ABSTRACT
The number of neurons may represent a better indicator of basic processing power. Counting neurons also raises doubts about whether the size of cortex to cerebellum indicates a bias towards higher-order reasoning. Across orders of mammals, it seems that, even when the cortex dominates brain volume, the ratio of neurons in the cortex to those in the cerebellum remains roughly the same. Genes are stable and sexual reproduction ensures mostly faithful transmission across generations. On the other hand, cultural transmission of an ability is potentially much more fragile. That means it was easy for communities and groups within our species to occasionally lose the cultural tools of calculation and writing, particularly when they were first emerging. The steps that extend the animal senses into a formal concept of number are challenging for learners. Fortunately, in communities that use number, children have parents, peers and teachers who, consciously or otherwise, can support their learning of counting.
