Why Our Counting System is Biased

[@StarTalk]

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[@mjgarner86]

Thank you for making it! Always an instant watch for me.

[@ZigZagKid_AZ]

11

[@weirdlygoodmorningvideos]

@@StarTalk “Thank you for watching StarTalk!”

[@bluejay8047]

I'm in tears, laughing so hard. Thank you both. 😂

[@kaisaplews1407]

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[@Synfendia]

This is exactly why Chuck deserves to be at every single one of these podcasts. He makes it okay for everyone out there who is trying to follow along, yet is not a complete idiot. Long live the Tyson-Nice duo!

[@larissakristy]

The juxtaposition of chuck screaming from revelation and this malfunction is absolutely hilarious , 🤣🤣🤣

[@dennisgibbs798]

Haha!! Watching this video made me feel smart while knowing that Chuck's no dummy.

[@tyrone4u559]

Agree

[@coin5207]

It is harder to get it if you're not seeing the numbers in front of you though. I can understand him in that

[@mattjones7191]

@@dennisgibbs798that’s what is so great about this. Chuck is a smart individual. He’s not afraid to be wrong, nor should any of us be. What he doesn’t do is give up.

[@AscendantPerfection]

Whoever edited this video deserves a raise 💀💀💀

[@kswan2234]

Yes! 🤣

[@odyssey3260]

Yes .. Editors efforts will not go un noticed. We know how difficult this is.

[@tkermi]

😅 True that

[@daddy7860]

Yeah the suspenseful music building up to a FAIL LOL it's hilarious

[@jerrycamonjr.9594]

😂 ion think they had to do anything

[@classicaltrombone]

If you call 1-0 "ten" every time it becomes blatantly obvious. "01234 TEN" to illustrate base 5 is illuminating. This was so painful and somehow I appreciate Neil never just giving the answer. You learn a lot more from a student's mistake than just spitting information at them every time they struggle.

[@trogdor20X6]

It’s not ten tho, 10 in base 5 is a different value than ten

[@MartinEliasson]

​@@trogdor20X6Ten in base 5 have the value of 5 in base 10. Ten in base 10 have the value of 10. Ten in base 16 has the value of 16. Ten in base 2 has the value of 2. It is still ten. So if I say "Ten", you should ask "In which base?". At least if I am a Alien with not ten fingers...

[@trogdor20X6]

@@MartinEliasson ten by definition is one more than nine, 10 in base 5 has the value of five. ten != 10 if you have different bases.

[@MartinEliasson]

@@trogdor20X6 Ten = 10, no matter the base. But ten have different values depending on the base you are using. How would you count in any other base if you are not allowed to say the names of the numbers?

[@MartinEliasson]

​@@trogdor20X6What you are saying is only true in base 10. Ten in base 5 has the value of five in base 10. In base 5, ten has the value of ten in base 5.

[@mihagomiunik2758]

Alternate title: Niel psychologically tortures Chuck for 15 minutes straight.

[@jonathan_r_lee92]

😂

[@frankvangemert4259]

That was brutal! 😎

[@jeffffff12]

It was hard to watch at times! But I was laughing so hard. I got over it!!!!

[@VudrokWolf]

😂 kind of painful to watch I mean I got the thing immediately but well I am a software engineer

[@omidel.]

it was funny

[@Laochraiceann]

It's encouraging to see someone publish a video where they are struggling with grasping a concept, as we all do from time to time. More of this sort of thing.

[@jasminewebster1415]

I greatly appreciate not being the only person who needs scratch Paper 😅 much love to ya Lord Nice! I commend your personal perseverance for powering through

[@muddystick]

It's something anyone who has studied science or engineering can relate to. When you have spent a long time working through incredibly complex ideas, then someone presents a simple concept to you, you will over complicate it in your own mind and be completely unable to grasp it. I remember it happened to me one day in my first year when I went from an advanced calculus lecture to a physics lecture on force diagrams, everything was bouncing off me, later when I consulted my notes, it was the simplest thing in the world, but sitting in that lecture hall, I had absolutely no idea what was being said.

[@rrj6068]

Neil created a mathematical black hole in chuck's head which is why no answers could come out ......

[@qkhan69]

Yes please, this is showing the beginning of learning any topic. He grasped it here and there but when asked in a different way he has to rethink and reapply and fail until you pass which makes the concept more solidified. This is learning.

[@LOLWUT281]

I feel for Chuck. It's way easier to see this on paper. But it's great to see the synapses in action.

[@emilianogonzalez4295]

Kept yelling 10 at my screen for 15 minutes straight.

[@judgereddz6984]

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Dont let Chuck drive you insane lol.

[@billionsandbillionsofstars]

Same!😂

[@benedictogu3747]

The entire video is 15 minutes long

[@playfoolbrush838]

the height of acting right there

[@svettnabb]

Hopefully you didn't yell 10 as in ten. It's 1 0, one zero.

