-thumb finger, which adds up to 12. So 24 total across two hands.
You can actually get to 72 with two hands if you count the way the Sumerians did. Count the twelves places with each finger on one hand and the ones places with the knuckles or segments on the other hand. So holding up 4 fingers with one hand and indicating 3 with your other hand makes 43 in base 12 (51 in base 10)
KuliOrtiz
666 its demonic number. 6 60s in 360 and six appeared 3 times explaning it. The earth revolves around the sun not 360 days but 365.25 days. Its deceiving wat of satan to control humanity.
phobosorbust
this is the logic of backronyms, just applied to mythology to help control people...
DrDoomDoesAsHePleases
lordofthegoats
Blame the Babylonians we inherited their sexagesimal (base-60) system they used in math and astronomy it's the same reason why hours are 60 minutes.
Samthetrue
My pizza oven has 400 degrees. You put circles in it.
theskepticinme
https://media3.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTY1YjkxZmJlaTFicjJoMWliN2s2eTFvenN4MGtsOWtwd2llanBmaDZ6cTZzd3FpOSZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/RluM0kvZXkLS0/200w.mp4
ongabonga
https://media0.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1dzYzd3R4bDB2Mmp3YzUxZnI3OGhzMm90bHF1emJ5b2N6bmphc2k5OSZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/37nRXpCEP9H1f1WVrb/200w.webp
cousteau
That's what the "GRA" button in your calculator is for.
Gofdunk
Underrated comment
SMarkt
but the pineapple on the pizza has 360 degrees (taking cover)
PineappleLoopsBroether
Lööp
ilenisaatio
Many ancient peoples used duodecimal system for counting. You count to ten with your fingers as normal nowadays, but then you get the 2 extra with the thumbs either along the other fingers, or sticking to the sides. For some reason, this got stuck in time measurement. All common units are divisible by 12. Otherwise, using an actual 28-day lunar month would give 13 months and less left over than the 12 month year.
Makerofroads
Nah. Using your thumb, you count the segments of your other 4 fingers. Bottom, middle, and tip of your finger. You get 60 by, when you've counted all the segments of your fingers on one hand, you put a finger down on the opposing hand and start the counting cycle again. 5 x 12 = 60.
Blackcurry328
A lunar month is not 28 days. A sidereal lunar month is 27.3 days, and a synodic lunar month is 29.5 days.
ilenisaatio
Huh. So it would seem. Live and learn. Thanks!
cousteau
And the fact that the Sun moves through the star dome approximately 1/360 of a circle per day has nothing to do with it? (in other words, "360 is close enough to 365 and is a nice round number")
access
A circle doesn't have 360, it has what is known as an angular displacement, the full rotation around the center point of the circle. That's why we have pi to calculate the area of a circle, not 360.
ahleron
So, it's the Babylonians fault?
hatsuseno
Inventing "society" was a mistake, so yes. I discount IRC because they didn't write.
derekjohn
yes
LogicalLimes
Uš!
psmith00
so, the Babylonians were the first documented case of OCD?
ChaoticGwaka
what are the chances of some sauce for this, both because i like it and hope there is more, and i would like to have more pieces of Pi from the person who made this
hatsuseno
As expected, the comment section's a mess of people arguing which base is superior. Let's amp it up, Pluto was never a planet.
access
You might be on to something.
RaxianTheta
Love this. we need more of this and less "gestures vaguely at the world"
Ryik
There are also practical considerations. You cannot evenly divide 100 by 3, 6, 7, 8 or 9. 360 is the lowest common multiple of 5, 8 and 9 and can be evenly divided by any number from 1-10 except for 7. (To divide by 7, you'd need to use 2520 for a full rotation) If you didn't mind being unable to evenly divide by 9 you could simplify a full rotation to 120, but it's still 3 digits, and basically inferior to the preexisting 360 framework.
seehemewe
I pretty strongly believe that base 10 is incredibly stupid and humanity would be better off with base 12 as we could then easily divide by thirds & fourths
Base 10 is good for 3-5 year olds learning to count, but that is a dumb reason to use it for everything we need numbers for
reightb
it's because we have 10 fingers
seehemewe
Yep and it’s a dumb reason to have our number system based off the number of fingers we have
Imagine if it was normal to have 5 fingers on one hand and 6 on the other, and then we used a base 11 number system that can’t be divided evenly at all
That is even more dumb, right?
And even if it was “well it’d be hard to teach kids to count” well that’s just ignorant as it isn’t hard to teach kids to count to 12 by having their thumb touch the 3 sections on the 4 other fingers to count to 12
ISarabi
https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnUselessTalents/s/nl4iAjtBgV
ongabonga
Pi has entered the chat.
cousteau
I eat the pi.
ongabonga
https://media0.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1NnAwNno1bWJib25lcndrdXZjejZwMGJ3b2d6Z3J6eTEzOWpjZnJ5aiZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/nSNIcPlxCor5u/200w.webp
Higure
tau*
pxlphile
*softly* don't
hatsuseno
Oh but I will. Would you like a slice of apple tau?
