Member-only story
Naming Numbers
105. 13 October 2021
Isn’t it amazing that we have names
For amounts of things?
Any kind of things — skyscrapers
Rabbits, people, Lego bricks,
Briefly united by there being just one
Or three or a hundred of them.
The amount is always the same
And matches the name:
One or three or a hundred.
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Isn’t it amazing that we can have symbols
As well as names
For the never-changing amounts?
Anyone can look at the Arabic symbol
And know how many
Of whatever it is there are.
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Isn’t it incredible that we can think of amounts
That aren’t there?
The easiest one is zero.
We hold them easily in our heads
(once we’ve got the hang of it).
Playing the Smartie game with my kids -
If I have seven Smarties and you eat two,
The two Smarties are in your tum,
Scrunched up, turned to chyme,
But the two you subtracted
Are still there,
Hanging in the air,
Spinning.
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