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Inuit children invented their own system for writing numbers which makes arithmetic easier. Now its in Unicode.
@tokensane That's incredibly interesting, thanks so much for sharing!
Interesting stuff. If anyone else is put off by Scientific American's cookie choice form, you can read about this on wikipedia instead - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaktovik_numerals.
The lower part reminds me of five bar gates, box #tallies or a Chinese #tally, but adding fives to make numerals out of them is neat. As base twenty numerals, with a sub base of five, they go really well with old British counting - what's commonly called #SheepCounting.
The names of the numbers vary from region to region, but I count: yahn, tain, tether, mether, mumph; hither, thither, over, dover, dic; yahn, tain, tether, mether mumphit; yahn, tain, tether, mether, jigif. I find it easier to keep my place counting this way. The rhyme, cadence and repetition also have a soothing effect on some babies, like a #lullaby - which is where the idea of counting sheep to go to sleep comes from.
You could limit yourself to one line at the top to use them for "normal" base ten numbers. I do like how clearly they look like the number they represent.
@ken @tokensane @gannet base 20 reminds me of the French language for the same. When we have 20 digits, the themes repeat.
Oui, c'est vrai. I haven't attempted to speak French for years, but I remember quatre-vingt-dix-sept, and all that. Another word for twenty/jigif is 'score' and English people were talking about 'four score and seven' until a couple of centuries ago. Americans too, like in Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg address, although I think he was being deliberately old-fashioned.
@ken @tokensane @gannet this was a fascinating read, thanks.
@ken @tokensane @gannet Reading the history, this is a beautiful illustration of how language and notation evolve and also the difference notation makes to comprehension.
@ken @tokensane @gannet WOW!
Thank you for bringing this numeral system to everyone's attention!
Here is a pretty good short form video on what makes them so cool:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyS6FfczH0Q
@ken @tokensane @gannet hey cool! Do you pronounce 20 Jigif or Gijif?
Here, I recorded myself counting to twenty. At that point I move my thumb to another part of my finger to count the twenties, or if I'm using my hands I move a counter from one pile to another.
@tokensane Cool! It's got the same body base (20 & 5) as the West African Vai language (they've got a writing system, but use the hindu-arabic digits), so it's great it gets into Unicode and can be used for invigorating indigenous languages across the globe!
re: lb: on "makes arithmetic easier"
most ancient cultures used some form of tally system (like, ancient Egyptian & Babylonians) and tally systems do make a lot of arithmetic easier! that's why ppl used them. in particular you don't need to remember any "number facts" to add two tally-numbers together, you just tally the first number, then you tally the second number, then maybe you combine some tallies into bigger units (10 ones -> 1 ten). subtracting and even doubling is also pretty easy.
the hindu-arabic system makes adding/subtracting harder — now you have to *know* that 2+5=7 before you can solve 2+5=?, the numeral system doesn't do the calculation "for" you.
iow the arabic numerals require you to *already have* an education before you can use them efficiently. it has its own advantages in speed & multiplication once you have that education — but as a teaching language, it is *uniquely bad* for showing how numbers work. literally any other number system in world history would be better.
@tokensane wow, pretty easy to make sense of too
@tokensane Replies in here are fascinating too; learned that when you count sheep, it isn't "one, two, three..".
@tokensane @hollie This is soooo cool!!
@tokensane "when my father went to school, if he spoke the language, they would slap his hands"
The English adopted the same tactic here in Wales. Its proper name is genocide: the deliberate extinction of a culture.
@tokensane @xurxodiz But... This is *exactly* the Maya numeral system! 
@tokensane i'm sorry to be the first (at least here in this thread) with a probably very unpopular opinion, but...
while this number coding system does probably help with basic _arithmetics_ (just because it's very naturalistic: you rely on «sticks» count and orientation to help with very basic operations «at a glance»), it probably hampers progressing into _mathematics_.
basically it's to math what hieroglyphic notation is to language (vs alphabet): does it help with writing prose? =/
@tivasyk @tokensane I get where you’re coming from, but the article has a paragraph that addresses your concern.
Not that standardized tests are great, but seeing an improvement _significantly over the average_ should mean that they’re grasping the underlying math concepts _better_ than if they’d solely gone the traditional route. It’s not hampering them, it’s lowering the barrier into mathematics
@joshfreedman @tivasyk True, but it is still an issue. Educational studies are very prone to the Hawthorn Effect, as well as other confounding factors. Coming up with robust evidence for educational interventions is really hard.
@tokensane @tivasyk That’s a great point. I didn’t mean to imply that further scrutiny wasn’t necessary or that the issues you bring up didn’t apply. Just wanted to point out a part of the article that speaks to that concern and _could_ be beneficial. I probably could have worded it better
Most people don't need to know mathematics on the level of writing prose, knowing enough arithmetics to do the shopping and take care of their bank account will be enough.
Since they were taught the Hindu-Arabic numbers as well, I don't think it wouldn't keep those who have the talent from doing higher maths.
I'm wondering whether using this number system for teaching has some similarities to teaching with an abacus.
@tokensane A very cool system! I can easily see how people would take to this more readily than Arabic numerals. As much alike as we are, there are definite differences in how our brains collect and process information. This system is more visual and could be helpful for many.
@tokensane @futurebird I thought you would enjoy this story. :)
@tokensane I think this is likely really good for teaching thinking in multiple bases. I just did something I've never been able to do: add hexadecimal numbers quickly.
You can turn the base 20 over base 5 system into a 16 over 4 notation by just taking the first four symbols of each 5-let and have the over lines stand for 4s. Then all the manipulation rules still work.
Essentially, you don't need to memorize large addition, subtraction or division tables.
@tokensane Base 20, yikes! Very interesting though.
@tokensane I love the fact that Linear B is in Unicode:
@tokensane that’s pretty neat
@tokensane @vigpetraszonja more folks adding to Unicode. Usually it needs to be broad interest.
You may also be interested in SF Symbols, which are in between text and graphics, and you *can* add your own custom graphics to them. But you can't cut and paste them.
@jkottke - interesting link for you - while reading it i forgot I hadn’t read it via your site!
@tokensane This is great! Thank you for sharing!
@tokensane @tokyo_0 Reminds me a tiny bit of chi san bop, a finger-abacus system. I ran across an instruction book on it in the early ’90s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chisanbop