back to prehistoric savage

Chapter 154
When another full moon night came, the rope used for counting by the owl was already full of knots.

He still didn't understand the purpose of this.

Zhang Tian still didn't explain, but just gave him another rope and asked him to continue counting until the next full moon night.

He called the children together.

"Brother Tian! I can blow little stars!"

"Brother Tian! Teach us a new song today?"

"Brother Tian! Look at the flute I made myself!"

The children are like a flock of lively birds, chirping for attention.

Zhang Tian's status in the tribe is second only to grandma, and he is even more popular among children than grandma, because Zhang Tian often plays with them and takes them to do novel and interesting things.

A few days ago, I also made a pocket-sized fishing rod with branches and twine, saying that it can catch lynx with fur balls on it.The children took the "cat fishing stick" to tease the little lynx, and the little lynx happily chased them all over the cave, and both humans and animals had a great time.

A child's mind is very simple, he likes whoever plays well with him.

"Today we're going to play something different."

As Zhang Tian said, he took out a bamboo flute, a pottery bowl, and a stone and put them in front of the children. Every time he took out something, the babbling younger brothers and sisters would read out their names in a waxy voice.

"Can anyone find the similarity between them?" he proclaimed the exam question.

The children may stare wide-eyed or lie on the ground, but no matter what angle you look at, let alone the same, there is no similarity at all!

Xiao suddenly said loudly: "I know! What they have in common is that they are different from other things!"

The children were all stunned, the words were a bit confusing, they didn't understand.

Zhang Tian couldn't help but laugh. There is nothing wrong with this statement, not only is it not wrong, but also requires a certain amount of logical thinking and abstract thinking to say it. If he is playing a brain teaser, he must pass the test.

"That's indeed a similarity, isn't there?"

"And... I don't know anymore."

Xiao Xiao shook his head and gave up.

Seeing no one answered, Zhang Tian announced the correct answer: "Their 'numbers' are the same."

It cannot be said that people have no concept of numbers at all, but it is very superficial and vague.

There are basically no numbers in the language system of the tribe, and they only say one, two, and many in daily life. Even the one and two in their mouths are not an accurate number. In their concept, one can represent a few, and two It can represent a little more, and it is immeasurable if it goes up.

Primitive people who cannot distinguish between three and infinity, if they hear Laozi's saying that three things are born and all things are born, they will definitely regard it as a standard.

Ignorance of numbers does not affect the reproduction and survival of the ethnic group. In fact, there are only two situations in life that require the use of accurate numbers: one is the number of clan members, and the other is their respective ages.

In both cases, knotting is sufficient.

With the growth of the tribe, the number of population and materials will become larger and larger, especially after entering the agricultural society and implementing warehouse management, the need to use accurate values ​​will gradually increase. A simpler systematic counting method will naturally be born.

This is the same as the evolution of characters, which are essentially born out of demand.

Although there is no demand now, there is Zhang Tian, ​​who is just in time to teach the tribe to know numbers while the winter is long.

The children were ignorant, Xiao Xiao showed a thoughtful look, and frowned slightly after a while.

"Do you all remember your own age?"

"Remember!"

The children curled their fingers one after another. Grandma said that every time they experience a cold day, they bend a finger, which represents their age.

"Age is also a number."

Age is the easiest natural number to understand, and it is very appropriate to teach numeracy from age.

Zhang Tian pointed to Tao in Mint's arms and asked, "How old will Tao be when the warm weather comes?"

It's so easy, the kids flex their thumbs in unison.

"very good."

Zhang Tian also bent his thumb and said, "This number is called 'one'. When the warm weather comes, Tao's age will be one year old."

"One year old..."

"Huang, how old are you?"

Zhang Tian asked Huang, who had just learned to speak.

Huang answered by flexing two fingers.

"This number is called 'two', and you are two years old now."

"Two years old..."

"Qing, how old are you?"

Qing flexed three fingers.

"This number is called 'three', and you are three years old now."

"Three years old..."

"What about me? How old am I?"

Bai asked with four fingers bent, and then five, six, and seven-year-old children also rushed to ask their ages, as if they were vying for some kind of supreme honorable title.

