Indigenous Amazonians Display Core Understanding Of Geometry

[Celebration]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/01/060123074357.htm

Researchers in France and at Harvard University have found that isolated indigenous peoples deep in the Amazon readily grasp basic concepts of geometry such as points, lines, parallelism and right angles, and can use distance, angle and other relationships in maps to locate hidden objects. The results suggest that geometry is a core set of intuitions present in all humans, regardless of their language or schooling.

The study of geometrical understanding among the Mundurukú, who live in remote areas along the Cururu River in Brazil, is described this week in the journal Science.

"Although there has been a lot of research on spatial maps, navigation and sense of direction, there is very little work on the conceptual representations in geometry," says co-author Stanislas Dehaene of the Collège de France in Paris. "What is meant by 'point,' 'line,' 'parallel,' 'square' versus 'rectangle'? All are highly idealized concepts never met in physical reality. Our work is a first start in the exploration of these concepts."

The work by Dehaene and colleagues suggests that such concepts are largely universal across humans.

[xchrom]

1. good thing they don't research me.

cause i'd get lost with a map trying to find a hidden object somewhere at right angles to the left of that tree over there.

[acmavm]

3. I can get lost getting out of bed. But ancient civilizations displayed an

amazing understanding of mathmatics. Why shouldn't these people?

[xchrom]

4. i had to take one of those exams they give to find out

how crazy you are -- well i did soo badly on the math part -- the lady wanted to know if i had ever been hit in the head.

:silly: :crazy: :silly:

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. Some ancient peoples obviously understood them well

but it's not always clear if that was a few people having the ideas, and patiently teaching the rest of us over generations, with one culture then teaching another, or if we understand them intuitively.

[Gman]

2. Saw this posted elsewhere

I don't necessarily agree that it means there is an innate ability for geometry as much as it means these are intelligent humans that are able to exercise logic to solve problems.

I never could figure out why geometry is a large part of the math portion of the GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) which is necessary to go to graduate business school. I, and others I discussed it with finally decided it had more to do with logic ability than it does math. I never once even remotely came close to studying geometry when I obtained my MBA.

[patrice]

5. I was not into Math in my highschool years. Hated Algebra.

Loved Geometry.

[mom cat]

6. Of course they do...They live in a world where intuitive knowledge of

geometry can save your life.

[Igel]

7. Wouldn't this just be the default hypothesis?

In most sane psychology programs, that is. (It wouldn't be the default hypothesis in many literature programs.)

Nice to see evidence for it, though.