Page 9 - Matematica_Mathematics - Numere naturale_Natural numbers

Following an experiment conducted in 2009,
researchers found that bees have an extraordinary
ability: they can understand (up to a point)
mathematical language. In the experiment, several
bees were allowed to fly around labyrinthine boxes,
shaped like Y. The scientists made them understand
that in the boxes with the entries marked by two to
four points, a reward was hiding.
In 80% of cases, bees recognized “two points”
and “three points”. Boxes that used three-or four-
point strings had a 70% success rate.
Researchers believe that bees are not able to
count. Instead, they intuitively understand small
numbers, similar to how people know that there are three glasses on a table without counting them.

Although it is impossible for us to imagine a
world without numbers, there are cultures that do
not use them. They are called anumeric. Among
these cultures are some tribes of Amazonia.
These people use terms such as “few” referring
to quantities. When researchers studied the
anumeric tribes, the adults of these tribes struggled
to keep track of the nuts removed from a box, even
though there were only 4 nuts in the box.

Interesting, all human beings are born anumeric. It takes a whole society - family, education system
and peers-to teach a person to understand the complex world of numbers.