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BY DAVID HARDING In our materialistic world with its obsession with the accumulation of wealth and possessions, it is a concept that is unthinkable. But an ability to count is altogether less crucial when you live a hand-to-mouth existence in one of the world's most remote areas. This has been shown by an anthropological study of the Piraha Indians, who number no more than 200 and live in Brazil's Amazon rainforest. The tribe has no concept of precise amounts and terms such as 'more', 'all' and 'each' do not exist. Although they have words for one and two; the former tends to refer to a small quantity while two equates to many. So there are no words for three, four or any higher number. This has a major impact on the way they perceive the world, Science journal reports. When asked to perform simple matching tasks, volunteers responded accuracy with two or three items but struggled with eight to ten. A researcher would, for instance, set out an row of batteries on one side of a stick. The Piraha would be expected to lay out the same number on the other. As the objects increased,the task became more difficult and finally impossible. The tribe members also had difficulty differentiating between images of four and five fish. Biobehavioural scientist Dr Peter Gordon, who led the research by Columbia University in New York, said: 'The results of these studies show that the Piraha's impoverished counting system truly limits their ability to enumerate exact quantities.' The Piraha's skill levels were similar to those of pre-linguistic infants, monkeys and rodents. Not only do they not count but they also cannot draw. The findings lend support to a controversial 1930s theory linking language and perception. Amateur linguist Benjamin Lee Whorf basically suggested that if you cannot say an idea you cannot think it. [Metro Aug 20 2004]

Fear adds up to maths 'dyslexia'

"Maths anxiety" could be the reason some people struggle with sums,according to psychologists.The mental block interferes with the brain's memeory,making even simple arithmetic impossible.Researcher Dr Sheila Ford,from Staffordshire University,said : "Maths is precise- either right or wrong.The fear of getting an answer wrong may trigger maths anxiety in children." [Metro Apr4,2004] Blatant displays of ignorance/innumeracy In TV's "University Challenge" - teams including political comentator Andrew Neil,radio personality Ned Sherrin,and TV Gardener Monty Don were unable to answer the question "What is the number of teeth in an average human minus the number of sides of an icosahedron" - and did not know what an SI basic unit was.