It's a different planet.

[Zephram Kerman]

I've finally figured out why the throttle is divided into thirds instead of quarters. Until now, it seemed to me the throttle should look more like this:

with four major divisions. But the stock game has it divided into thirds. Never knew why, until it occurred to me this morning...

Like most of our cartoon characters, kerbals have only three fingers on each hand. So they would necessarily have a different numbering system. They're counting in trinary; base-3. Like this:

0, 1, 2,

10, 11, 12, 20, 21, 22,

100, 101, 102, 110, 111, 112, 120, 121, 122, 200,

etc.

Using a base-3 number system, requires a lot more digits than base-10. So, until the invention of writing, (which finally occurred centuries after space flight) kerbals would frequently use their toes for any number larger than 22₃. Using toes to count while standing or walking is obviously difficult, so it would be socially acceptable during technical conversations to frequently fall down. Which also explains their hapless and accident-prone culture. Q.E.D.

[Tex]

Aha, but you forget the thumb. Us humans technically have four fingers if you exclude the thumb, but we count to ten anyway, making use of all four fingers AND the thumb on both of our hands. Kerbals have 4 countable digits on each hand (and also four toes, for that matter).

Honestly, I've never understood the three-section throttle myself, but I rather think that even if Kerbals developed a base-eight system for counting, they would've gone to something similar to Earth's metric system, evidenced by their use of meters instead of some Kerbal-esque units. Now, you might think that this is perhaps just because science uses the metric system on Earth and SQUAD wanted people to be able to understand the mechanics of the game more easily, but perhaps the Kerbal system is still base-ten for their math but called something different than the metric system.

Edited February 28, 2015 by Maximus97

[EdFred]

I've finally figured out why the throttle is divided into thirds instead of quarters. Until now, it seemed to me the throttle should look more like this:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/78157466/forum%20posts/KSP%20throttle.PNG

with four major divisions. But the stock game has it divided into thirds. Never knew why, until it occurred to me this morning...

Like most of our cartoon characters, kerbals have only three fingers on each hand. So they would necessarily have a different numbering system. They're counting in trinary; base-3. Like this:

0, 1, 2,

10, 11, 12, 20, 21, 22,

100, 101, 102, 110, 111, 112, 120, 121, 122, 200,

etc.

Using a base-3 number system, requires a lot more digits than base-10. So, until the invention of writing, (which finally occurred centuries after space flight) kerbals would frequently use their toes for any number larger than 22₃. Using toes to count while standing or walking is obviously difficult, so it would be socially acceptable during technical conversations to frequently fall down. Which also explains their hapless and accident-prone culture. Q.E.D.

So why do we as humans have base 10 and not base 8 numbers?

QEFail.

[BrainiacBlue]

Humans also count in base 12 to tell the time.

[Slam_Jones]

Reminds me of a series I read in middle school, "The Tripod Trilogy" I think. The creatures had three limbs and counted everything in base-3. Very interesting concept to think about.

[Kelderek]

There are 10 kinds of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.

[Van Disaster]

There are 10 kinds of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.

That depends if they start counting from 0 or 1 ...

[sal_vager]

The Kerbal who invented the concept of zero had forgotten to take his mittens off

[pincushionman]

Also, halves and quarters are a very easy concept, regardless of your number system. You might even say our extension of the base-10 to sub-unit positions (tenths, hundredths, etc.) is somewhat less obvious.

[Zephram Kerman]

So why do we as humans have base 10 and not base 8 numbers?

Base-8 would have been better anyway. It's a historical tragedy that the base-10 system caught on.

Reminds me of a series I read in middle school, "The Tripod Trilogy" I think. The creatures had three limbs and counted everything in base-3. Very interesting concept to think about.

Sounds similar to Larry Niven's "Puppeteers". Goat-like creatures with two legs in front and one powerful hind leg, so they turn away to attack.

[DaPatman]

There are 10 kinds of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.

...and those who prefer ternary.

[SkyRender]

I don't think Kerbals count in base 3, but it would explain why we never see a third game in a Valve series if Gabe Newell only counts in base 3. (Yes yes, obligatory "Half-Life 3" joke. It had to be done.)

The whole split-into-thirds thing with the thrust meter never bugged me. I mostly never even noticed it, to be honest.

[Wombats_&Co.]

The Kerbal who invented the concept of zero had forgotten to take his mittens off

This strikes me as the most likely option.

Also, I wonder if there is in fact a source for the metre on Kerbin. On earth it's supposed to be a certain sub-distance of the length of a meridian, right? So... it might be interesting to try to look for a source for it. I don't think it'd be a very worthwhile thing to do, but could be interesting anyhow.

Also, in regards to the original post... I think it would be more useful first to have finer control over throttle. As things stand, the throttle moves with enough speed that having the two larger markers is enough to gauge quite well where about you have your throttle set, and more would not be particularly useful.

[Slam_Jones]

-snip-

Sounds similar to Larry Niven's "Puppeteers". Goat-like creatures with two legs in front and one powerful hind leg, so they turn away to attack.

Ringworld, right? I kinda remember that character.