Higure
Oh, yes, I will. Along with giving electrons positive charge.
HulaJesus
I feel like we derived pi from base 360 not pi gave 360. Just like I feel like we use base 10 because that's how many fingers we have. Im sure with enough research i could find the answers but I dont wanna ruin the little fun image in my head so ill keep the myth instead of the fact.
Tenookey
We use base 60 for seconds and minutes, also we use 12 hours per AM/PM. 12 is part of base 60. The numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20 and 30 can all divide 60 cleanly, easy fractions. 10 is inferior as we can divide it by only 1, 2 and 5 cleanly.
Computers use different base numbers all the time such as base 2 (binary) and base 16 (hexadecimal). Theres lots of different ways we count.
AntiProtonBoy
Na, pi was not derived from 360. It’s a geometrical constant that defines the ratio between the circumference and the diameter. The number of angle divisions is immaterial.
fumptrucker
A unit of angular measurement convenient for some calculations is the radian. From Wikipedia: One radian is defined as the angle at the center of a circle in a plane that is subtended by an arc whose length equals the radius of the circle. Or 2*Pi radians = 360 deg And it has been a very loong time since I needed to know that.
cousteau
The radian is used an awful lot in math and physics. Almost exclusively, even. In engineering too, but there the degree is used often too.
CelestialSea
WE DO measure angle in metric as well... People don't use it often, but radians are the metric measure of angle.
just4thelolz
I was trained as a surveying technician and we used gradians (aka gon) instead of degrees. They're somewhat simpler since 100 gon equal a right angle. So there are 400 units in a full circle instead of 360.
cousteau
TIL those were actually used somewhere.
Hexrowe
Although less simple for e.g. an equilateral triangle. 360 is often convenient because among other things it's divisible by so many numbers without having to deal with fractions.
just4thelolz
True.
SergeyPrkl
When i was in tradeschool, all the surveying machines were with 400 units. Few german ones had 360. But because in Finland, and in the 1980's most of the equipment was Soviet made and they used only 400.
bad1080
gon but not forgotten
YippeeKayakOB
Yes, seen in mostly French/German/European navigation
RoutemasterFlash
"Gradians" sounds confusingly similar to "radians", though.
just4thelolz
We never used that word. It was always just 'gon' with the 'o' plonounced like in 'lonely', not like in 'gone'.
CogYang
Never heard the term before. Thanks. It now goes into the big bag of funny math things I'll never be able to forget
just4thelolz
I ALMOST wish they would divide up the Earth into 400 lines of longitude instead of 360, because that would mean the distance between two lines of longitude at the equator would be pretty darn close to 100 kilometers. My brain just thinks that'd be neater.
cousteau
I'll give that idea an 11.111/11.111 score.
cousteau
I know of them exclusively because scientific calculators have this DRG key to switch between DEG/RAD/GRA
just4thelolz
Each has its purpose, I assure you. ;-)
cousteau
DEG for everyday use, RAD for scientific / mathematical stuff, GRA for whatever it was you said you were doing :)
CogYang
Mine never had that. But it was a while ago. TI-83 I think
cousteau
Huh, so it didn't. https://education.ti.com/en/customer-support/knowledge-base/ti-83-84-plus-family/product-usage/34657
But I was referring to scientific calculators rather than graphing/programmable ones, since those will typically just have a button to switch units, like this one (2nd key of top row):
supervillainsevilmoustache
Is that similar to Feet (US), where we don’t use the metric system but instead divided a foot into 10ths? It’s super fun! Probably causes millions a year in re-work/delays due to conversion errors.
In army artillery we used “mils”, mili-radians. 1m at 1000 meters, you get used to it. There should be 6290-ish in a circle, but the military rounds it to 6400. Maybe they converted to ft/yards? I never knew why
tgrrdr
The only issues I've seen with rework were related to carpenters needing dimensions converted to eighths of an inch because they couldn't just buy a new tape measure.
supervillainsevilmoustache
Exactly! I hate converting for them, but then again they screw up imperial measurements every time they have to add or subtract something like 3’ 4-9/16” from 6’ 7-1/4”. Just writing that makes me cringe, I wish we’d go metric already and get over it
LtGenObvious
360° isn't arbitrary; 360 is a superior highly composite number. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superior_highly_composite_number
ickyickywoopwoo
So... This vid about why 360 makes sense is bullshit!!! Because 360 makes sense dummy! That's your comment?
morningxafter
As an electrician, we also use it quite a bit in electrical theory. When you start getting into sine wave measurements it’s all trigonometry.
Frankasti
Im so happy this is top comment. Thanks.
newphonewhoodis
https://media3.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTY1YjkxZmJldGwzYjJnYnp2enlraWZ3eGlpNmxpdGl4dDlmZ2h0MXZpbXM4N2NkMSZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/cfF1c9rnGV8cBJIsjp/200w.mp4
Denvercoder09
"I was bad at math" "oh Grandma"
SyllogismeJazz
https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTY1YjkxZmJlM3BpbW1qeTQ5dThycHpuZzFxc2cxcWthczhhdTBwdXM2Y2x4NnlkOSZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/26gsjCZpPolPr3sBy/200w.mp4
lordofthegoats
No, that's not it as it's the same reason minutes and hours are in units of 60 . Why? The Babylonians' use of a sexagesimal (base-60) number system and we still use their notations thousands of years later.
