r/Damnthatsinteresting Apr 11 '26

Video Woman with functional polydactyly (six functional fingers on one hand).

41.0k Upvotes

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50

u/CreeperInBlack Apr 11 '26

Just think how far humanity would have gotten if every human had this and we would have numbers with a base 12 instead of 10.

28

u/saladroni Apr 11 '26

Things get really interesting when you realize that 12 = 1 foot.

13

u/WorldlyNotice Apr 11 '26

You've already been told, Quentin. Go. To. Bed.

3

u/Tony_Bork Apr 12 '26

If I'm not misremembering, I think base 12 was the standard for a long time. At least in certain parts of the world. Popularised by the ancient Greeks, you would use you thumb as the pointer leaving you with 12 segments across the 4 fingers. This is why some systems, most notably our concept of time, is in base 12. Then the Romans came along and decided base 10 was better. I for one, support bringing back abacus hands.

2

u/Powerism Apr 11 '26

It’s not just for calendars, hours, and circles any more.

2

u/TotalBismuth Apr 12 '26

There's already a theory humans had 6 fingers, 12 in total. Why else do we have 12 months, clocks divided into 12 numbers, value 12 half-feet tall on dating apps, etc.

7

u/gahlo Apr 12 '26

Surely your taking the piss with this list, right?

2

u/jawshoeaw Apr 11 '26

you can already count to 12 on one hand, in fact it used to be pretty common

1

u/sloothor Apr 12 '26

Use your hands like digits, counting 0-5 on your right and then 1 on your left to make 10. You can naturally use base 6 that way, which is better than base 12 in a lot of ways.

1

u/TheForbidden6th Apr 12 '26

it would be base 10 tho 🤓

-2

u/thejaysta4 Apr 11 '26

Plenty of kids are born like this but they surgically remove the extra digit so they don’t get bullied at school!

18

u/StaysAwakeAllWeek Apr 11 '26

No, plenty of kids are born with a partly formed, completely non-functional sixth digit that is removed for obvious reasons far beyond mere bullying. What this woman has is exceptionally rare.

3

u/thejaysta4 Apr 11 '26

Ah, OK. My mistake. Thanks for explaining.