The Indians invented Zero

In this week’s reading Potts and Murphy talk about the current generalization of the term “technology” in that it seems to be a broad system we “inhabit” or a system of “individual machines or devices”. However, they also speak of the commonality of all “technologies” being their artificiality- that is, that it is not a natural object but a construction by humans.

 

Following on from this and in keeping with the theme of the intersection of Technology and Culture, I’d like to share a short video of a documentary I watched a few months ago on the ancient Indus civilization of India inventing the number “0”, a piece of knowledge- technology that set them apart from their Arabic counter parts.  I think it’s good fit because the basic numerical framework we use for EVERYTHING is not something we consider as a technology. Yet, at some stage, it was constructed, invented. There was a time where numbers didn’t exist.

Watch The Story of Numbers