There is something terribly wrong with the decimal system. Suppose you've swum 29 lengths (you get time to mediate about things like this in a pool) how many more lengths do you need to swim to get to 35? Five! No six!
Thirty five, it turns out, is the sixth unit in the fourth group of ten (yes the thirties are the fourth set of ten numbers: teens second; twenties, third and thirties, fourth! I told you there was something wrong with the decimal system).
In any logical system of numbers 31 would be the first of the thirties and the set would end with 39 then 30. Of course, 30 should be 39 plus one and 30 should be followed by 41.
To fix the system, nought should be assigned a value (ten) and should follow nine rather than hanging about uselessly at the beginning of the number set. The system could then be called the Noughties rather than Decimal or Denary.
There'd still be the problem of the groups of ten being out of sync. One solution might be to abolish the numbers nought to nine and start with eleven. But the difficulty with this idea is that 100 would consist of only 90!
The obvious answer is to put nought to nine after 90. So the system would go 98, 99, 90, 1, 2 etc. Of course the problem then is that nought (now representing 99 units) would go immediately before 100.
But there's got to be an argument for putting 100 after 199. Then the progression would be 8, 9, 0, 101. Much clearer think!
Like the concept of replacing the decimal system with my noughties system, or not, you have to admit that there are severe problems with decimals.
Saturday 28 May 2011
Sunday 8 May 2011
Bad theatre
I live in Lea Bridge Road, one of the most dangerous roads in London. One year we had five murders or sudden deaths, in the road. In 2008/9 there were about 650 homicides in the whole country.
At one this morning I was awoken by a young woman screaming. When I went to the window to look out I saw a woman, or young girl being held down on the pavement by two police officers. She was screaming, over and over again, "I ain't done nothing" in best Dickensian form. If it had been a performance, I'd have said she was a ham and needed to go on an acting course. After a while she screamed "I'll call the police" to which the officer (a woman) who was holding her thighs responded "we are police officers".
While all this was going on a woman was sitting almost motionless close to the scene pointing a mobile phone at them. I took it that she was videoing the proceedings.
The woman on the ground continued to struggle and evidently caused the male officer who was holding her shoulders, some difficulty, because he started to kick her. She then yelled repeatedly "why are you kicking me". The woman continued to video and the police officers did not ask her to stop, so I twigged that she too must be a police officer.
This went on for several minutes and then police cars started to whizz along Lea Bridge Road with sirens blaring. I thought "my goodness, there must be a major incident, perhaps these officers will release this young woman and go to the incident'. Several police cars sped past. But then they came back. Evidently the police don't know how to use their sat navs.
Eventually there were ten police vehicles of various kinds parked outside my house, including one which was the supervision vehicle, suggesting that an officer of some rank was in attendance.
They took the young woman away. No doubt she was charged with assaulting the police or some such offence. Perhaps she will be sent to prison. But Lea Bridge Road is a pretty tough road and it is difficult to see how much damage a young woman can do at 1 a.m. Perhaps she was taking drugs, perhaps she was touting for prostitution. I don't know.
Next time I see a police car speeding down a road, siren blaring, I will not imagine they are headed towards an emergency tea break. I'll think of them converging ten vehicles to gang up on a young woman held prostrate on the pavement.
At one this morning I was awoken by a young woman screaming. When I went to the window to look out I saw a woman, or young girl being held down on the pavement by two police officers. She was screaming, over and over again, "I ain't done nothing" in best Dickensian form. If it had been a performance, I'd have said she was a ham and needed to go on an acting course. After a while she screamed "I'll call the police" to which the officer (a woman) who was holding her thighs responded "we are police officers".
While all this was going on a woman was sitting almost motionless close to the scene pointing a mobile phone at them. I took it that she was videoing the proceedings.
The woman on the ground continued to struggle and evidently caused the male officer who was holding her shoulders, some difficulty, because he started to kick her. She then yelled repeatedly "why are you kicking me". The woman continued to video and the police officers did not ask her to stop, so I twigged that she too must be a police officer.
This went on for several minutes and then police cars started to whizz along Lea Bridge Road with sirens blaring. I thought "my goodness, there must be a major incident, perhaps these officers will release this young woman and go to the incident'. Several police cars sped past. But then they came back. Evidently the police don't know how to use their sat navs.
Eventually there were ten police vehicles of various kinds parked outside my house, including one which was the supervision vehicle, suggesting that an officer of some rank was in attendance.
They took the young woman away. No doubt she was charged with assaulting the police or some such offence. Perhaps she will be sent to prison. But Lea Bridge Road is a pretty tough road and it is difficult to see how much damage a young woman can do at 1 a.m. Perhaps she was taking drugs, perhaps she was touting for prostitution. I don't know.
Next time I see a police car speeding down a road, siren blaring, I will not imagine they are headed towards an emergency tea break. I'll think of them converging ten vehicles to gang up on a young woman held prostrate on the pavement.
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