Re: OT: Doubting Thomas: was "Introducing Myself"

Hi!

Mike Ellis <nihilsum@...> writes:
>...
> But I can see why people would doubt the
> Piraha story, and stories about people like Gage/Israfil/etc. The difference
> is that Phineas left his skull, and Ahad's been all over television and is
> still alive (they've fixed up his head though). I'm not sure how many
> different accounts there are to corroborate the weirdness of the Piraha mind
> (there's that one really good PDF, which I can't find anywhere anymore --
> all links are broken). Also haven't heard of anyone who reported the
> opposite: that the Piraha *are* able to count and understand abstractions,
> remote history etc.
Well, have you ever heard anyone report that, say, the Greenlanders
*are* able to count?  Would you ever have doubted that, so you needed
to be told?

If I were to tell you someone could not count, I'd choose someone who
could not prove the opposite immediately.  The Pirahã seem to be well
chosen. :-)

**Henrik