Numerical concepts in need
In reading this chapter about numerical operations of primitive man, I wondered how early men began to count and felt the need to calculate things, if ever. Though they had potential and ability to count things inherently to some degree, if they did not feel the need to exert any high level of numerical thoughts in daily lives, probably they couldn't develop the numeric operations till they actually needed. Is it that people began to think numerically based on their needs? For me, it feels like even the early men had a couple of cases when they needed to rely on numeric thinking from time to time. Going back to the example given by Manisha in last class about polygamy, wouldn't they have known at least, with how many wives they married to? As in the description from the chapter as below,
"According to Thurnwald, if primitive man wishes to refer to a small group of people, he does not name the total number, but says the name of each one known to him personally; those whose name he does not know he enumerates on the basis of some other concrete feature, for example, the man with the big nose, the old man, the child and the man with the skin disease-all in order to say that four people have arrived."
would they have thought of their wives as the first (the longest) wife, the tallest wife, the most tricky and demanding wife, the most beautiful wife, etc..? I just wondered how they remembered and encoded the things, people, and phenomena that needed numerical operations, not relying on a counting system. It seems that they could have relied much on any noticeable and catchy characteristics when remembering. As human beings started communicating using ceratin language, even when they did not have a writing system, it makes sense that early men started counting things before they found/developed counting system.
Another line of thought that occurred to me while reading was that a way of expressing a certain number (e.g., a decade = ten years, a couple of = two or more, a dozen = twelve) can reflect the cultural assumptions or history. Somehow, I could not really come up with any proper example that is related to this case in the Korean language, in Korean culture. We do not have corresponding expressions of decades, couples, dozens, etc.
"According to Thurnwald, if primitive man wishes to refer to a small group of people, he does not name the total number, but says the name of each one known to him personally; those whose name he does not know he enumerates on the basis of some other concrete feature, for example, the man with the big nose, the old man, the child and the man with the skin disease-all in order to say that four people have arrived."
would they have thought of their wives as the first (the longest) wife, the tallest wife, the most tricky and demanding wife, the most beautiful wife, etc..? I just wondered how they remembered and encoded the things, people, and phenomena that needed numerical operations, not relying on a counting system. It seems that they could have relied much on any noticeable and catchy characteristics when remembering. As human beings started communicating using ceratin language, even when they did not have a writing system, it makes sense that early men started counting things before they found/developed counting system.
Another line of thought that occurred to me while reading was that a way of expressing a certain number (e.g., a decade = ten years, a couple of = two or more, a dozen = twelve) can reflect the cultural assumptions or history. Somehow, I could not really come up with any proper example that is related to this case in the Korean language, in Korean culture. We do not have corresponding expressions of decades, couples, dozens, etc.
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