出版社: Harvard University Press
副标题: Counting and the Course of Human Cultures
出版年: 2017-3-13
页数: 304
定价: USD 27.95
装帧: Hardcover
ISBN: 9780674504431
内容简介 · · · · · ·
Carved into our past, woven into our present, numbers shape our perceptions of the world and of ourselves much more than we commonly think. Numbers and the Making of Us is a sweeping account of how numbers radically enhanced our species’ cognitive capabilities and sparked a revolution in human culture. Caleb Everett brings new insights in psychology, anthropology, primatology, ...
Carved into our past, woven into our present, numbers shape our perceptions of the world and of ourselves much more than we commonly think. Numbers and the Making of Us is a sweeping account of how numbers radically enhanced our species’ cognitive capabilities and sparked a revolution in human culture. Caleb Everett brings new insights in psychology, anthropology, primatology, linguistics, and other disciplines to bear in explaining the myriad human behaviors and modes of thought numbers have made possible, from enabling us to conceptualize time in new ways to facilitating the development of writing, agriculture, and other advances of civilization.
Number concepts are a human invention—a tool, much like the wheel, developed and refined over millennia. Numbers allow us to grasp quantities precisely, but they are not innate. Recent research confirms that most specific quantities are not perceived in the absence of a number system. In fact, without the use of numbers, we cannot precisely grasp quantities greater than three; our minds can only estimate beyond this surprisingly minuscule limit.
Everett examines the various types of numbers that have developed in different societies, showing how most number systems derived from anatomical factors such as the number of fingers on each hand. He details fascinating work with indigenous Amazonians who demonstrate that, unlike language, numbers are not a universal human endowment. Yet without numbers, the world as we know it would not exist.
作者简介 · · · · · ·
Caleb Everett is an Andrew Carnegie Fellow and Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Miami.
目录 · · · · · ·
I. Numbers Pervade the Human Experience
1. Numbers Woven into Our Present
2. Numbers Carved into Our Past
3. A Numerical Journey around the World Today
4. Beyond Number Words: Other Kinds of Numeric Language
· · · · · · (更多)
I. Numbers Pervade the Human Experience
1. Numbers Woven into Our Present
2. Numbers Carved into Our Past
3. A Numerical Journey around the World Today
4. Beyond Number Words: Other Kinds of Numeric Language
II. Worlds without Numbers
5. Anumeric People Today
6. Quantities in the Minds of Young Children
7. Quantities in the Minds of Animals
III. Numbers and the Shaping of Our Lives
8. Inventing Numbers and Arithmetic
9. Numbers and Culture: Subsistence and Symbolism
10. Transformative Tools
Notes
Acknowledgments
Index
· · · · · · (收起)
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Numbers and the Making of Us的书评 · · · · · · ( 全部 9 条 )
数字让我们生活得更好吗?
人类创造数字,数字成就人类
这篇书评可能有关键情节透露
作为一个对数字无感的女人,我读这本《数字起源》是有些吃力的,但是看着上一年级的孩子扒着手指头计算十以内加减的时候,我突然感觉数字语言的重要。 本书主要分为三大部分。前言部分讲人类为何能在进化中脱颖而出,点出数字工具的重要性,它对人类的经验祈祷根本性的重塑作用... (展开)我们对1、2、3的理解并不比毗拉哈人多多少
《数字起源》核心观点
这篇书评可能有关键情节透露
人类在硬件上并没有什么特殊,但是在软件上很强。最强大的软件是语言。 软件推动了硬件的发展,语言推动了人类大脑的发展。但这里还是存在先有鸡还是先有蛋的疑问,为什么在进化的奇点处,人类平平无奇的大脑能发展出语言? 从物种层面来说,人类借助语言实现了知识的高效率传... (展开)本书的三个核心观点,及同类书学习建议
这篇书评可能有关键情节透露
这本书与《习惯的力量》等书的写作研究手法类似,都是“观点/结论——论据”格式。观点新颖,论据也比较充实,观点也非常干练,主要有三个: 1、数字及其概念并非天生,而是后天出现的。人类天生的数字概念只有两个:对于精确的小数字有明确的认识(一般小于3),对于大数字则... (展开)> 更多书评 9篇
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2 有用 后 2018-01-24 12:00:11
我说怎么这么耳熟,读到第五章的Ethnography才意识到作者竟然是Daniel Everett的学生。乔姆斯基的死敌有后了啊。
1 有用 whig 2018-02-03 22:15:15
尽管通往结论的逻辑链条有些缺陷(暗含了几个错误二分法),但还是值得五星。
1 有用 whig 2018-02-03 22:15:15
尽管通往结论的逻辑链条有些缺陷(暗含了几个错误二分法),但还是值得五星。
2 有用 后 2018-01-24 12:00:11
我说怎么这么耳熟,读到第五章的Ethnography才意识到作者竟然是Daniel Everett的学生。乔姆斯基的死敌有后了啊。