[@frankowot4]

There are 10 kinds of people in this world - those who understand Base 2 and those who don't

[@invadrmario1493]

I've been enlightened on how difficult this is to understand even though it seems like pure logic to me

[@kingplunger1]

I have that on my t shirt right now xD

[@AlGaragui]

1

[@jimmirow]

That's hilarious 😂

[@Wholesome_Fries]

0, 1, a0, a1

[@krantinebhwani6125]

Bless chuck and his candid answers and still posting this. I think I know what makes it difficult for him and many though. It’s the 0, with its special rules. Only the first round do you start with zero, every other round you need to use an actual number AFTER 0 to pair it with, like 10 and 20. The special property that 0 is a symbol that holds no value makes it harder to grasp, so chuck and some would keep saying 01 or 001 etc. So for those that are still stuck: - count from 0 to maximum of your base, say base 8 we go to 7 (0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7). - restart from the start, now using more than one digit. - remember that 0 at the front holds no value! It’s the same as not writing anything. So we gotta start with 10 after 7.

[@squeebers9011]

Neil's patience for Chuck in this vid is larger than the observable universe 😂😂

[@hemmper]

It was only surpassed by Chucks patience 😊

[@ahe]

And vice versa!

[@khan.No1]

I thought he is gonna slap chuck into reality when he fails to say 10 each and every time

[@Avaruusolli]

😂

[@othmanbelkh6966]

😂😂😂

[@bibekbhandari7985]

This totally takes me back to when I taught my CS students how to count in different bases-my method was just like Neil's, and my students were just as lost as Chuck!

[@jlzeni]

It's much easier to explain and understand when thinking about ones, tens and hundreds places. You go up the ones place until you run out, then restart at 0 and go up the tens place. When you run out at the tens, restart and go up the hundreds, and so on.

[@The-Middleman]

@@jlzeni regardless, it should be obvious from the start.

[@catritonix]

​@@The-Middleman it should be.. yet it isn't, so.. what now?

[@SoenkeKluess]

I think if you are not used to it, it's just very very hard to get your brain to the point where it clicks and all makes sense again.

[@chichi90504]

You mean there really are people who have that much trouble counting in alternate bases?

[@sascha8669]

The real fun part is, that our fingers have 3 segments per finger and four fingers, when you count with your thumb. That makes 12 numbers, so ancient people counted on base 12 - which is still present today in hours, days and some strange measurements like a dozen

[@richardlaning234]

The dividing of the day into 2 12 hour periods and the time subsets into 60 chunks when you count the number of times you go through those 12 finger sections on the other hand follow logically.

[@sycois]

Indian classical musicians (like those who play the tablas) use the finger tips as well and therefore count in base 16. This is convenient as the typical music we hear is in 4/4 time which easily can be counted in base 16 as it is a multiple (in fact a square)

[@chaiguy1337]

I consider this one of humanity's biggest mistakes: somehow agreeing on base 10 as our global number system when base 12 is far superior. For example in base 12 (also called duodecimal), one third can be represented perfectly as 0.4 and a quarter as 0.3.

[@SnakuPlisskin]

Watching Chuck try to work it out was delightful. We grow up with a very specific notion of what 10 means and it can be really hard to get your head around the fact that it can mean something else in other bases. His mind just didn't want to go to 10 because he already knows what 10 means so it just isn't available as an option when he needs to find 5 or 16. Then you can see that he finally gets it when he gets to 1000 in binary. Niel is a great educator

[@xanderveldmuisje]

And then going back to base 5 he totally forgets again😂

[@zachrightmyer3347]

@@xanderveldmuisje Since he repeatedly couldn't answer 10 when the base changed shows that Neil was in fact not being a great educator @SnakuPlisskin. He was able to learn how to function with each base after some coaching, but didn't know the concept beneath it to reach the answer himself without experience. Not a knock on Chuck, some clarification and a whiteboard would have aided him greatly.

[@nirbija]

@@zachrightmyer3347 We are not dealing with children here: Chuck is a Adult, a comedian, and Experienced Adult to boot; so to state that "Neil was in fact not being great educator", is being rude and impertinent. Chuck, the Adult, must either 'get it' eventually if not quickly, or be the struggling comedian that makes the observers laugh at him being real live comedian for a change. lol Same level of empathy for 'struggling children' is not according for 'struggling adult' and 'struggling comedian': It is quite alright if 'the joke is on him', on the comedian. He'll get over it, and without psychological scars; not easy to scar a fully grown man! lol

[@nirbija]

Yes, I noticed that too: The lifetime of the usual '10-base' brainwashing makes it a challenge for the mind to temporarily 'kick the habit' and still say '1-0'/10 when we change number of digits in the 'counting base'

[@zachrightmyer3347]

@@nirbija age has nothing to do with learning new concepts. We are all children of some subjects. Plenty of "experienced adults" can't do some simple tasks. Try living in the real world and not projecting yourself onto everybody. And i never said he scarred or upset Chuck in any way. Only disrespectful person here is you.

[@David.Cromer]

I've never seen Chuck this high before 😅

[@revelari]

he’s not high at all here !!!!

[@ohduude]

First comment to make me burst in laugh

[@alphasheepdog9683]

@@revelariit’s an act

[@ziggyroyal5943]

I came here to say this lol he was on cloud 1 0

[@bajansixfooter]

He did realize he was filming today 😅😅😅

[@Riddimental]

To be fair, neil didn’t explain it perfectly, if u already know it u get it, but if u’ve never seen that concept, his explanation was not so intuitive, it took me longer to understand it with paper and pen, chuck did it at first attempt mentally, props on that

[@samwho1731]

OMG Chuck was under extreme pressure. I am surprised he did not just say, "F this. I am not getting paid enough for this" But it made me LOL

[@salikzaki]

maybe he is getting paid enough

[@utube7930]

€10 dollars?

