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MIT-led team finds language without numbers
An Amazonian language with only 300 speakers has no word to express the concept of "one" or any other specific number, according to a new study from an MIT-led team.
The team, led by MIT professor of brain and cognitive sciences Edward Gibson, found that members of the Piraha tribe in remote northwestern Brazil use language to express relative quantities such as "some" and "more," but not precise numbers.
It is often assumed that counting is an innate part of human cognition, said Gibson, "but here is a group that does not count. They could learn, but it's not useful in their culture, so they've never picked it up."
The study, which appeared in the June 10 online edition of the journal Cognition, offers evidence that number words are a concept invented by human cultures as they are needed, and not an inherent part of language, Gibson said.
The work builds on a study published in 2004, which found that the Piraha had words to express the quantities "one," "two," and "many." The MIT researchers observed the same phenomenon when they asked Piraha speakers to describe sets of objects as they were added, from one to 10. An Amazonian language with only 300 speakers has no word to express the concept of "one" or any other specific number, accor... more -
The People We Have Been Waiting For
"While the Bush team came into office brain dead on the climate issue and will leave office with a perfect record of having done nothing significant to mitigate climate change, Im heartened that our country is increasingly alive on this challenge." "While the Bush team came into office brain dead on the climate issue and will leave office with a perfect record of having done ... more
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M.I.T. Designs Folding Electric Scooter
The idea from M.I.T.'s Smart Cities group is to have these as city share vehicles where you can pick one up at one location and drop them at another. Pretty sweet little fold-and-stow cruisers. The idea from M.I.T.'s Smart Cities group is to have these as city share vehicles where you can pick one up at one location and d... more
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David Reinfurt presentation on Muriel Cooper and the Visible Language Workshop
"Center affiliate David Reinfurt will talk about Muriel Cooper and the Visible Language Workshop's legacy at MIT. As Design Director of MIT Press, professor in the School of Architecture, and co-founder with Ron MacNeil of the Visible Language Workshop, Muriel Cooper spent a career interrogating the methods and means of graphic design, carving out a series of spaces within MIT where fluid relationships between design, production, teaching, learning, making, reproducing and distributing were explored on a daily basis for twenty years."
It all goes back to Muriel Cooper. "Center affiliate David Reinfurt will talk about Muriel Cooper and the Visible Language Workshop's legacy at MIT. As Design ... more -
MIT hearts Master Chief
MIT's known for pranks, or hacks, against rival school Harvard (and sometimes even on their own campus). Their latest hack today enhances the John P. Harvard statue with a battle-ready Master Chief Spartan helmet and assault rifle (with a bullet count of 2E) in honor of Halo day. MIT's known for pranks, or hacks, against rival school Harvard (and sometimes even on their own campus). Their latest hack today ... more
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MIT Student Arrested Wearing A Fake Bomb At Airport
Star Simpson is a 19 year old from Kihei, Hawaii, and a sprinter on the MIT swim team. She "wanted to stand out" for career day, so decided to wear a circuit board with LED lights and some wires to a 9 volt battery strapped to the outside of her black hooded sweat shirt, and to carry some play dough, TO THE AIRPORT. Needless to say, she was arrested at gun point and will be arraigned later today. As one officer pointed out, she's lucky "she ended up in our cell instead of a morgue." Here's a link to her website http://www.mit.edu/~stars/ Star Simpson is a 19 year old from Kihei, Hawaii, and a sprinter on the MIT swim team. She "wanted to stand out" for career... more
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