"I'll tell you your age later, learn one, two, and three today."

"Ah! Why is this!"

Bai pouted angrily, but he didn't teach when he came to her, Brother Tian was partial!

snort!I'll ask the wizard sister in a while!Sister Wizard must know!
Among all the younger siblings, Zhang Tian likes the straightforward and lively Bai the most. He pampered her little head and said gently: "If you can learn one, two, and three, I will teach you the following numbers."

"I learned it!" Bai Geng said, raising his neck, "One, two, three!"

Zhang Tian smiled and shook his head: "Repetition is not considered learning, only understanding is considered learning. Now, let's go back to the original question, who can tell me, what are the similarities between bamboo flutes, pottery bowls and stones? "

He has already announced the answer. If you really understand the concept of numbers, it is not difficult to come up with the correct answer.

But Bai stopped talking, and the children also fell into silence. They couldn't equate the number of ages with the number of things.

"It's one!" Xiao Xiao said excitedly, "They all count as one!"

It has to be an owl.

"correct!"

Zhang Tian showed a gratified smile. Seeing that his younger siblings were confused, he bent his thumb and said, "Numbers can be expressed by bending fingers. Did you find out? They have the same number!"

Transforming an abstract number into a crooked thumb, the kids immediately figured it out...it was the same!

Zhang Tian put away the bamboo flute and pottery bowl, took out two stones, pointed to the three stones on the ground and asked, "Who can tell me how many stones there are here?"

Bai rushed to answer: "There are a lot of pieces!"

"I need a specific number, Xiao, don't rush to answer, give your brother and sister some time to think."

Xiao Xiao obviously knew the answer, and he didn't even use his fingers to assist.

The children compared the stone, slowly bent three fingers, and said hesitantly, "...Three?"

"Correct! There are three stones here!"

Qing was surprised: "Why is it the same age as me?"

"Because the number can be the number of things, or the size of the age, the stone and the age are indeed different, but the number of the stone and the age may be the same, just like the bamboo flute, pottery bowl and stone, they are Completely different things, but they all have the same number."

Zhang Tian explained patiently, and the brothers and sisters listened carefully and thought carefully. Some children, such as Bai, figured it out quickly, while others frowned and couldn't turn the corner for a long time.

He then asked: "I want three branches, who can find them for me?"

The process of knowing numbers is actually the process of connecting concrete things with abstract concepts. This connection is two-way. It depends on the process of knowing numbers from concrete to abstract. Conversely, if you know numbers, can you find the correct number? What about the real thing?

This is a small test, and only by passing this test can one really understand numbers.

The children have all gone to pick up sticks outside the cave.

Xiao Xiao came back first, and he brought back three branches without any mistakes.

"It's very simple!"

He is not without pride.

This kid is a little bit drifting, it seems that he has to give him some difficulty.

Zhang Tian took out the bamboo flute, pottery bowl and stone again, and asked, "How many things are there in total?"

Different kinds of things follow the same counting rules, which is no problem for Xiao, and he gives the correct answer without thinking.

Zhang Tian put the stone aside, pointed to the bamboo flute and pottery bowl and asked, "What about now?"

"two."

Pointing to the stones beside him, he asked, "How many stones are there?"

"one."

"So one and two taken separately make three together, right?"

Xiao Xiao froze for a moment, his expression gradually serious.

He stared at the bamboo flute, pottery bowl and stones on the ground, just like the ancestor Fuxi in the story who looked up at the sky and looked down at the earth and realized Tai Chi gossip. The pottery bowl became two, one and two merged together, and slowly became three!

It turns out that there is such a relationship between numbers and numbers!It's amazing!
He soon discovered that not only one and two can be fused into three, but also one and one can be fused into two, and so on, and one and three can definitely be fused into a new number. He still doesn't know what this number is called, but He knew how to say this number: flex all the fingers of the left hand except the little finger.

This is far from the end, new numbers can be combined again to get a new number, and then combined again... Just like the ancestor Yugong gave birth to sons, sons gave birth to sons, endless!

