Munduruku tribe of the Amazon understands geometry

The Munduruku people, an isolated tribe in the Amazon rainforest have an intuitive grasp of basic geometry which shows that it is part of humans innate toolkit. When tested tribe members achieved scores similar to those achieved by school children in the United states.

The findings offer strong evidence that the human mind has evolved a fundamental ability to understand geometrical forms and principles.

“The spontaneous understanding of geometrical concepts and maps by this remote human community provides evidence that core geometrical knowledge is a universal constituent of the human mind,” said Elizabeth Spelke, Professor of Psychology at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a lead author of the study.

The experiments confirm the conclusions reached by the Greek philosopher Socrates, who is described by Plato as testing an uneducated slave to determine if he understood geometry. The slave’s answers so impressed Socrates that he concluded that “his soul must have always possessed this knowledge”, Plato wrote in the Meno, in the 4th century BC.

If geometry is not learnt simply from culture, but rather rests on the architecture of the brain, geometrical skills can be improved by formal education in the subject. Though the abilities of American children were comparable with those of Munduruku of all ages, the Amazonians were easily outshone on the tests by American adults.

The Munduruku live along the Cururu river that is found deep in the rainforest.

For more information visit:http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-2001139,00.html

Tags: amazon forest , rainforest , Munduruku , amazon river , geometry