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submitted 11 months ago by otter@lemmy.ca to c/comicstrips@lemmy.world

Source: https://xkcd.com/2839/

Explain XKCD: https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2839

Title text: My first words were 'These were my first words; what were yours?'

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[-] MeDuViNoX@sh.itjust.works 58 points 11 months ago

Who learns twelve before one through eleven?

[-] notst@lemmy.world 48 points 11 months ago

That's my favorite part of this joke.

[-] joemo@lemmy.sdf.org 13 points 11 months ago

The first few updates must have been riveting ๐Ÿ˜‚.

[-] Johanno@feddit.de 10 points 11 months ago

Is twelve a number or a word?

[-] Grippler@feddit.dk 28 points 11 months ago

There is only a distinction when written, when spoken everything is words.

[-] dustyData@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

We have solid reason to believe numbers are a pretty distinct symbolic category. We don't use the same part of the brain we use for speech to process numbers. We use a different distinct part of the brain that is not used for speech and is more related with visual processing. Both, speech and number areas, are activated when we read spelled out numbers, and even homophones pointing to the theory that numerals develop into their own thing inside our brains.

[-] morphballganon@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

But being able to express those symbols in a sentence requires words

[-] dustyData@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago

It's more like, they can exist in our head without being words. So they are a distinct thing.

[-] morphballganon@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago

That's fine. So the kid has a concept of 1-11 but doesn't know the words for them.

[-] Hupf@feddit.de 2 points 11 months ago

It's in a superposition of states until observed.

this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2023
783 points (98.5% liked)

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