Last lesson, we were briefly introduced to the existence of the Pirahã Tribe from Brazil. Unlike any other indigenous group, what makes this particular tribe immensely intriguing is the absence of the conceptional grasp of "numbers". This essentially implies that the people of the tribe have never been acquainted with the numerical system and fundamentally do not use numbers in their lives. In all honesty, I found this system (or lack of system) to be quite perplexing for the sole reason that as a species, our dependency on the number system is so great that it makes it rather difficult to even fathom an alternative world sans any digits. To break it down simply, no numbers equates to no validity of measurements and most importantly no concept of time. We know that sub-categories that can fall under time are limitless and hence I shall refrain from beginning to list all these elements. However, from an overarching perspective, the first question that may perhaps into anyone's mind after learning of such a tribe is— How do they survive?
Well, in my opinion, one becomes truly dependent on something only when they are aware of its existence in the first place. For instance, if we look back in time, there was no Wifi or Facebook back in the 1800's. However, people did still live in those days. Today, for us to imagine a world without wifi or social media? It is almost frightening how much we depend on these tools. Thus, what I am trying to shed light is on the fact that the people of the Pirahã Tribe have survived multiple generations without the system of numerical values, perhaps simply due to the fact that they were never introduced to it formally to become dependent on it in the first place. The idea may sound oddly abstract, however when one claims that members of such a tribe may be intellectually dim due to their lack of number systems, all I can think of is how members of the Pirahã Tribe may believe that the rest of the population, heavily dependent on this "number system" is silly for overcomplicating lives with numbers. I am sure all people that despise algebra would agree with this facet of unnecessary complications that numbers have brought along with them.
But in all seriousness, I do not believe that one must establishes any prejudices against a group based on their societal norms and ways of living. In fact, after reading today's article and getting an in-depth insight into the structure of the tribe and their unique manner of communication, I truly believe that a study of the system they do use as opposed to that that they do not, would be of more significance. Furthermore, when I learnt that a neuropsychologist even went in and unsuccessfully tried to teach the people Portuguese numbers over the span of 8 months (which is quite a long time), the fact that they did not even try to absorb this system connotes their satisfaction with the way of life they are accustomed to. Who are we to tell them that their system is wrong and ours right? Perhaps the simplicity of their lives refutes the requirement of numbers? Why must we tamper with their beliefs?
I truly enjoyed learning about the intricacies of the Pirahã Tribe as this study allowed me to examine an alternative perspective that defies or/and challenges prevalent societal norms that we feel obligated to abide by.
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