Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society » The Culture Without Time

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April 4th, 2006

The Culture Without Time

The Piraha people of the Amazon apparently have no concept of numbers, no concept of colors, no concept of time beyond the present. They have no creation myths, produce no art, and don’t have any collective memory going back more than two generations. They reportedly rarely sleep for more than two hours a night, and they frequently starve themselves and their children even when food is readily available. From the Globe and Mail:

“The question is, is there any case where not having words for something doesn’t allow you to think about it?” Prof. Gordon asked about the Piraha and the Whorfian thesis. “I think this is a case for just that.”

Prof. Everett argues that what the Piraha case demonstrates is a fundamental cultural principle working itself out in language and behaviour.

The principle is that the Piraha see themselves as intrinsically different from, and better than, the people around them; everything they do is to prevent them from being like anyone else or being absorbed into the wider world. One of the ways they do this is by not abstracting anything: numbers, colours, or future events.

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