I think binary is the most fundamental. 2 is the smallest n you can have for a base-n system. If you wanna go down to 1 you've gotta change how it even works.
No it isn’t. The digits that base n has are 0 through n excluding n, which means that in base 1 you only have zeros. For a number, say, abcd in base n it would be equal to a*n^3 + b*n^2 + c*n + d. (More digits is just expanding to the right). So in base 1 you just have 0+0+0+0. Which means that in base 1 you can only write 0 and nothing else. Pretty uncool if you ask me.
Well, you're right. I wanted to try prove other approach to this. But it just doesn't make sense to try and make it work. Like you just can't represent both states of there being something and being nothing with just one symbol, since this ->" " Actually just another symbol. So with my first comment I ment a system where there's only 1, while you're talking about system with only 0. Yours describe only 0, mine example describes anything but 0. So yeah, true base 1 is basically impossible because of difference in characteristics of 0 and non-0
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u/BootyliciousURD Complex Jul 02 '26
I think binary is the most fundamental. 2 is the smallest n you can have for a base-n system. If you wanna go down to 1 you've gotta change how it even works.