A pagan arithmetic: unstable sets in indigenous Amazonia
Aparecida Vilaça
Abstract
In the Amazonian literature, the scarcity of numerical terms and lack of interest in counting, which characterize diverse indigenous peoples in the region, are usually associated with linguistic issues or cultural limitations. My purpose in this paper is to take a different approach and relate the enumeration processes of one of these peoples, the Wari’, to their conception of beings as intrinsically transformative, which affects the determination of quantities and the stability of sets.
Topics & Concepts
Amazon rainforestIndigenousArithmeticMathematicsComputer scienceGeographyBiologyEcologyCognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skillsHistory and Theory of Mathematics