Study Suggests the Number-Line Concept Is Not Intuitive 404
An anonymous reader writes "The Yupno people of New Guinea have provided clues to the origins of the number-line concept, and suggest that the familiar concept of time may be cultural as well. From the article: 'Tape measures. Rulers. Graphs. The gas gauge in your car, and the icon on your favorite digital device showing battery power. The number line and its cousins – notations that map numbers onto space and often represent magnitude – are everywhere. Most adults in industrialized societies are so fluent at using the concept, we hardly think about it. We don't stop to wonder: Is it 'natural'? Is it cultural? Now, challenging a mainstream scholarly position that the number-line concept is innate, a study suggests it is learned."
Did they test males or females? (Score:1, Funny)
Because I know most males know the number of their line, or at least what they think it is.
Re:The Story of 1 with Terry Jones (Score:5, Funny)
I thought the concept of "ruler" started with King Arthur, after a watery tart lobbed a scimitar at him.
Re:Counting? (Score:5, Funny)
The way that people figured this out is that if five hunters go into a forest as a group, split up and hide. Then one by one, four hunters leave one at a time. The fifth hunter stays in hiding, the monkeys come out of hunting, and the hunter shoots a monkey. This does not happen when there are less than five hunters initially.
I should hope not: if there are four hunters initially, then one by one four hunters leave, there are no hunters left to shoot the monkey. And if there are 3 or fewer hunters initially than the scenario's impossible.
The number line does not work for me ... (Score:4, Funny)
... because I use complex numbers for everything, you insensitive clod. Don't you have any feelings for the one dimensionally-challenged?
Re:Counting? (Score:1, Funny)
Re:The Story of 1 with Terry Jones (Score:5, Funny)
Bah. Farcical aquatic ceremonies are no basis for a system of measurement.
Use of the number line is derived from a mandate of the masses. Everyone knows that.
Re:The Story of 1 with Terry Jones (Score:4, Funny)
I need to know the "watery tart lobbing scimitars" to miles conversion. The other day they was an asteroid the size of a strange woman distributing swords that burned up over California.
Re:Counting? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Anyone who has ever taught math knows this (Score:5, Funny)
-1 Completely misunderstanding the point of the article and comment.
Re:Counting? (Score:5, Funny)
There was this bald monkey coming out, screaming in his monkey language: "There... Are... Four... Hunters!"
And then, he died. Apparently a bad day to wear his red shirt.
Re:Counting? (Score:4, Funny)
It was actually "Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers!"
Re:Anyone who has ever taught math knows this (Score:2, Funny)
Ah but did he "get" it or did his eternal soul "remember" it?
Hmm? hmm?
*strokes goatee while daydreaming about Plato* [wikipedia.org]
It's not just Yupno Valley - Seattle too (Score:4, Funny)
Thus you could have an axis that looked like:
1 4 7 8 14 35
IMHO that sort of defeats the purpose of a line graph. I can userstand linear or log scales but a random changing scale is pointless.
Re:Anyone who has ever taught math knows this (Score:5, Funny)
Physics? Is that your name for applied maths? [xkcd.com]
Re:Anyone who has ever taught math knows this (Score:5, Funny)
In order to save time, paper, and ink, I made my number line logarithmic.
I hope you made two of them for the synergy effect.
Slide rule joke of the day:
When Noah told his menagerie "go forth and multiply", two snakes replied: "We can't, we're adders!"
Noah then built a wooden table, placed the snakes on it, and much joy and spawn ensued.
Because on a log table, even adders can multiply.
Re:Anyone who has ever taught math knows this (Score:4, Funny)