Arithmetic has a biological origin – it's an expression in symbols of the 'deep structure' of our perception
- Written by: Randolph Grace, Professor of Psychology, University of Canterbury
Everyone knows that arithmetic is true: 2 + 2 = 4.
But surprisingly, we don’t know why it’s true.
By stepping outside the box of our usual way of thinking about numbers, my colleagues and I have recently shown that arithmetic has biological roots and is a natural consequence of how perception of the world around us is organised.
Our...