[@h1ghju1ce]

To be fair, I think Neil could have explained it better to Chuck The phrasing "doubling up" was not helpful

[@michdax7627]

it needs a visual aspect

[@8kayplays]

Yeah, and I first learned binary with it being demonstrated on a white board. It's also the reason why channels like The Organic Chemistry Tutor are so helpful in explaining concepts.

[@babasemka]

Usually when I (me) try to figure something out in my head, I stop listening to anyone else. So that should not be excuse.

[@GuZ76]

what does that even mean? you have to carry over one to the next decimal, that is not doubling right?

[@ubercoo]

Exactly, he could have rephrased it.

[@aarongrooves]

Years ago, I spent months teaching myself to count, add, and multiply in hexidecimal (base 16). Imagine if we switched to this as our base! How easily we'd code, compute, etc. Chuck, you da man! I literally screamed YES at 12:17 when you started getting it! Kudos! And Neil, great example of letting your student discover. You guided, but you did not hijack Chuck's epiphanies.

[@EricDavidRocks]

Lesson: don't talk to Neil after edibles.

[@dustmaker1000]

@@EricDavidRocks my god, isn’t that true

[@Meatwerd]

Either the worst time, or the best time. Could go either way :D

[@shysenturner2106]

I'm crying 🤣🤣🤣

[@aaronlove5784]

Each time a new discovery!

[@boboyqc]

Exactly what I was thinking 😂 but, to be fair, some people have a lot more trouble with numbers. Might be a small underlying problem like dyscalculia.

[@Darkpyrodragoon]

i totally get the issue Chuck is having. Get the man a piece of paper

[@MrIsaiahdix]

Nah Chuck just was just being a little slow.

[@roadrun030]

And a beer. He earned that one

[@thedrunkshinobi]

@@MrIsaiahdix Some of us can't see any thing when we try and imagine it in our head. When it comes to numbers we lose track of any digits we aren't focused on. I can eventually do simple math in my head, but it is much easier and faster if I write every thing out so I can keep track of it all.

[@neikidixon9404]

And a pencil 😂

[@francekhangwamutaley2064]

This has been the funniest episode I've ever watched... Thank you 😂

[@lorenbauman1654]

Thank you Chuck, for taking one for the team. I suspect 98% of us would’ve been as baffled as you!

[@julko28]

Just what i thought.

[@redbaskett]

More like 5% but there is no shame in not learning something.

[@Cellticlink]

I know I was yelling the answer on multiple occasions and was WROONG😅

[@dipandas9619]

Bro this was the easiest concept

[@Marcel16DM]

98% is way too high

[@andypeiffer5]

👏👏 Editor, you're killing it

[@sidneycarthell945]

😂😂 made the whole video epic

[@CS.AtheistChannel.VoteBidenAOC]

The editor is based.

[@OGU44]

Give that editor a raise!

[@winonafrog]

5:14 😅 🐸

[@Moraenil]

This is so cool. I never knew how the different bases worked. In school (including college multiple times) we learned that we use base 10 and then that was it. No mention of how it worked, why we use it, how any others worked, nothing. In my late 40s and just learning this now. I am with Chuck though, as far as needing to see it since I'm a visual thinker. Trying to do it without seeing it is about impossible. I got it much faster than he did thanks to the editors putting it up on screen as he was answering so we could see it and still have the chance to figure it out before he did too. Terrific video!

[@francescomartella144]

Don't forget that you measure height in base 12 : 5,9 - 5,10 - 5,11 - 6,00

[@Moraenil]

@@francescomartella144 Dunno what those commas and dashes are for, but we don't measure height in base 12. We don't keep counting inches after 12 like in base 12, we keep counting inches as base 10, normally. That's why someone 5 foot tall is 60 inches. Yes, every 12 inches is a foot, but that's just so we aren't saying that something 100 feet tall is 1200 inches. It gets cumbersome. We don't count inches as ...9, 10, 11, 12, 20, 21, 22, etc the way you'd count base 12.

[@josesun2402]

Seeing Chuck suffering show how powerful is having a physical teaching apparatus is to teach. To see(and fell for the blind) the operation happening helps a lot. If paper has been given to chuck it would help a lot just being able to see. I had a teacher of mine when i was in college equivalent from my country that was making an device to teach kids the base 10 system, it was a rod with 9 spaces delimited, each space you could put flip numbers in the base you were teaching, if you were teaching decimal base each space would have 9 tiles to flip and when you flip the last tile it would flip the first tile from the next space, so when you reached 9 and flipped back to 0 the tile 9 flipped the 1 in the next space.

[@mjb7015]

We call them "maths manipulatives" here, any object that can be used to represent numbers can help with teaching number logic.

[@NortjeIna]

Exactly! I think it was really unfair to Chuck that he didn’t have any sort of visual guide

[@geoffreybenedict2075]

I love how different brains process number bases, it really highlights how people learn and process differently. Number bases always made sense to me, learned them in first grade. Other kids that were just as smart or even smarter than I was struggled with them, it's cool.

