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dice chiral pairs
  (+8, -1)
(+8, -1) 		  [vote for,
against]

Board games frequently use dice. These are always designed such that opposite sides add up to 7 (6+1, 5+2, and 4+3). However, this allows two ways of arranging the sides which produces dice which are 'mirror images' of each other. I therefore suggest that in board games which use two dice, both orientations (or a "chiral pair") are supplied to avoid any accusations of bias arising from left-handed people having to use right-handed dice or vice versa.
—hippo, Jul 21 2008

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       This is going to be even more important when the time arrow reverses direction (universe starts to collapse). Bollocks to global warming, let's concentrate on the more important issues.
—4whom, Jul 21 2008
   

       //when the time arrow reverses direction// you mean when "Time flies like a banana", and English language students get another headache?
—Ling, Jul 21 2008
   

       Those damn time flies. They're a real temporal nuisance, they are.
—lostdog, Jul 21 2008
   

       Drosophilidae have given more than they could ever take away, that just not symmetrical.
—4whom, Jul 21 2008
   

       For unlucky people, you could have one die in the pair with the top and bottom sides switched :)
—phundug, Jul 21 2008
   

       This is just another kind of craps...
—4whom, Jul 21 2008
   

       When time flies like a bananna, and fruit flies like an arrow?
—ye_river_xiv, Jul 21 2008
   

       Fine work [+], although given that both the 2 and the 3 can slant /wise or \wise, I'd argue there are actually eight identifiably different possible configurations in which dice can be produced. If your 'left' die has a /3 next to a /2 (when looking at the side of the die, with 6 on the top), would your 'right' die have \2 next to \3?
—imaginality, Jul 22 2008
   

       hmmm - I've just made a small die out of Blu-Tack, and yes, I think you're right. That is, you'd have to reverse the /3 and /2 into \3 and \2 to retain the 'mirror-image'-ness of it.
—hippo, Jul 22 2008
   

       Wouldn't there be sixteen ways, given that the sides of the six also have two orientations?
—supercat, Jul 22 2008
   

       No, because each die with the 6 oriented =-wise (say, with the 6 on top, the 2 at the front as you look at it, and 3 on the right-hand-side) is isomorphic to a die with the 6 oriented ||-wise, with 3 at the front and 2 on the left-hand-side, so there are still only eight possible distinct configurations (in four chiral pairs).
—imaginality, Jul 22 2008
   

       Would those who develop their skills at using these dice be referred to as chiral practors?
—normzone, Jul 22 2008
   

       Maybe, but you just know that they'll only use die cast models for the commercials.   

       Both of those "isomorphic" dice you just described have the flat side of the six adjacent to the two and five--they're the same die, just rotated 90 degrees. A different die would have the flat side of the six adjacent to the three and four.
—supercat, Jul 23 2008
   

       Ah true, you're right.
—imaginality, Jul 23 2008
   

       Ideally we'd have a way of representing 2, 3 and 6 that was orientation-neutral, to cut down on the number of dice.
—hippo, Jul 23 2008
   

       Don't use whole dots...
—4whom, Jul 23 2008
   


 

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