Counting and numbers, as a way to insure that we are dealing with the right amount of things, at the right times, seem to have been with us forever.

Through time, we have learned that using units, grouping and appropriate symbols can help manipulate quantities more effectively.  Having ten fingers in our hands, readily available to communicate and manipulate numbers seems to have also influenced our historic preference for counting items in groups of ten.  This resulted in the current decimal, or Base 10 counting system.

Today, however, the overwhelming majority of calculations are not performed in Base 10, but instead in groups of two, by computers and devices using a binary or Base 2 system.  Indeed, it is a binary world out there.  Should we consequently be more proactive when educating our children, so as to include bases other than ten, particularly Base 2, from the earliest grades?