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ethnomathematics.mdwn (2031B)

      1 **Ethnomathematics** is the study of the relationships of mathematics and
      2 culture, with a specific focus on the mathematical thinking of indigenous or
      3 "non-literate" peoples. **Ethnocomputing** is an offshoot of
      4 ethnomathematics that does the same thing with computing. In practice, both
      5 ethnomathematics and ethnocomputing are most often connected with education,
      6 with the belief that using familiar concepts from one's own cultural
      7 background will lead to better learning results.
      8 
      9 Ethnocomputing and ethnomathematics are relevant to permacomputing
     10 particularly from the point of view of [[technological diversity]]. How we
     11 currently conceptualize computing is a result of specific historical and
     12 cultural conditions, and the cultural basis is actually getting narrower due
     13 to [[siliconization]]. Ethnomathematics and ethnocomputing can be used to
     14 reveal this narrowness as well as to help imagine a greater diversity of
     15 options. They may also help envision deeper [[historical|history]] roots to
     16 algorithmic, computational and mathematical thinking – they're much older
     17 and much more universal than commonly thought in the eurocentric
     18 techno-progressivist narrative.
     19 
     20 NOTE: While cultural appropriation is usually not a big concern in
     21 theoretical computer science topics, it is possible to use ethnocomputing in
     22 problematic ways that make it a concern. One should be careful and
     23 respectful when using and representing computational or mathematical
     24 concepts from different cultures.
     25 
     26 Some interesting examples:
     27 
     28 * Many traditional divination systems (I Ching, Geomancy, Ifá) use binary combinatorics, i.e. give meanings to 3-, 4-, 6- and 8-bit binary sequences.
     29 * The quipu/khipu recording system of Andean peoples, based on strings and knots, has been studied as an example of a complex indigenous data structure.
     30 * Fractal-like recursion and self-similarity are very prominent in African arts. This is a central theme in Ron Eglash's seminal ethnomathematics book "African Fractals: Modern Computing and Indigenous Design".