TITLE: Arithmetic is Fundamental
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: April 06, 2020  1:57 PM
DESC: 
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BODY:
 From
<A HREF="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-animals-have-the-ability-to-count/">
   a September 2009 edition</A>
 of <EM>Scientific American</EM>, in a research report titled "Animals
 by the Numbers":

<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
 Recent studies, however, have uncovered new instances of a counting
 skill in different species, suggesting that mathematical abilities
 could be more fundamental in biology than previously thought.
 Under certain conditions, monkeys could sometimes outperform
 college students.
</EM></BLOCKQUOTE>

 Having watched college students attempt to convert base 10 to base 2
 using a standard algorithm, I am not surprised.

<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
 One animal recorded with Kool-Aid, was 10 to 20 percent less accurate
 than college students but beat them in reaction time.  "The monkeys
 didn't mind missing every once in a while," Cantlon recounts.  "It
 wants to get past the mistake and on to the next problem where to can
 get more Kool-Aid, whereas college students can't shake their worry
 over guessing wrong."
</EM></BLOCKQUOTE>

 Well, that's changes things a bit.  Our education system trains a
 willingness to fail out of our students.  Animals face different 
 kinds of social pressure.

 That said, 10-20 percent less accurate is only a letter grade or two
 on many grading scales.  Not too bad for our monkey friends, and they
 get some Kool-Aid to boot.

 My wife was helping someone clean out their house and brought home a
 bunch of old <EM>Scientific American</EM>s.  I've had a good time
 browsing through the articles and seeing what people were thinking
 and saying a decade ago.  The September 2009 issue was about the
 origins of ideas and products, including the mind.  Fun reading.
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