CyberMyrc
...because they're highly composite numbers. This is like arguing that the wheels for modern cars are round because early car wheels were round.
lordofthegoats
No, we inherited a numerical system and still use it that's the reason. You're attempting to attribute much later Greek mathematics to Babylonian systems. To use your statement: it's akin to saying the ancients used rubber tires because we've found them superior to wood.
cousteau
I think in this case the argument is "360 was used because it's an HCN" vs "360 was used because it's a multiple of 60, and 60 was used because it's an HCN"
thevoiddancer
But are the round wheels superior composite number?
redbear1999
I got interested in asking whether or not the Babylonians knew number theory.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_theory
Perkunas687
https://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1MXMwbHg1d2M5amFicGYwdmRpYTF1OGY1aWNiYXhhdmhxMHR2MzljdyZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/5wWf7H89PisM6An8UAU/200w.webp
gingen
The babylonians did it long ago and it just sorta stuck because number feel good when easy to count.
MarsIsAfire
One of the best throw away jokes of the entire series "I'll be six!". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfZuFDePqVI
Necrothean
12, 60, 360.
"Why 12 inches?" Math by serf carpenters, no calculators, 2, 3, 4, and 6 divisors
"Why 60 minutes?" Same, add 5, 10 as divisors
"Why 360 degrees?" 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12... look at the easily arrived at parts of 360
Every time Imgur has the Imperial units discussion and screams "inches don't even make sense!" I want to pull my hair out of my skull and shove it into all of your throats. Yes, metric is better for Terry in accounting 2025. Not for Rodimus the serf in 1435.
iamnemo222
The inch is fine. The mm/m is very marginally better in a few cases but the inch holds it's own. The hate on the inch is unfounded and unreasonable. Every other imperial unit however, they're all stupid and suck and are bodied by their metric equivalents.
RufusPimperton
You sound like somebody who thinks ancient people were stupid because they never developed electric dynamos. The imperial system was a tool for it's day. It wasn't adopted by slack jawed idiots too foolish to imagine something better, it was a serviceable method for measuring that the average, uneducated, person could practically use. The metric systems real advantage is in standardization (which, incidentally, is why it's been adopted by every civilization (yes, even the US)).
iamnemo222
Oh yeah, let's just ignore the slug, dumb unit that sucks to use, or the BTU/hr which makes sense for why it came about, but so if the watt which is vastly superior in every way. Or how about the twisted bastard units like the ton? No... Not that ton, the other one.
The inch is a good unit. Solid 8/10. The rest of them suck. I know how any why most of them were created but maybe 2 of them have the same division justification as the inch, the rest are wacky arbitrary nonsense.
etherbunny41
... is... is it still 1435, though? Or is it 2025? Like, right now. That might be the issue.
gerbabbel
But the issue with imperial is not the conversion from inch to feet/yard. This is, if you want to use a base-12/base-36 system indeed elegant. However, when you go beyond simple distances imperial becomes utterly useless. In metric there is, just as one example, the beautiful Newton which is kg•m/s². This interchangeability makes metric superior to imperial.
Necrothean
Imagine that: units created after the industrial revolution and superior tolerances in machining, superior speed and relative position registering devices, etc. those units are all better in metric. Crazy how that do.
The elegance of the unit conversion is not at question. Rodimus didn't have a clue what a Newton was. Newton wasn't born.
gerbabbel
Also what is up with measurements smaller than an inch?
A "quarter of an inch"?
How does a normal person write that?
Or a "thou" for smaller stuff?
Which is suddenly in the base 10 system again... ??
MarsIsAfire
Yeah, same goes for how Americans write dates "wrong", with the month first. That's how they say it, "it's August 10th today". So they write it 8/10/2025. Nothing wrong with that, so long as you know that's the rule.
Perkunas687
I remember reading about the benefits of going to a base 12 system and was mostly convinced, but also it would never happen as base 10 is ubiquitous.
MarsIsAfire
If only we were hexadactyl.
lordnequam
Many forms of polydactyly are a genetically dominant trait, which means—with a little effort—we could breed a stable 6-fingered humanity!
Perkunas687
The solution to that, which I read at the time, was to instead count on the three knuckles/joints of each non-thumb finger, which adds up to 12. So 24 total across two hands.
Antinumeric
If you use segments on both hands it's pretty easy to count up to 144.
Blackcurry328
You can actually get to 72 with two hands if you count the way the Sumerians did. Count the twelves places with each finger on one hand and the ones places with the knuckles or segments on the other hand. So holding up 4 fingers with one hand and indicating 3 with your other hand makes 43 in base 12 (51 in base 10)
HandoB4Javert