this post was submitted on 21 Nov 2025
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I dont understand this. When I was in Palestine, they definitely used different numerals.
Like, I guess they invented base 10? Or math? But the characters they use for numbers are absolutely different
so the numerals we used actually originate from India, first they got adopted by Arabic mathematicians who then brought them to Europe where people started mistakenly calling them "Arabic numerals"
Ok, well, this article is trying to call people dumb for not understanding a concept that is incredibly confusing to everyone
What they invented was positional numbers, like one digit for hundreds, one for tens, one for units. Of course you need a notation for zero for this to work, so it's not as obvious as it seems (see roman numbers for another well known system).
They use Eastern Arabic numerals, while most of the world uses Western Arabic numerals.
Ok, well, this article is trying to call people dumb for not understanding a concept that is incredibly confusing to everyone
It's not that confusing for anybody that paid the least bit of attention in school. I didn't know all the nuances of it, but I was well aware that English (as well as most other Western languages) uses the Latin alphabet and Arabic numerals since like 8th grade.
Seriously, the whole bit is just showing how ignorant these people are and how easy it is to frighten them. Like the "ban dihydrogen monoxide" petitions, but for racist chucklefucks.
But you dont use the same numerals that Arabic people use
I honestly have no idea what numerals Arabic people use. But as I said, I've known that the numerals we use are called Arabic numerals since at least 8th grade.
Lies your teacher told you, for the purposes of oversimplification
Not a lie. An oversimplification, perhaps, but that is entirely besides the point.
Eh, you don't need to know the entire history and reasoning behind numbers, just that the numbers we use are called Arabic numerals, which most people don't. The history is confusing, the fact that they are called Arabic numerals is not. It's just what they are.
There's two types. And we don't use the type in our schools that Arabic people use in their schools
I don't think the article is calling people dumb. It only states objective facts, and I think it was pretty good at NOT suggesting people are dumb. Ignorant perhaps, but it does stick to the facts (and some fluff to pad the page.)