[@2MANYWWWWWWWWWWWWS4U]

if 0 is the beginning, and you say start at the beginning, thats why Chuck kept saying 0 and not 10.

[@The_Silver_Lurker]

I agree. Neil's way of explaining was just off enough to confuse Chuck!

[@ndon85]

100% agreed! He confused him so much by saying that

[@cyborgzulu2011]

It's frustrating to hear and see!!

[@marcelotiberio3775]

the mentality is that you already used the 0 like "01,02,03..." but agreed that it could have been explained better kkkkkk poor chuck

[@dennisestenson7820]

Yeah and saying "doubling up" was misleading... each time he should've just said, what's after 9.

[@timpawaz]

Chuck is the best! He’s a base 10!

[@jarnevanbec2886]

This was fun. Both watching the guy, Neil, and the editing all together. I especially liked how to let him struggle from time to time. Only if they have to think for themselves people learn.

[@forthewaterz]

14:14 Neil, stop torturing Chuck!

[@dustmaker1000]

Base 5, base 16, etc.. This is terrific. I’ve done this in a simple physics concept. It’s very simple but there is a mental block that we sometimes all have to overcome. Once we grasp it, we look back and think “why did I have so much trouble with it”

[@CS.AtheistChannel.VoteBidenAOC]

Chuck envies those who got over it❤

[@AllYourMemeAreBelongToUs]

It’s kinda like that old saying about fish not knowing they live in water. It just doesn’t occur to you that it could be any other way.

[@Azlureon]

I mean its pretty straight forward like he said we do it with time daily. 1 min 2 min 10 mins 20 min all they way till 59 mins then we start over 1 hour then 1 hour and 1 min and 1 hour 2min till 1 hour 59 min then 2 hour. Its just base 12.

[@CheeseWyrm]

@@Azlureon Aye, it's Base 12 - but written in Base 10 numerals. This explains why my 11 yr old guide-son has trouble with time calculations using analogue clocks. He defaults to decimal calculation. However - imagine the clocks marked in Base 12 numerals! Zero at top of clock, then 1 - 9, then A, B (for 10, 11). Madness ensues!

[@robinandersson99]

The ending was DIABOLOCAL!! One of the funniest videos to date. To be fair to Chuck though, he is usually very quick with picking up on how the things Neil talks about works, maybe numbers just isn't his thing. Also, It is quite nice to see a video of someone struggling with grasping a concept and is still willing to put it out on the internet for others to see, we all have things we struggle with understanding.

[@Woreixiz]

Chuck, think of it like an old-fashioned odometer on a car. When the smallest digit (like the "ones" place) reaches its maximum, it resets to zero and the next digit over increments by one.

[@datboidego]

Chuck was literally me every time the teacher asks me a question in front of the whole class,😂😂 😂

[@joekenorer]

Same. Didn't matter what the question was, could have been my own thesis and I would draw a blank.

[@scriptles]

Also reminds me of the Patrick from sponge bob with the one dude the wallet/id meme thing lol

[@Crunch104]

Chuck's difficulty with this actually makes it easier to understand for me! I got this down pat from this video. Thanks!

[@scriptles]

Yeah probably because you spent 10 minutes yelling "10" at the screen while seeing the other numbers written down lol. I know if I had to yell 10 at my monitor for that long I sure would not forget it. I mean I did yell at my monitor but I already knew it lol

[@Crunch104]

@@scriptles Haha! Dude. 10 !

[@TonyDCheruvathur]

Absolutely NO Words!... What Chuck is going through is what at least 90% of us go through when we learn this for the first time in our middle school. If we don't have teachers with half the patience of Neil, we are doomed. Love you Neil and I should say "Chuck, you were just like me".

[@raymondsalzwedel]

But once you get it, it sticks!

[@s2aries]

Okay, so I felt sooo bad for Chuck watching this _but_ I was watching with a friend who wasn't acquainted with different base systems yet and his mistakes actually helped her make the connections faster too, so thank you Chuck!

[@gyan1010]

I was teaching bases to my daughters and it really helps if you write the leading 0s down in your examples. Helps them visualize the pattern of just adding 1 to the column to the left when you start over. If you just talk about it as adding a digit, then it seems like something different they need to keep track of when really it is the same process.

[@chanakyasaikia4534]

I think the challenge of recognising the pattern is that to count in base five no one says 00, 01, 02, 03, 04 but I think looking at it that way may make it easier to see that 10 would be the next number

[@christianhoops9106]

Agreed it makes it easy when u just looking for the jumping number owers being 9

[@bigboland6160]

yea after getting it explained, he understood each pattern separately, but never discovered the underlying pattern that the invisible digit before hand was getting incremented

[@abhiruproy1170]

Yes, allows you to write down all the possible combinations beforehand. We do the same thing for binary numbers in writing down something known as "truth table"

[@TallinuTV]

Definitely. And Neil’s “explanations” of what you do next were terrible.

[@martynaspiliutis]

So, if you gonna count to 10000, you gonna count 00000, 00001, 00002 and so on?

[@Shadoenix]

I love the editing on this one! The visualizing and music work very well with the content and lesson being presented, please pass a “well done” to the editor of this!

