Alternative paradigms could have become the foundation of technology and mathematics through historical contingency rather than inherent superiority—for instance, base-3 (trits) instead of base-10, or different computer architectures instead of binary logic, but once a standard is adopted and infrastructure built around it, switching costs make alternatives infeasible regardless of their theoretical merit.
causalpending
Speaker
Terence TaoEvidence Quote
“It's a system that is useful for us because everyone else uses it. We've standardized it. We've built all our computers and our number representation systems around it, so we're stuck with it now. Some people occasionally push for other systems than decimal, but there's just too much inertia.”
Created: 8/12/2026, 6:05:48 PM
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