I first discovered the result computationally, using a program written in https://sentient-lang.org/, before finding the ‘human’ proof described in that PDF.
hinkley 15 hours ago [-]
That is the nerdiest thing I’ve ever seen and it’s appropriate that he was wearing a top hat while presenting it.
However, the point of dice is typically not so you can count the numbers but so others can count them. People sitting at a table with you cannot see “up”, they can only see from an angle and so these dice while mathematically cool are completely impractical. Great example of white tower design.
mkl 8 hours ago [-]
The article points this problem out. It's recreational mathematics, not intended to be practical.
oatsandsugar 16 hours ago [-]
This is glorious. What a world we live in.
How can we make a die that functions as a d6, but has "less pips". An elegant dodecahedron as the solution. Less pips but more sides. Not an economic solution, but I love that these problems are being solved.
penteract 11 hours ago [-]
Such a waste of faces :). Give a tetrahedron's faces 0,1,2, and 4 pips and throw it into a v-shaped groove so that it lands on an edge. (This is also a solution to numbering the corners of a cube).
tromp 2 hours ago [-]
So you get, with equal probabilities, 0+1, 0+2, 1+2, 0+4, 1+4, or 2+4 = {1,2,3,4,5,6}. Same as 2:07 in the video, but using only 1/3 of the faces. Brilliant!
pavel_lishin 16 hours ago [-]
This would be a fun video to send to your DM before showing up with these dice.
hinkley 15 hours ago [-]
Oh no a boulder fell on your character. 200 points of crush damage.
Rendered at 10:17:48 GMT+0000 (UTC) with Wasmer Edge.
If anyone really wants to nerd out on the rhombic triacontahedral die, my proof of uniqueness is at https://s3.boskent.com/rhombic-triacontahedron-die/uniquenes...
I first discovered the result computationally, using a program written in https://sentient-lang.org/, before finding the ‘human’ proof described in that PDF.
However, the point of dice is typically not so you can count the numbers but so others can count them. People sitting at a table with you cannot see “up”, they can only see from an angle and so these dice while mathematically cool are completely impractical. Great example of white tower design.
How can we make a die that functions as a d6, but has "less pips". An elegant dodecahedron as the solution. Less pips but more sides. Not an economic solution, but I love that these problems are being solved.