Re: Can Heortling farmers count?

From: Santo Sengupta <aumshantih_at_15jATcKu8RgU8mCm2ZuC2n_4B2INSCKMEjB8gj8A6MXhr9wreidXMZCtwvlSKUSJu>
Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2013 11:28:01 -0500

Namaste:
YGWV, but in general, I don't see Orlanthi commoners being particularly good with math. If it comes down to something serious, they are likely to find a member of their Clan who follows Issaries or Lhankhor Mhy to do the calculating for them. It's also likely with the way gender roles are divided amongst them, the Ernaldans who are more in charge of property will have better skills at things like this.

And as other have suggested, there is plenty of "Common/Folk" magic that exists that can be useful in situations like these.

-Santo
aum shanti shanti shantih.
"The world is like the impression left by the telling of a story." - from the Yoga Vāsiṣṭha

On Thu, Jan 10, 2013 at 10:55 AM, Nick Eden <nick_at_A_zPvrTZNkP9ptqdtxCzAKA1HPI1rVj6zi8ISNs_mzt_CzWuHV9iMk0tZQoKP8UNTFpOKnSqfccTUhSVr0s.yahoo.invalid>wrote:

> **
>
>
> Alternative example would be real world professional darts players,
> many of whom left school terrifyingly early, have no qualifications
> and are functionally innumerate. Save that they just know how to check
> out from 115 with three darts. They don't do maths, they just know.
>
>
> On 9 January 2013 22:50, Chris Lemens chrislemens_at_Xus1p_47xQJlte8aMy6ph087dSURTNULJFRE1aOS1FmWd4a0U4MsGm1oMJziLYzlsZacN47ixofBuVY.yahoo.invalid> wrote:
> > Bryan says:
> >
> >> I think that it is usually safe to assume that in any
> >> reasonably longstanding 'profession' people will have
> >> come up with ways to do what they need to do.
> >>
> >> Can a Heortling farmer figure out what 63 x 17 is? ...
> >> If it ever did really become important he could probably
> >> fall back to some counting method using markers which
> >> would eventually get him an snswer like "It is seven
> >> gross, five dozen, and three.
> >
> > I think Bryan is spot on in differentiating between counting and math.
> They are somewhat different in practice.
> >
> > Here's a real-world example of a similar, but nearly lost art: how
> shopkeepers count back change when they don't have a cash register. Anyone
> remember this? It works like this:
> >
> > Shopkeeper: "That's $21.47."
> > Customer: hands over two twenties.
> > Shopkeeper: "Thank you. $21.47"
> > Counts out 3 pennies: "$2.48 ... 49 ... 50 ..."
> > Counts out two quarters: "75 ... 22 dollars ..."
> > Counts out three ones: "23 .. 24 .. 25 ..."
> > Counts out a five: "30 ..."
> > Counts out a ten "and 40."
> > Hands the change to the customer: "Thank you and come again."
> >
> > It seems like working teenagers have never seen this. Instead, they rely
> on higher math (substraction as opposed to counting), though they have the
> register do it for them. So sad.
> >
> > Bryan's farmer is going to do the same thing. He won;t have separated
> his sheep into 63 groups of 17. Instead, he'll have a big herd and count
> them out in whatever his units are: tens and hundred, dozens and gross, or
> whatever. Where there is trade, traders will use these units because that
> is what their customers use. Confusing the customer with fancy outlandish
> numerology is likely to cause trouble.
> >
> > Chris
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>

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