![]() Speakers of anumeric, or numberless, languages offer a window into how the invention of numbers reshaped the human experience. What’s more, the 7,000 or so languages that exist today vary dramatically in how they utilize numbers. For the bulk of our species’ approximately 200,000-year lifespan, we had no means of precisely representing quantities. The exact (and exacting) numbers we think with impact everything from our schedules to our self-esteem.īut, in a historical sense, numerically fixated people like us are the unusual ones. As you read this, you are likely aware of what time it is, how old you are, your checking account balance, your weight and so on. In contrast, our own lives are governed by numbers. Instead of using words for precise quantities, these people rely exclusively on terms analogous to “a few” or “some.” There are numberless hunter-gatherers embedded deep in Amazonia, living along branches of the world’s largest river tree.
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