[@singingdenis]

Chuck, this isn't an easy concept to grasp! You got it super fast! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@LyneaSilver]

Neil, it'd probably be easier for him to grasp if you explained to him that 0-9 is also the same as 00-09. So you're going up from 00 to 10.

[@johnjones8580]

Just had a thought... base systems are not written as a single digit when expressing the base itself. In its own base, every base number is written as 10. So, in a way, every base is base 10.

[@Flexy59]

i had the exact same thought earlier while watching XD

[@bigboland6160]

for human understanding, all the bases for each counting system is described in base 10. in base 2, and all the bases are 1 higher than the base unit can count to. in base 10 digits are 0-9. base 2 is 0-1. so yes with how we understand numbers every base described in its own base would always be base 10

[@privacyvalued4134]

That's because the Latin speaking world uses a limited number of symbols to represent numbers and they happen to be strictly aligned to base 10. Of course, how we got the symbols most of the world uses today is a fascinating topic with a massive rabbit hole to deep dive into. There are actually 50 or so numeral systems that have been used throughout history. Most are base 10, but there have been numeral systems (i.e. with symbols) in base 4, 20, and 60. Chinese is fascinating as they have two active numeral systems in use: One general purpose and one for ledgers/banking. Hindu-Arabic numerals are also interesting with hundreds of glyphs but all base 10.

[@TallinuTV]

Absolutely! ❤😂

[@KeKe-bv8qv]

lol it took me a second to switch my thinking from ten to 10 when reading this.

[@DaveWilburn-USAF]

Massive props to Chuck for being such a good sport! Having learned binary in second grade (a VERY long time ago) and then octal and hexidecimal later (still last century), I very much enjoyed this.

[@NachoMan154]

I can guess EVERY decimal place of Pi with 50% accuracy! But only in base 2 :/

[@olivierbaecher1770]

Well, it’s not really a decimal place if you’re not in base 10

[@NachoMan154]

@@olivierbaecher1770 Ohh, you are right. I've translated it from german "nachkommastelle"(which literaly translates to "behind comma place") without thinking about it. ^^

[@patrickjordan2233]

Is it a decimal point if an individual isn't in the deca system??😁😁😁👽👽👽

[@allistairneil8968]

You can only do this for digits less than 2, otherwise you get into orders of magnitude pretty quickly.

[@simon-white]

​@@patrickjordan2233 The more general term, not dependent on the base system is a radix point.

[@Mr.BusyBee]

Thanks to Star Talk for giving me the desire to continue and cherish science. I knew about different number systems but never understood them properly, Neil's method of teaching was very fun to understand. Chuck is such a really nice addition, sometimes he is like the guy that resonates with us!

[@sherylbegby]

The epiphany was worth it. Loved the dawning, Chuck!

[@roadrun030]

I’m a visual learner as well and I feel for Chuck. That was stressful to watch. 😂😂

[@Alexscofi]

As a teacher, this is why I hate when ppl claim the idea of visual learners is a myth

[@Novacification]

You think he would have gotten it quicker if Neil had given him a text book and left? He got there in the end and it only took 15 minutes

[@kyjo72682]

​@@NovacificationHe could have done it in 5m if he had a pen and paper..

[@Novacification]

@@kyjo72682 sure but that wouldn't have been visual learning. That would have been visual and auditory. The reason research shows that visual learners aren't a thing is that it's never either or. Visual learners are the idea that some people will always learn best from visual input. The reality is much more complex than that. Anyone who has trouble understanding what was being taught in the video would benefit from seeing it written down, because it's difficult and you're trying to relate it to something you already know: the base-10 system. If he was trying to teach him what nutrients are in carrots, then he might not need visual aids to actually learn it. He might still want to write it down though, because similarly to the base-2 and base-16 example, offloading memory tasks onto paper frees up your mind for reasoning about the subject.

[@invadrmario1493]

@@Alexscofi I have never heard of visual learning being a myth

[@kyjo72682]

@Novacification Not just memory. I'd say the ability to draw and write or simply watch someone else do it also helps imagination an spatial thinking. Which specifically in case of number systems is quite important, imo. If I didn't already know this topic I would have really hard time understanding it only from his explanation.

[@deuelchanzi4461]

This was epic to watch as it was equally educational

[@wardog6616]

13:13 Supposedly crows can count on a base 6 (because of their 6 toes) but they don't understand the concept of a second digit.

[@Baaqel]

that’s pretty interesting that they max at 6

[@loggrad9842]

I always knew Chuck was here for comedy relief or whatever, but never has that been more on display than in this video. My 10 year old granddaughter watching with me was yelling "it's 10 again!"

[@eweguy22]

😂😂 exactly my sentiment! Chuck, Chuck, Chuck!😂

[@totsh2056]

In his defence, he's not usually this bad. Perhaps he was just tired or something. 😂 But my word, this triggered my PTSD from my days tutoring high-school kids. 😅

[@invaderska3508]

Everyone "watching" on the screen can likely follow along by default. Doing non-routine math in your head is much more difficult, much less without being put on the spot, on camera. Chucks a smart dude, no need to compare him to a 10 year old.

[@LukeSumIpsePatremTe]

Sure, but we had visual aid and Chuck didn't.

