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?'
this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2023
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There is only a distinction when written, when spoken everything is words.
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.
But being able to express those symbols in a sentence requires words
It's more like, they can exist in our head without being words. So they are a distinct thing.
That's fine. So the kid has a concept of 1-11 but doesn't know the words for them.
It's in a superposition of states until observed.