[lit-ideas] Re: Of flying and counting

  • From: Andy <min.erva@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 13:52:31 -0800 (PST)

A booklet came with the series.  I'll look through it later, but that's what he 
said.  And in fact the graphic of five sheep on the screen did have me 
counting.  In chess I would think it's not a matter of counting but of 
recognizing patterns, no?  He said too that the development of an understanding 
of numbers of humanity as a whole going back to 30,000 BCE parallels a child's 
learning of numbers.  It occurred to me that if something as seemingly 
intuitive as counting has to be painstakingly learned and then taught (some 
societies use 1,2,many), then parenting is in the same category, and no wonder 
humanity is so messed up, as history tells us.
   
  

Eric Yost <mr.eric.yost@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
  >>crows can count to the number four, which is as high as humans can 
recognize in one clump, say four sheep. More than four of something we
have to count.


That simply can't be true. Merely playing chess disproves that
"recognition clump" of four. Does the lecture cite a cognitive science
source for their contention?

Eric



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