[@caliverrose8533]

Your 10 year old granddaughter had a visualization on screen

[@DiafolMedrus]

The most amazing thing. He gets it right, and Neil deGrasse Tyson looks GENUINELY happy that Chuck gets it. He is SO EXCITED when he gets it right. It's so wholesome...

[@kingplunger1]

Thank you for making me feel smart for a second, chuck !

[@rvrrunner]

Years ago (1970's) I took a basic computer class that explained all the workings of an 8088 computer and how all the chips worked using binary logic circuits. Best class I ever took because it explained the very heart of all computing systems, even the super computers of today! Love this stuff!

[@jadawa85]

I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s in Texas. Ross Perot became a political force and helped make it mandatory for kids to take two semesters of computer classes. I was already a bit of a nerd so it didn’t affect me much, but I can imagine how much even just familiarity with computing terms made it easier for kids to adjust as computers became more commonplace.

[@corwinchristensen260]

A mathematician friend and I developed a way to write base 10000 numbers (0000 to 9999 with a single digit.) It also incorporated the concept of null so we could do number sets with a single digit.

[@emessjee]

Was there a use case for this or was it just for fun?

[@LasVegasVocalist]

OMFG!!! That was Hilarious!! :) Chuck is such a great sport. Thanks for bringing a smile to my day.

[@patrickfernandez4739]

Sorry, but that was just a little painful to watch. I do have to say that the number line visual at the bottom of the screen is helpful to understand the direction we're going with the different base counting systems. Chuck did not have that visual aid so I can understand the confusion.

[@dipanshu0ag]

You should have introduced numbers from 00, 01, 02.... 09 then 10, 11, 12, 13. This makes it easy to grasp the concept.

[@billionsandbillionsofstars]

This was the funniest episode I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t stop laughing and screaming at the TV. 😂 I thought I was bad at math but I think Chuck takes the cake on this one. 😆

[@davidyoung518]

I know!! And the comments take it to another level of FUNNY!!!!!! 🤣

[@illogik]

He’s not bad he’s just a visual learner. We also got the privilege of visually seeing the numbers due to the edits.

[@gabor6259]

This is one of the most entertaining StarTalk videos. 😂 I like how Neil just gives up on Chuck at the end. 🤣

[@waggy777]

I think what may be helpful is to discuss an implied 0 for the first set: 00, 01, etc. It is a bit more obvious that you have to increment the implied 0, which helps with understanding that 10 is always the start of the next set.

[@bigwildgaming]

Hexadecimal is base 16. I'm a cyber security student and I'd just like to say "Thank you for watching StarTalk!"

[@CheeseWyrm]

Yes - Neil mentioned that :)

[@thisismyelement]

I kept wanting to shout at Chuck “just pretend the first numbers have a zero in front of them (i.e. 00, 01, 02, 03, 04, 10, 11… etc.)” It makes it waaaay easier for me to understand that it.

[@samueltolosa1270]

The excitement on the face of Dr. Tyson shows what a remarkable teacher he is!

[@Dghost24]

Best learning program on youtube!

[@kelligrapher]

Chuck: you know what I mean… Tyson, a Doctor in science: NO. I DON’T PLAY THAT 🗿

[@nrdkraft]

I think it’s a good help to tell people the number before the end of the sequence is like your “new nine” and what comes after “nine”? Do in base two like you said 111 is like “999”. And in hexadecimal f is like 9. In bass eight, 7 is “like nine”. Continually emphasizing the “nine” thing I think is a good way of helping people understand the alternate bases thing.

[@srr728]

This brings me back to my college days learning programming. Knew so many people like Chuck here that struggled to grasp this concept, and eventually most of them you would all of a sudden see the lightbulb click on and it all makes sense. Actually had to use this concept to figure out a bug in a software program where when running on one OS it was working fine as base 10, but when deployed to a different OS that the server was running on calcs all of a sudden started throwing seemingly nonsensical answers for the inputs. Turned out because something was passing leading zeros the OS interpreted it as base 8 instead of base 10. Never in my life thought I would have actually used anything other than binary/decimal or hex until that day.

[@playmusic8056]

I think the thing the teachers gloss over that would help is... There is an infinite number of 0s first that we just don't mention because they're 0, so when you wrap a digit back to 0, you just bump the number to the left by 1, unless it also wraps to 0, then bump the number to the left of it by 1, unless..., ad infinitum.

[@Parmigiano1]

Not sure if I am watching StarTalk or Chuck's new comedy special. Either way I love it. Also props to the editor, he mad it even funnier.

[@benhasglasses]

Thanks!

[@terry9370]

This fun to watch. Poor Chuck. Neil is more patient than I could be. I learned all this when I started CS courses in college in the 1960s. Binary, octal, hex. You can count to 31 in binary on the fingers of one hand.

[@insightfulgarbage]

Something that helps a lot is to imagine an infinite number of 0 to the left of our number, eg in base 3: ...00000, ...00001, ...00002, ...00010, ...00011, ...00012 and so on. And give the rule: Whenever a digit circles back to 0, you add one to the digit left of it. Much easier to add 1 to an existing 0 than trying to mentally find a new location on some floating digit.

