system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Is it possible to have a numeral system with a base that isn't an integer? 

I read somewhere that the optimal base to have in a numeral system was e. I've tried for a long time to figure out how that would work, but I am unable to do so. Is it at all possible to have a base that's not an integer?
gpt
When we write a sequence of digits, i.e., 1234, it is a shorthand way of representing a particular quantity. That quantity doesn't HAVE to be an integer, or even a rational number. In base 10, when we write "1234", we mean:
1 * 10^3 + 2 * 10^2 + 3 * 10^1 + 4 * 10^0 . If we use a different base, the same applies:

"1234" in base 5 means: 1 * 5^3 + 2 * 5^2 + 3 * 5^4 + 4 * 5^0 .

Similarly for *e*, pi, etc.