Universal Geometry

Many have contended that humans, and perhaps other species, have an innate sense for numbers. [PDF] Our conceptualization of numbers may be independent of the language [PDF] we use to express them -- although higher number concepts may have developed alongside the development of language. Now in a paper recently published in the journal Science, researchers working with a remote Amazonian tribe, the Mundurukú, have reached the conclusion that geometry may also be innate in humans. The Mundurukú do not have the language to describe geometry, yet in tests, they've proven their ability to understand and use geometric concepts -- and fair no better than participants in similar tests in the US.