[@triftex8353]

Chuck on astrophysics: masters degree level. Chuck on math: 💀

[@billionsandbillionsofstars]

That’s totally me!😂

[@rpapplebee]

When I was much younger than I am now, I taught myself Commodre 64 assembly language. This is where I also learned about different numbering systems. That knowledge has served me very well as I have been working as a network engineer for the past 24 or so years. These two fine gentleman skipped right past the octal (base 8) system.

[@kafka35]

Now I’m trying to remember a couple of sci-fi movies where they just assumed that aliens used base 10 to communicate because we assumed base 10 is universal…. 10 fingered bias!!!😮

[@CS.AtheistChannel.VoteBidenAOC]

Sci Fi just can't be dealin wit English and bases!

[@Rob_Enhoud]

We have 12 knuckles (excluding thumb). We should count by dozens like the Babylonians. It also has 4 factors instead on 2 like base 10. You can count to 12 (1b) on one hand too by pointing to each successive knuckle with your thumb and use the second hand counting to "one hundred" (144 in base 10).

[@CS.AtheistChannel.VoteBidenAOC]

Base 60 is obviously superior @@Rob_Enhoud

[@akyhne]

There's a much higher chance of them using base 2, than base 10.

[@drtai1683]

So in fact, all number systems are in fact "Base 10" system in their own expression.

[@TheDibule]

True. They’re all technically “base 10”. Only the full name differentiates them unequivocally: binary, decimal, hexadecimal…

[@ProgrammerPenguin]

as a programmer myself, this video is my new favourite startalk video.

[@holoryzm]

7:33 "If you have 10 jizzits"🤭

[@cabbage_cat]

Thanks guys that was a good laugh for me 😂 I can hear the gears turning inside Chuck But he got it! I'm a visual learner so I can totally relate

[@CS.AtheistChannel.VoteBidenAOC]

... He's still not there

[@nyroth4045]

I feel this becomes easier to understand if you explain it in the sense that the base numbers are preceded by 0. It might be easier to imagine all the possible combinations if you do the following, for example: - 00 - 01 - 10 - 11 Which, of course, can be expanded by adding as many zeroes in front of it as necessary to illustrate your point or how high you want to count. This helped me when I first learned about binary numbers but can also be applied to any other base counting system if the *amount* of digits used is tripping you up, kind of like how Chuck here seems to do (but then again I do agree that it IS easier to visualize when it's written down). Instead of the new number that appears, the base number just seems to "rank up". This becomes easier to understand the further up the counting ladder you go since you instinctivly know that after the 10s come the 20s, and after that the 30s and so on. Base 5 for example would then just turn into: 00 01 02 03 04 10 11 12 13 14 20 21 ... Or hexadecimal would be: 00 01 02 03 ... 0E 0F 10 11 12 13 ... 1E 1F 20 21 22 23 ... Hope this helps somebody.

[@benjaminrentfro1817]

Neil's face at 3:51 is just pure disappoitment lol

[@KatoOnTheTrack1]

I guess KZbin highlights comments that have timestamps at the exact timing. Caught this comment as I caught the face lol.

[@TheDRBC]

😅😂😂

[@joemmya]

I had to download this video incase they ever think of taking it down omg

[@citypavement]

Nothing is permanent. Even KZbin, one day, will be gone.

[@ZeHoSmusician]

The best comparison I got from one of my maths teachers was to imagine the digits in a number base being on a ring, much like the odometer in old cars. Granted, as the number bases become smaller, your "ring" doesn't really look like much of a ring anymore but it certainly helps with the concept of "looping back" (and for binary, you'd basically use cards and just flip those over)... It might have helped, from the get-go, to reinforce the following notions for number bases: - You always start at zero. - Each digit needs to be represented by a single glyph/character. - A base's radix represents the total number of digits you have to work with, not what the highest value is (in base 10, you finish at 9). I don't if it's just me but Chuck seems to think that bases other than base 10 somehow mustn't have '10' anywhere in the number sequences... 5:26 "(...) d, e, f, f1, f2, f3?" So, in base 10, do you go "(...) 7, 8, 9, 91, 92, 93"? 6:42 "Why's this so hard for me?" Some of us are wondering the same thing... :)

[@strcat666]

4:30 OMG Chuck, Carry one. the hard part is always ten. 0 1 10 11 100 101 111 1000

[@RetroRogersLab]

Try padding with leading zeroes. The pattern is much more obvious.

[@lovestarlightgiver2402]

You forgot 110. It should be 0, 1, 10, 11, 100, 101, 110, 111, 1000. I'm going to put the base 2 numbers and then show what they mean in our regular counting system of base ten. 0 (zero), 1 (one), 10 (two), 11 (three), 100 (four), 101 (five), 110 (six), 111 (seven), 1000 (eight), 1001 (nine), 1010 (ten), 1011 (eleven), 1100 (twelve), 1101'(thirteen), 1110 (fourteen), 1111 (fifteen), 10000 (sixteen). There is a pattern: 10 (two), 100 (2x2 which is four), 1000 (2x2x2 which is eight), 10000 (2x2x2x2 which is sixteen). Another helpful pattern is that odd numbers end in a 1: 1 (one), 11 (three), 101 (five), 111 (seven), 1001 (nine), 1011 (eleven).

