Theory of Knowledge - Course Companion for Students Marija Uzunova Dang Arvin Singh Uzunov Dang

argue that, while there’s a biological grounding,
I’d
and cultural traits are necessary for the
language
animals hav a quantitativ sns, for
Many
ing al to distinguish whih undl
xampl
with newborns and infants show that, if
Studies
show them eight dots repeatedly and then
you
it to 16 dots, areas in the right parietal
change
of the brain respond to a change in
cortex
has ld som rsarhrs to thoriz that
This
numrial sns is innat.
a
suh as Rafal Núñz, argu that th
Othrs,
of a iologially ndowd numr
argumnt
is asd on skthy sin: inaurat
sns
of iologial volution, ovr-
undrstanding
on WEIRD population sampls (as
mphasis
in Chaptr 8) and ovrintrprtation
disussd
rsults from traind animals. W must also
of
th diffrn twn quantial and
not
ognition: quantial rlats to how
numrial
appls thr ar in a askt, or how many
many
on a oard, whras numrial ognition
dots
with symols suh as 3, 4 and 5.
dals
because a behaviour seems to derive from an
Just
capacity, that doesn’t mean the behaviour
innate
itself innate. ... No non-human animal has yet
is
found able to distinguish 152 items from 153.
been
can’t do that, no matter how hard you train
Chimps
yet many children can tell you even by the
them,
of ve that the two numbers dier in the same
age
as do the equally abstract numbers 2 and 3:
way
rsarhrs do not apt that numrial
Othr
is a ulturally drivd aility.
ognition
that th rain is “prdisposd to aquir
argus
numr systm” that ultur an furthr
a
and rfin. But without this iologial
shap
humans would nvr hav a numr
apaity,
Chaptr 8 w nountr th ida of
In
an argumnt that natur
naturultur,
ultur ar so tightly onntd in
and
rlationships that w ar ttr off
ologial
sparating thm. If w apt Núñz’s
not
for th momnt, that quantial
argumnt
annot volv into numrial
ognition
without th influn of ultur, what
ognition
do w hav? Núñz suggsts that
vidn
ulturs around th world hav no words
many
symols for numrs largr than fiv or six.
or
words quivalnt to “many” ar usd.
Instad,
the language of the Munduruku people of the
In
for example, adesu indicates ‘several’
Amazon,
ade implies ‘really lots’. These cultures
whereas
with what to us looks like imprecision: it really
live
matter if, when the oranges are divided
doesn’t
one person gets 152 and the other 153. And
up,
if we aren’t so number-xated, it really
frankly,
matter. So why bother having words to
doesn’t
diffrns twn larg numrs
Small
mattr for many thnologial and
larly
appliations. Howvr, on argumnt
sintifi
that humans’ innat quantial sns is
is
th diffrn twn on and
logarithmi:
is muh gratr than twn fiv and six,
two
for most ativitis in th human ra, this
and
suffiint.
was
II. Perspectives
II. Perspectives
establishment of number itself’.
(Ball 2017)
aility (Nidr quotd in Ball 2017).
of food is iggr, and it appars innat to humans.
numerosity. This response is very similar in adults.
(Ansari quoted in Ball 2017)
distinguish them?
(Ball 2017)
Arithmetic scale
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 13 16
namely, by 1 … .
Logarithmic scale
(Núñez quoted in Ball 2017)
6 7 8 9 12 16
1 2 3 4 5
Arithmti and logarithmi sals
Figure 11.3
Nuroiologist Andras Nidr, for xampl,
333