Another World
The inhabitants of the banks of the Maici river live in a world unlike our own. The difference goes beyond the lack of computers, cell phones and cars; one would be hard pressed to find that technology in the middle of any forest. Rather, for the Pirahã, numbers are just not a big part of their life. They can barely count, and anything more difficult than that is right out. That’s not all that’s different about them; They lack any examples of art or fiction, and their language has a grammar so radical that it could possibly disprove the theory that certain principles of grammar are shared by all languages– the universal grammar theory. The Pirahã certainly have a unique way of life.
The Pirahã are terrible mathematicians, unable to do even simple addition. Then again, it’s difficult to do any sort of calculation when you have no concept or words for exact numbers. There are really only three numeric words in Pirahã – “one,” “two,” and “many.” To add to the confusion, “one” doesn’t always mean exactly one – it could mean one fish, a small fish, or only a few fish.
There used to be a belief, however, that number words were not necessary for a concept of mathematics. Other tribes with similarly limited numerical vocabularies have managed to practice some mathematical concepts, however researchers have failed to teach the Pirahã even the most basic math. After eight months of lessons, none of the Pirahã could do anything more complicated than counting up to three. The rest of the mathematics is far beyond their grasp. This is not to say that they do not understand what math is– just that they cannot seem to do any of it.
A Pirahã attempting to count batteries
21 comments:
Wow, that's pretty amazing!
I find it kind of weird of they say one doesn't mean just one or that they don't know basic math!
WOW!! that is really something. I am so amazed that the tribe has never even heard of math before. Well just last night my mom and i were talking about how we use math every day of our lives and now i hear this and i dont know what to say but WOW!!!! :)
O.M.G. that is so so so so werid. i can't see myself living without math but they can do it just fine. how cool
Uhm, this article is very detailed on how the world would be with out math
In my eyes, this article is pretty interesting. I cant believe that the Pirahã can't really count, and that the number "one doesn't actually mean the number one, it means either one fish, a small fish, or many fish.
WOW!! that is really something. I am so amazed that the tribe has never even heard of math before. Well just last night my mom and i were talking about how we use math every day of our lives and now i hear this and i don't know what to say but WOW!!!! :)
what a different world that is. it is totally cool!!!!!
That would suck to not have math. i dont like mATH but you need it to count and stuff
How could they not count any higher than three after eight months of lessons? It seems strange to me that they can get along just fine without any form of math. I bet they measure things with their hands or leaves or something like that.
i think that i can not do math either may i be excused. okay, just kidding but that is unbelievable
I thought this was very interesting! It made kinda take two on my 10 ways. But also i like how we know math and other words. We can actually talk about things and the amount, and they only have like three words in their language. I personally love talking so I'm not sure if that would fly with me. Their words also have quite a few different meanings, like some of our words.
it must be very hard for them to live this way, no sense of measurements like weight temperature or time...they don't even know how to count.
wow this is a good blog love ittt
they can grasp more then three
it must be hard to live their with no math and cell phone compters and cars or buses.
That would be very different in the world without math. I think it would be hard but it is cool that the Pirahã can survive without saying numbers or doing math!
1,2,3,4. Look I'm smarter than them, wow I really do feel bad for them.
i didn't know that math could be so interesting on a certain level and i think it was very interesting to know about that
i think it was very interesting
I think its pretty sad that they can't do math, but it just goes to show you that you don't need math to survive. Communication wise may be difficult, but you still can meet your so to speak "basic needs".
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