BI 137 Brian Butterworth: Can Fish Count?
Check out my free video series about whats missing in AI and Neuroscience Support the show to get full episodes, full archive, and join the Discord community. Brian Butterworth is Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Neuropsychology at Unive
Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (braininspired.co) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.
Show Notes
Check out my free video series about what's missing in AI and Neuroscience
Support the show to get full episodes, full archive, and join the Discord community.
Brian Butterworth is Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Neuropsychology at University College London. In his book, Can Fish Count?: What Animals Reveal About Our Uniquely Mathematical Minds, he describes the counting and numerical abilities across many different species, suggesting our ability to count is evolutionarily very old (since many diverse species can count). We discuss many of the examples in his book, the mathematical disability dyscalculia and its relation to dyslexia, how to test counting abilities in various species, how counting may happen in brains, the promise of creating artificial networks that can do math, and many more topics.
- Brian's website: The Mathematical Brain
- Twitter: @b_butterworth
- The book:
0:00 - Intro 3:19 - Why Counting? 5:31 - Dyscalculia 12:06 - Dyslexia 19:12 - Counting 26:37 - Origins of counting vs. language 34:48 - Counting vs. higher math 46:46 - Counting some things and not others 53:33 - How to test counting 1:03:30 - How does the brain count? 1:13:10 - Are numbers real?