Blutfahne
September 7th, 2004, 05:01 PM
Brazilian Tribe Lacks Ability to Count
Posted on: 2004-09-06 11:44:17
Piraha tribe lacks words for most numbers; cannot draw straight lines or distinguish 'one' from 'a few': Nevertheless, we are all equal.
by Kevin Alfred Strom
Reuters science department is to be congratulated for bringing us the results of the studies done by Peter Gordon of Columbia University on the Piraha tribe of Brazil. But they have certainly given us a cockeyed interpretation of the data.
Under the title 'Tribe has best excuse for poor math skills; Language lacks words for most numbers,' the unnamed Reuters writer tries to sell us the interpretation that, because the Piraha language doesn't incude more than a few rudimentary words for quantity ("one," "two," and "many" -- and "one" sometimes also means "a few"), therefore the tribesmen have been unable to do such simple things as count or draw straight lines. (ILLUSTRATION: Piraha leader)
Professor Gordon is quoted as saying:
'"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."
'"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.'
'There are only about 200 Piraha and they live in groups of 10 to 20. Their words for numbers appear limited to "one," "two" and "many," and the word for "one" sometimes means a small quantity.
'"There is no word for 'number', pronouns do not encode number (e.g., 'he' and 'they' are the same word), and most of the standard quantifiers like 'more,' 'several,' 'all,' 'each' do not exist.'
'"In all of these [number] matching experiments, participants responded with relatively good accuracy with up to 2 or 3 items, but performance deteriorated considerably beyond that up to 8 to 10 items."
'"Piraha participants were actually trying very hard to get the answers correct, and they clearly understood the tasks."
'"One can safely rule out that the Piraha are mentally retarded. Their hunting, spatial, categorization and linguistic skills are remarkable and they show no clinical signs of retardation."
'"Not only do the Piraha not count, but they also do not draw. Producing simple straight lines was accomplished only with great effort and concentration, accompanied by heavy sighs and groans."'
Read my lips, Reuters: Language is a product of the minds of human beings, and each language reflects the minds that created it. The Pirahas lack those words because they have no interest in or inclination toward even the simplest mathematical concepts. The fact that Piraha children (though not adults, apparently) can be taught to count beyond three is not a vindication of the "linguistic determinism" nonsense: It merely indicates that, even given the basic intelligence to understand something, some races lack the mentality to pursue or even conceptualize it -- a necessary first step. Different races have different mentalities. Pirahas will not be qualified for top-level jobs at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory anytime soon, though if the 't' in 'Jet' were changed to another letter, they would certainly be hired anyway.
Reuters science article
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Printed from National Vanguard (http://www.nationalvanguard.org/story.php?id=3735)
Posted on: 2004-09-06 11:44:17
Piraha tribe lacks words for most numbers; cannot draw straight lines or distinguish 'one' from 'a few': Nevertheless, we are all equal.
by Kevin Alfred Strom
Reuters science department is to be congratulated for bringing us the results of the studies done by Peter Gordon of Columbia University on the Piraha tribe of Brazil. But they have certainly given us a cockeyed interpretation of the data.
Under the title 'Tribe has best excuse for poor math skills; Language lacks words for most numbers,' the unnamed Reuters writer tries to sell us the interpretation that, because the Piraha language doesn't incude more than a few rudimentary words for quantity ("one," "two," and "many" -- and "one" sometimes also means "a few"), therefore the tribesmen have been unable to do such simple things as count or draw straight lines. (ILLUSTRATION: Piraha leader)
Professor Gordon is quoted as saying:
'"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."
'"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.'
'There are only about 200 Piraha and they live in groups of 10 to 20. Their words for numbers appear limited to "one," "two" and "many," and the word for "one" sometimes means a small quantity.
'"There is no word for 'number', pronouns do not encode number (e.g., 'he' and 'they' are the same word), and most of the standard quantifiers like 'more,' 'several,' 'all,' 'each' do not exist.'
'"In all of these [number] matching experiments, participants responded with relatively good accuracy with up to 2 or 3 items, but performance deteriorated considerably beyond that up to 8 to 10 items."
'"Piraha participants were actually trying very hard to get the answers correct, and they clearly understood the tasks."
'"One can safely rule out that the Piraha are mentally retarded. Their hunting, spatial, categorization and linguistic skills are remarkable and they show no clinical signs of retardation."
'"Not only do the Piraha not count, but they also do not draw. Producing simple straight lines was accomplished only with great effort and concentration, accompanied by heavy sighs and groans."'
Read my lips, Reuters: Language is a product of the minds of human beings, and each language reflects the minds that created it. The Pirahas lack those words because they have no interest in or inclination toward even the simplest mathematical concepts. The fact that Piraha children (though not adults, apparently) can be taught to count beyond three is not a vindication of the "linguistic determinism" nonsense: It merely indicates that, even given the basic intelligence to understand something, some races lack the mentality to pursue or even conceptualize it -- a necessary first step. Different races have different mentalities. Pirahas will not be qualified for top-level jobs at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory anytime soon, though if the 't' in 'Jet' were changed to another letter, they would certainly be hired anyway.
Reuters science article
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Printed from National Vanguard (http://www.nationalvanguard.org/story.php?id=3735)