http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/The-yin-and-yang-of-numbers-across-cultures-tp523046p523052.html
> Re Pamela's reply: Me, too! Re Robert's: When I was growing up, we
> learned " Roy G. Biv", a name silly enough that you weren't likely to
> forget it and that definitely included indigo.
>
> Dede
>
> On Nov 30, 2006, at 7:17 PM, J T Johnson wrote:
>
> > My apologies, and I seem to be pushing the evelope of original intent
> > for the FRIAM list, but I find this sort of "anthropology of numbers"
> > topic an interesting problem that converges on interesting questions
> > in how we design, say, databases or UIs that are applicable anywhere,
> > anytime.
> >
> > So for what it's worth....
> >
> > -tj
> >
> > ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> > From: STRATE at fordham.edu < STRATE at fordham.edu>
> > Date: Nov 30, 2006 5:55 PM
> > Subject: [MEA] Fwd:The yin and yang of numbers across cultures
> > To: MEA at lists.ibiblio.org
> >
> > >From the Chronicle of Higher Ed's Magazine and Journal Reader.
> > Thursday, November 30, 2006
> >
> > A glance at the current issue of the Bulletin of Science, Technology &
> > Society: The yin and yang of numbers across cultures
> >
> >
> > In Japanese culture, a rainbow is considered to consist of seven
> > colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and purple. A
> > rainbow has
> > one less color in the West, as Americans and Europeans tend not to
> > count
> > indigo. However, because a rainbow is actually a continuous spectrum,
> > both
> > perceptions are wrong, notes Yutaka Nishiyama, a professor at Osaka
> > University of Economics, in Japan. He says those distinct viewpoints
> > reflect a Japanese preference for odd numbers and Western favoritism
> > toward
> > even numbers.
> > Mr. Nishiyama provides numerous other examples to suggest an East-West
> > difference in the preference for odd or even numbers. According to a
> > Japanese proverb, for example, three heads are better than two,
> > "whereas in
> > English, two are better than one." In a study of number-related words
> > in
> > English and Japanese, he found additional evidence. "It appears," he
> > writes, "that the Japanese language has a cultural setting that favors
> > the
> > odd numbers 3 and 5, whereas English has a cultural setting that
> > favors the
> > even numbers 2, 4, and 6."
> >
> > The author looks at historical clues in attempting to explain why
> > different
> > cultures may have a preference for one form of numbers over the other.
> > The
> > ancient Greeks, he says, regarded odd numbers as good. So did the
> > ancient
> > Chinese. The latter utilized yin-yang thought, which is based on the
> > idea
> > of alternating opposites. For instance, yang is generally considered
> > to be
> > masculine, and yin to be feminine. He emphasizes, however, that the
> > concept
> > is meant to be interpreted as a system of opposites and of "infinite
> > change," not as "a case of one being superior or inferior to the
> > other." So
> > a man is yang in relation to a woman, but yin in relation to his
> > parents.
> > Only in modern times, he says, has yang come to be understood as "good
> > and
> > superior" in relation to yin.
> >
> > He concludes that the ancient preference for odd numbers probably
> > faded in
> > the West with the arrival of modern mathematics, "as represented by
> > Newton." As he explains it, modern mathematics values rationality, and
> > "seems to have abandoned the ideas of ancient Chinese yin-yang thought
> > and
> > ancient Greek philosophy, in which odd numbers were male and even
> > numbers
> > female. When counting numbers, odd numbers were incomplete, in-between
> > numbers, whereas even numbers were certainly more rational." Thus, "in
> > contrast to the East, where odd numbers are positive and good, in the
> > West,
> > odd numbers are incomplete and superfluous."
> >
> > The article, "A Study of Odd- and Even-Number Cultures," is
> > temporarily
> > available free through Sage Publications.
> >
> >
http://bst.sagepub.com/cgi /content/abstract/26/6/479
> >
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