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tangentially, I wonder if this is one of the reasons why Chinese are often better at math. some have argued that idiosyncrasies in speaking the language might p
by autokad 5y ago
tangentially, I wonder if this is one of the reasons why Chinese are often better at math. some have argued that idiosyncrasies in speaking the language might play a role (such as being able to detect tone changes). That may be true, but also when they are looking at a number 2, it looks like two somethings. our 2 looks nothing like two somethings.
- 300bps 5y agoHere’s a pretty good write-up of the point you cover as well as the point others have made that the Chinese are able to quickly memorize 9 digits vs 7 digits for English speakers possibly because the names of their numbers are shorter. https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2011/07/01/137527742/china-s-unnatural-math-advantage-their-words https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2011/07/01/137527742/c...
- autokad 5y agoyeah, hacker news would rather just downvote me instead of actually think for a change. I didnt say it was proven, nor the only reason - just that some say the language itself may provide some advantage. then you get like idiots above saying 'its only because of the drills!'. the world is rife with such simple minded thought.
- srvmshr 5y agoI would like to see evidence of this. On the contrary there is enough evidence that top mathematical competitions (IMO, Schweitzer, Putnam competition etc.) have been dominated by Russians & Slavics for a very long time. Same holds for Fields & Abel prizes. The link between phonetics & notations have little to do with proficiency. Basic arithmetic upto counting 5 maybe - when numbers are like 一 ニ 三. But beyond that the association seems tenuous. Math isn't just arithmetic. Asian kids have a lot of study drills. The amount of after-class homework that I see kids doing makes me sad. Arithmetic gets better with practice. No magic formula