Edward Gibson

And say you have 17 goats and you go to bed at night and you get up in the morning. Boy, it's easier to have a count system to do that. That's an abstraction over a set. People often ask me when I talk to them about this kind of work, they say, well, don't these Purahas, don't they have kids? Don't they have a lot of children? I'm like, yeah, they have a lot of children. And they do.

And say you have 17 goats and you go to bed at night and you get up in the morning. Boy, it's easier to have a count system to do that. That's an abstraction over a set. People often ask me when I talk to them about this kind of work, they say, well, don't these Purahas, don't they have kids? Don't they have a lot of children? I'm like, yeah, they have a lot of children. And they do.

They often have families of three or four or five kids. And they go, well, don't they need the numbers to keep track of their kids? And I always ask the person who says this, like, do you have children? And the answer is always no, because that's not how you keep track of your kids. You care about their identities. It's very important to me when I go, I think I have five children.

They often have families of three or four or five kids. And they go, well, don't they need the numbers to keep track of their kids? And I always ask the person who says this, like, do you have children? And the answer is always no, because that's not how you keep track of your kids. You care about their identities. It's very important to me when I go, I think I have five children.

They often have families of three or four or five kids. And they go, well, don't they need the numbers to keep track of their kids? And I always ask the person who says this, like, do you have children? And the answer is always no, because that's not how you keep track of your kids. You care about their identities. It's very important to me when I go, I think I have five children.

It doesn't matter which, yeah, it matters which five. It's like... If you replaced one with someone else, I would care. A goat, maybe not, right? That's the kind of point. It's an abstraction. Something that looks very similar to the one wouldn't matter to me, probably.

It doesn't matter which, yeah, it matters which five. It's like... If you replaced one with someone else, I would care. A goat, maybe not, right? That's the kind of point. It's an abstraction. Something that looks very similar to the one wouldn't matter to me, probably.

It doesn't matter which, yeah, it matters which five. It's like... If you replaced one with someone else, I would care. A goat, maybe not, right? That's the kind of point. It's an abstraction. Something that looks very similar to the one wouldn't matter to me, probably.

You're absolutely right. But I'm saying it is an abstraction such that you don't have to care about their identities to do this thing fast. That's the hypothesis, not mine. From... Anthropologists are guessing about where words for counting came from is from farming maybe. Yeah.

You're absolutely right. But I'm saying it is an abstraction such that you don't have to care about their identities to do this thing fast. That's the hypothesis, not mine. From... Anthropologists are guessing about where words for counting came from is from farming maybe. Yeah.

You're absolutely right. But I'm saying it is an abstraction such that you don't have to care about their identities to do this thing fast. That's the hypothesis, not mine. From... Anthropologists are guessing about where words for counting came from is from farming maybe. Yeah.

Well, my guess is The function of a language is to do something in a community. I mean, unless there's some function to that language in the community, it's not going to survive. It's not going to be useful. So here's a great example. Language death is super common, okay? Languages are dying all around the world. And here's why they're dying.

Well, my guess is The function of a language is to do something in a community. I mean, unless there's some function to that language in the community, it's not going to survive. It's not going to be useful. So here's a great example. Language death is super common, okay? Languages are dying all around the world. And here's why they're dying.

Well, my guess is The function of a language is to do something in a community. I mean, unless there's some function to that language in the community, it's not going to survive. It's not going to be useful. So here's a great example. Language death is super common, okay? Languages are dying all around the world. And here's why they're dying.

And it's like, yeah, I see this in, you know, it's not happening right now in either the Chimane or the Piraha, but it probably will. And so there's a neighboring group called Mositan, which is, I said that it's isolated. It's actually, there's a duel. There's two of them, okay? So it's actually, there's two languages which are really close, which are Mositan and

And it's like, yeah, I see this in, you know, it's not happening right now in either the Chimane or the Piraha, but it probably will. And so there's a neighboring group called Mositan, which is, I said that it's isolated. It's actually, there's a duel. There's two of them, okay? So it's actually, there's two languages which are really close, which are Mositan and

And it's like, yeah, I see this in, you know, it's not happening right now in either the Chimane or the Piraha, but it probably will. And so there's a neighboring group called Mositan, which is, I said that it's isolated. It's actually, there's a duel. There's two of them, okay? So it's actually, there's two languages which are really close, which are Mositan and

and Chimane, which are unrelated to anything else. And Mositán is unlike Chimane in that it has a lot of contact with Spanish and it's dying. So that language is dying. The reason it's dying is there's not a lot of value for the local people in their native language. So there's much more value in knowing Spanish because they want to feed their families. And how do you feed your family?

and Chimane, which are unrelated to anything else. And Mositán is unlike Chimane in that it has a lot of contact with Spanish and it's dying. So that language is dying. The reason it's dying is there's not a lot of value for the local people in their native language. So there's much more value in knowing Spanish because they want to feed their families. And how do you feed your family?

and Chimane, which are unrelated to anything else. And Mositán is unlike Chimane in that it has a lot of contact with Spanish and it's dying. So that language is dying. The reason it's dying is there's not a lot of value for the local people in their native language. So there's much more value in knowing Spanish because they want to feed their families. And how do you feed your family?