this post was submitted on 23 Jun 2024
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Okay, so why can't we just not use exponentially growing values? Like 96 bit (64 + 36). I'd the something intrinsic about the size increases that they HAVE to be exponential? Why not linear scaling? 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, 56, 64, 72, 80, etc.
Because CPU registers are all powers of 2, i.e. exponential in this fashion. And it's also just the same reason - 64 is high enough, why go to 96 or 80 or something?
In binary, when you add one more numeric place, things double. Not doubling would be like having two digit decimal numbers but only allowing people to count to 50.