[keeper]

I noticed that throttle thing, but it never affected me. I throttle as much as i need or set Mechjeb for % based throttlage.

Something else I noticed is a "day" is just 6 hours in game, they have 3 hours day and 3 hours night cycle. But an hour still counts as an hour.

I did not know the number of digits a kerbal had on its hands, thats cute! Look at those dinky fingers haha, I am a little let down that they have "toes", i wasnt expecting flippers or anything, i guess i never thought i'd see any of their feet - ever.

[GoSlash27]

... Except that if they actually counted in ternary they wouldn't have instruments that displayed digits higher than 2, nor would the 3 main sections of the throttle be subdivided into 5s.

Fun concept, tho'

-Slashy

[problemecium]

I just figure it helps see where the thirds are, since visualizing the halfway point and quarter points isn't very hard.

[Whirligig Girl]

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dueKyRqbSPM/UfRejmiNnuI/AAAAAAAAFmI/sWdxYRK12yQ/s1600/Kerbal_Right_View_001.jpg

Aha, but you forget the thumb. Us humans technically have four fingers if you exclude the thumb, but we count to ten anyway, making use of all four fingers AND the thumb on both of our hands. Kerbals have 4 countable digits on each hand (and also four toes, for that matter).

Honestly, I've never understood the three-section throttle myself, but I rather think that even if Kerbals developed a base-eight system for counting, they would've gone to something similar to Earth's metric system, evidenced by their use of meters instead of some Kerbal-esque units. Now, you might think that this is perhaps just because science uses the metric system on Earth and SQUAD wanted people to be able to understand the mechanics of the game more easily, but perhaps the Kerbal system is still base-ten for their math but called something different than the metric system.

They have eight fingers and a tongue.

[Kystery]

Actually, there's 4 notches, 1 on top and below, and the two "third" ones in the center. So the number of digits on their fingers could very well be why the throttle is marked by that.

I'm most likely wrong, as I'm not all too versed in this stuff, but it does make sense.

[Zephram Kerman]

Also, I wonder if there is in fact a source for the metre on Kerbin.

IIRC, the meter is based on the speed of light. So it is universal.

Ringworld, right? I kinda remember that character.

Yes! Such good stuff. Well actually the Puppeteers frequent the series that the Ringworld books are part of.

... Except that if they actually counted in ternary they wouldn't have instruments that displayed digits higher than 2, nor would the 3 main sections of the throttle be subdivided into 5s.

I figure the decimal numbers are an abstraction, put there for our convenience by the humans at Squad who made a game about kerbals. The actual kerbal symbols for 0, 1, and 2 would of course look completely different. (Maybe that should be a mod? The "100% math-free" version has all the IVAs altered so the instruments are in an alien language.) Dunno about the five minor divisions... maybe they use their four limbs plus head. (Or, tongue, as Greg said.) In that case, counting would look like gymnastic Twister.

[sal_vager]

The metre/meter was based on Earth to begin with, but redefined later.

The metre (British spelling), or meter (American spelling), (SI unit symbol: m), is the fundamental unit of length (SI dimension symbol: L) in the International System of Units (SI), which is maintained by the BIPM.[1] Originally intended to be one ten-millionth of the distance from the Earth's equator to the North Pole (at sea level), its definition has been periodically refined to reflect growing knowledge of metrology. Since 1983, it has been defined as "the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1/299,792,458 of a second."[2]

1/299,792,458 of a second was chosen to fit the metre, rather then the metre chosen to fit the speed of light.

[Melfice]

See the red bit?

In early versions, you could throttle up into that.

4 sections.

Theory debunked.

[vexx32]

Humans also count in base 12 to tell the time.

Actually, that's base 60.

Base 12 would be a far more useful number system for general purposes, though; 12 has factors of 2, 3, 4, and 6, making it considerably easier to perform common divisions in base-12. Dozenal, as it is sometimes called, is in pretty much every way a superior number system.

Base-8 would have been better anyway. It's a historical tragedy that the base-10 system caught on.

Base-8 isn't much better than base-10, really. Dozenal is far better.

IIRC, the meter is based on the speed of light. So it is universal.

Well, that would be perfectly sensible if relativistic effects and light-speed meant anything in KSP... alas, they do not.

[Ippo]

Uh... Maybe I am blind, but the throttle is divided every 25% (4 intervals, 3 notches + 2 on the borders). What is this 3-parts division you talk about?

[Wombats_&Co.]

One thing in favour of it being a proper in-universe unit is the fact that it is nearly exactly (if not exactly - then again, the in-game measurement might be an approximation of all kerbals to give the model-makers an easier time) a Kerbal's height. Similar to how a metre is around the distance between a grown humans' nose and outstretched fingertip.

Given that Kerbin's radius is precisely 600,000 m, and that the Kerbals have somehow constructed the KSC directly on the equator, I wouldn't be surprised if they had figured the metre out. Circumfrence will not help them in any meaningful way, being 3,769,911.1843 m. Distance to the mun is also a very round number, being 12,000,000 m from Kerbin's centre. Further, the mun is 200,000 m in radius. All of these astoundingly round numbers would give significant weight to the idea of kerbals using Metres as their standard measurement.