Xiao thought about the end of the number, but felt that he was sucked into a bottomless vortex. The strong suction grabbed his thoughts and pulled him down slowly. Whenever he found a number, there would be a more The big number jumped out, tempting him to continue thinking, as if he would never reach the end.

With a frightened expression on his face, he quickly shook his head, not daring to think about it.

The children came back one after another, and they showed the branches they picked up to Brother Tian for checking.

Only five children, including Bai, answered correctly, and the other children still regarded three as an approximate number, which represented too many to count, so the branches they picked up were far more than three.

The children who answered correctly screamed excitedly, while the children who answered incorrectly were stunned and dejected.

Where there are people, there is comparison. In the past, children often compared toys, clothes, accessories, and who played the flute better. This was the first time they lost in intelligence. Losing the toy competition made them feel even more uncomfortable.

This is helpless, people are born unequal, Zhang Tian can only comfort them, and explain it several times, fortunately, the children have a strong ability to accept and learn, and they will gradually understand after listening and thinking more.

Knowing numbers is not too difficult, but the difficult part is addition and subtraction, which may only be understood by Xiao Xiao.

A few days later, the children have completely learned the nine natural numbers from one to nine. Every time a finger is bent, there is a corresponding number. In the future, remembering the age does not need to rely on fingers, just count directly!

Children show off what they have learned to adults. Adults' thinking is relatively fixed, and it is even more difficult to understand the concept of numbers. Most people just laugh it off as children are playing around, and don't take it seriously.

In order to consolidate memory, Lin Yu took the children to play age games every day.

The children sat in a circle, and Lin Yu sat in the group like a preschool teacher, clapping his hands and asking, "Abai, Abai, how old is Qing?"

Bai clapped his hands and replied, "Ah Qing, Ah Qing, he is three years old!"

Then it was Baifa's turn to ask, she looked at Qing: "Ah Qing, Ah Qing, how old is Huo?"

Qing replied in a brisk tone: "Ah Huo, Ah Huo, he is five years old!"

During the more than a month of living in the cave, Lin Yu changed a lot of games, such as carrot squatting but the mammoth version, throwing the handkerchief but the animal skin version, eagle and chicken but the tiger and squirrel version, and so on. She was having so much fun that even Zhang Tian couldn't tell whether she was having fun while suffering, or whether she was still a child at heart.

Xiao Xiao didn't participate in it, he didn't need to use the game to deepen his impression, he remembered it clearly enough.

He stretched out his fisted hands and asked Zhang Tian, ​​"What is this number called?"

Studious has always been his strength.

Numbers after nine have a higher threshold for understanding because they involve bases, so from the beginning, Zhang Tian didn't intend to teach them to everyone.

Humans initially counted with their fingers. Most people have ten fingers, so ten is chosen as the base system. Of course, many primitive tribes are used to counting with one hand, so they use five bases. Some tribes also use toes. , so the decimal system is used.

As a modern person who is used to the decimal system, Zhang Tian naturally wants to teach the decimal system.

"This number is called ten, and it is a special number."

Xiao tilted his head, not quite understanding.

Zhang Tian tried to explain in an easy-to-understand way: "When counting to ten, all fingers are bent, and both hands are clenched into fists. In terms of age, ten years old is the moment when we become adults, so ten represents perfection. "

Xiao Xiao looked at his two hands clenched into fists, and nodded if he realized something.

Zhang Tian went on to say: "When we reach the age of ten, we will usher in a new beginning. Just like our growth, we will also usher in a new beginning when we reach ten, and we will start counting again after that."

"Recount?"

Zhang Tian snapped off one of Xiao's fingers and said with a smile, "This number is called eleven."

Xiao's whole body shook, as if a thunder beast roared past, the bright electric light pierced the dark night sky, and dispersed the dense fog covering the earth!

Xiao stretched out two fingers and said hesitantly, "Is this number twelve?"

Jiantian nodded, and immediately stretched out three fingers, saying to himself, "This number is called thirteen!"

The fingers continued to stretch out, and the speed of speech became faster: "Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen..."

Suddenly, suddenly, suddenly!
He counted excitedly and couldn't stop!

(End of this chapter)