[@sebastianrook5478]

😂 I'm screaming @ chuck "one zero!" Lol

[@derek1049]

Honestly the same, I was screaming at the TV saying 10 CHUCK! but also shows how human minds can be so sharp in different ways. Chuck can be so witty and sharp, focused on conversation yet its harder for him to imagine the numbers. It all comes down to how we train our minds and what is important to us.

[@billionsandbillionsofstars]

@@derek1049I was doing the same thing!😂

[@BarthaxDravtore]

As cars are so prevalent in society, I usually test the example of an Odometer as visual aid: getting to the end of the numbers on a spool will tick over the next spool. It's also a good way to introduce how the decimal point's position doesn't matter for many calculations (so long as you remember to put the decimal point back after).

[@martingonzalez3629]

Gotta love Chuck for showing himself during the learning process. Especially with something so counterintuitive.

[@nmadhusudan]

This felt like a math class….and it reminded me of my scores in the exams - 0's and 1's :(

[@Thomas091094]

Loved watching you try to teach chuck various base number counting. Very funny. As you stated there about our clocks it’s base 12. If we did our regular counting in base 12 most equations would be a lot easier and faster as there wouldn’t have to be any adjustments when calculating time

[@013arh]

i cant describe how funny is was to watch Chuck going through this

[@TheDRBC]

Stop torturing him Neil!! Stop!!! 😭😭😭😂😂😂 5:05

[@KayakingThroughLife]

More easier way to explain this is to show single digit numbers as double digit with 0, like: 00, 01, 02, 03, 04, now the second letter rotates back to 0 and the first letter increments to 1, so 10, then 11, and so on. Imagine the analog rotating gas pump dials.

[@DonKedik115]

I'm crying laughing, thanks Chuck😂. You've out done yourself today. I needed this 😂😂😂

[@Hammeredprawn]

13:49 Chuck looks exhausted 😂

[@johnbeamon]

The whole awkward stretch can be clarified with that we always, implicitly, already have leading zeroes. "zero" is implicitly "0000000000". Counting from zero is "0000, 0001, 0002" until we exhaust the used placeholder and increment up the next unused placeholder, the next digit to the left. Base10 "0009, 0010, 0011... (many) 0098, 0099, 0100, 0101... 0199, 0200, 0201". Base16 "000f, 0010, 0011... (many) 02fe, 02ff, 0300".

[@vierte-gewalt]

2:58 Neil says "i will count to 16 in base 16" and then counts from 0 to 15 in base 16 (f ist 15 in base 16)

[@Xiltyn]

I was about to say the same thing. f is 15. 10 in hexadecimal (base 16) would be the equivalent of 16 in decimal (base 10).

[@CheeseWyrm]

Good spot! See - *even NdGT finds it difficult* to overcome the default Base 10

[@Raine247]

Then count to 16 in base 16 for us and then try to understand why your comment is silly.

[@vierte-gewalt]

@@Raine247 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F 10 This ist count to 16 in base 16. What ist your Problem?

[@vierte-gewalt]

@@Raine247 i did, but the comment was removed.

[@makeithappendabarbarian4316]

Im not as smart as i thought i was... I know I just learned a lesson, but i still feel so lost & confused. Its amazing how Chuck got it so quick. Im gonna put this vid in my favorites until i get this

[@aleksapetrovic3054]

Chuck, we know this is you

[@kityac9810]

I don't think it's you. I've seen quite a few people struggle with it over the years. Especially when trying to pick it up without a solid visual tool (I think Chuck did good as well). I also struggled with it when I first learned base-2 years ago. I know this will sound a bit odd, but what helped me back then was establishing it as a pattern instead of individual numbers. Once I got the pattern, it became easier to absorb. Hope this helps, somewhat.

[@chaosthebaryonyx6344]

​​@@kityac9810 honestly this is the first time I've heard of other bases. Got it instantly but not everyone is the same

[@josiahpaez4601]

​@@kityac9810Totally, that's why I always use pen and paper when teaching this concept. I also feel that Neil missed some really key information. Anyway here are some series of numbers in binary, decimal, and hex to show the patterns. 00000000 0000 0000 00000001 0001 0001 00000010 0002 0002 00000011 0003 0003 00000100 0004 0004 00000101 0005 0005 00000110 0006 0006 00000111 0007 0007 00001000 0008 0008 00001001 0009 0009 00001010 0010 000A 00001011 0011 000B 00001100 0012 000C 00001101 0013 000D 00001110 0014 000E 00001111 0015 000F 00010000 0016 0010 00010001 0017 0011 00010010 0018 0012 00010011 0019 0013 00010100 0020 0014 ... 10111000 0184 00B8 10111001 0185 00B9 10111010 0186 00BA 10111011 0187 00BB 10111100 0188 00BC 10111101 0189 00BD 10111110 0190 00BE 10111111 0191 00BF 11000000 0192 00C0 11000001 0193 00C1

[@cktorm]

I felt bad for Chuck. But he is right, it's easier to understand by writing the numbers.

[@bigyaneradda1100]

We all thought Mr tyson is a great teacher but now I doubt it. And don't tell Chuck is dumb , he is not . He was not instructed in the right way.

[@JohnnyToboggan]

we all got it. and Chuck isn't dumb, it's a bit