WHY JAPANESE PEOPLE?!

https://youtu.be/zpxJ1WAotnY

It’s the same as in Chinese, so I wouldn’t expect it to be 😅

In Spanish it's 1,2,3 and 0.

Wait. I’ve played a lot of Fatal Frame, and they only signify the Zero Lens by its kanji, and it’s not that square shape. So now I’m confused…

Maybe its ghost folklore origins put it more on the Chinese side?

No

= is 2

based

Mathematics for much of human history was discrete - it had to be connected to something tangible which you can see, touch or feel. Negative numbers first arose in China, subsequently the use numerical operations on negative numbers and the conceptualization and use of zero arose in India. Spiritual concepts within dharmic philosophies such as Buddhism helped lead to these ideas.

Zero is also a relatively new invention

In the history of mathematics, -1 was understood waaaay before 0.

For the Greeks, doing 1-1 would be invalid, something close to dividing by zero for us.

I saw a video years ago where somebody was talking (with a translator) to a tribe, I forget where. He asked how do they count. They would point with one hand to the other hand. Once they've got to five they start pointing to other parts of the arm moving upwards. He then asked what if you need to count higher. They looked confused, why would they need to count higher.

For them they could exist without needing to count beyond teens.

How about -2?

Interesting pop science read though I would contend that the Babylonians did not invent zero, they used it as a placeholder in their base 60 number system. They did not use it in numerical operations or ended numbers with it.

I would argue the Hindus/Buddhists or India at a time contributed a lot more than "worshipping" it, whatever that means in this context. The currently ubiquitous decimal place value system, which was developed there, was based on the foundation of zero being a unique entity upon which numerical operations could be performed - much more than a placeholder.

Broadly, Western thought in the age of antiquity saw the idea of zero as representative of void or nothingness which was not seen in a positive light philosophically so it was to be avoided. Eastern thought came to see zero as potential ie. an empty canvas, or detachment that could lead to liberation. This more positive framing, which was rooted in Eastern spirituality, opened the door to further exploration and development of the concept.

When we think about the transmission of the number system we use today (including zero) from east to west we can draw a fairly straight line from Aryabhata, Brahmagupta, Al-Khwarizmi, Piero della Francesca, to Leonardo Da Vinci and onward.