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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Tribe has best excuse for poor math skills |
| 2004-08-20 |
| If ever there was a topic fit for "Short Attention Span Theater ..." Language lacks words for most numbers Some people have a great excuse for being bad at math -- their language lacks the words for most numbers, U.S.-based researchers reported on Thursday. Members of a tiny, isolated Brazilian tribe have no words for numbers other than "one or a few" or "many" and seem to have trouble counting, the researchers reported. What no one realizes is that these people could be in great demand as ballot verification staff. The Piraha tribespeople are clearly intelligent, so the finding opens questions into how language may affect thinking, the researchers say in this week’s issue of the journal Science. Peter Gordon of Columbia University in New York and colleagues studied the Piraha because there had been reports about their unique use of numbers. Talk about an anthropological study devoid of statistics. "I was able to take three field trips ranging from one week to two months living with the Piraha along with Dr. Daniel Everett and Keren Everett, two linguists who have lived and worked with the tribe for over 20 years and are completely familiar with their language and cultural practices," Gordon writes in his report. "They live along the banks of the Maici River in the Lowland Amazonia region of Brazil. They maintain very much of a hunter-gatherer existence and reject assimilation into mainstream Brazilian culture," he added. There are only about 200 Piraha and they live in groups of 10 to 20. "And not one of them is an accountant!" |
| Posted by:Zenster |
| #21 Dar al Islam vs. Dar al Harb...talk about your nuance. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2004-08-20 4:59:51 PM |
| #20 Sounds like the Islamist's Catalog of the World: "Us" and "Not Us". |
| Posted by: eLarson 2004-08-20 4:54:49 PM |
| #19 In a David Eddings fantasy series that my brother and I really love, the Trolls have a compass with only two directions...North and Not North. But they seemed to navigate just fine! |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2004-08-20 4:53:30 PM |
| #18 NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency.... Our *three* weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency...and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.... Our *four*...no... *Amongst* our weapons.... Amongst our weaponry...are such elements as fear, surprise.... I'll come in again. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2004-08-20 4:46:56 PM |
| #17 I am a free man! |
| Posted by: 6 2004-08-20 4:41:28 PM |
| #16 I am not a number! |
| Posted by: Infinity 2004-08-20 3:43:04 PM |
| #15 They were better off when the Incas controlled the continent. |
| Posted by: Chris W. 2004-08-20 3:21:18 PM |
| #14 There are only about 200 Piraha and they live in groups of 10 to 20. Or "many", as they like to say. |
| Posted by: mojo 2004-08-20 3:18:16 PM |
| #13 Five is right out. Best line in the whole bit of dialogue. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-08-20 2:50:00 PM |
| #12 Is it me or is it strange to note that the researchers 'have lived and worked with the tribe for over 20 years' but it's only now that this dicovery's being made (or reported)? |
| Posted by: Raj 2004-08-20 12:46:20 PM |
| #11 Many years ago, some US universitites actively tested for a dichotomy: do students have a better grasp of "verbal" abstracts or "symbolic" abstracts. Engineers need high symbolic abstract abilities, because of math; whereas sociologists need to appreciate verbal abstracts, to understand "not just what you say, but how you say it." Music is the best way of understanding it: some musicians "play by ear" (verbal); whereas others read music as abstract notes on a page. *Neither* of these abilities determine who will be the better musician, though. Generally speaking, all people are more able to grasp verbal abstracts than symbolic ones. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2004-08-20 10:42:59 AM |
| #10 This sounds like my old drill instructors. "You've got ten seconds to finish your chow! Ten! Nine! Six! Four! One! You're done! Now getcher ass over here and push!" |
| Posted by: BH 2004-08-20 10:25:43 AM |
| #9 "...Then thou must count to three. Three shall be the number of the counting and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither shalt thou count two, excepting that thou then proceedeth to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the number of the counting, be reached, then lobbest thou the Holy Hand Grenade in the direction of thine foe, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it." So in truth, you really only need to be able to count to four - THREE - in the first place. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2004-08-20 9:30:39 AM |
| #8 Break out the money and I'll bet that they suddenly can could just fine. |
| Posted by: Brutus 2004-08-20 4:03:42 AM |
| #7 Old Spook: You left out "sum" and "nuff", as in, "I need sum air support", and when asked how much, "nuf ta do tha job".... Been there, my friend! 8^) |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2004-08-20 2:00:42 AM |
| #6 Hraka! Even my people, we of the thousand enemies (no, we're not Muslims), can count up to four. Any number over four is hrair, "a lot" or "a thousand". |
| Posted by: El-ahrairah 2004-08-20 1:15:10 AM |
| #5 ROFLMAO!!! |
| Posted by: .com 2004-08-20 12:46:07 AM |
| #4 Dungeons and Dragons (per my son) has a race calle Gully Dwarf" that has only 3 numbers: 0, 1 and 2. 0 is none there. 1 is just 1 there. 2 is any more than 1 there. We caounted that way in the Army: none, 1, a couple, a few, a whole f**king bunch, a sh*tload. As in: "due to the weather we had zero clue about where the IRG were, so we set up 1 OP way forward with a couple troopers, watching a few roads, and then a whole f**king bunch of Iraqi Repub Guards came rolling up headed north, so we called in a sh*tload of air support and artillery" |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2004-08-20 12:43:11 AM |
| #3 Their math skills match hunting skills-Kill one of those,and a few of those.Tribe eats. |
| Posted by: crazyhorse 2004-08-20 12:39:50 AM |
| #2 Yet another culture for American schools to glorify and emmulate. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-08-20 12:17:49 AM |
| #1 Pfeh, big deal, sounds like my 3 year old. 'Cepting the hunting thing. As far as I know. |
| Posted by: Carl in N.H. 2004-08-20 12:17:47 AM |