Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

Typically, kids in the USA are taught 1 - 5 the way you describe, but not taught anything further with a single hand. If they want to count to ten, they use both hands in the same manner.

There are a few other fancy ways including even binary which could let you count up to 1024 if you could keep it all in your head. :)

The ASL (American Sign Language) method I mentioned in the parent is described here: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/counting-on-numbers-in...




I annoyed my teachers in elementary school demonstrating binary finger counting to 1024 when they were insisting that students stop finger counting because "you could only count to 10"

I was a precocious little shit.


Yeah, my dad taught me to count on my hands in binary when I was young. I tried explaining it to others but that usually broke down when I reached four...




Consider applying for YC's Spring batch! Applications are open till Feb 11.

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: