I just don't get it. (note; I am at best marginally computer literate, so use "Javascript for Dummies" language) What is the Javascript error? As to your point, I think you have answered my question well, although the issue of plagues (not nec. bubonic) in South America is answered somewhat differently in Guns Germs and Steel.

Certainly, to the extent that this sort of thing might be used as a crutch to defend poor performance, I agree with you. My point was only that there are deep assumptions in our numbering systems that get embedded in our higher math, and it is worth studying what those are, so that we see potential holes in our logic. To this end, other number systems (using different bases, for example) can be and are studied. Incidentally, this doesn't have to be cultural, you can force yourself to work in hex, for example. But there are clear cultural pressures for and against that sort of behavior. To ogusiron, I think that calculus, for example, is based on the notion of a continuous function v. a discrete function. This has nothing to do with numbering. All of this extends naturally, I think, from the idea of symbolic thinking. If your culture allows you to use the idea of, say, writing the number 3 on a ledger to indicate how many apples you have, then you could write "apples" at the top of the column, and then have different numbers in each row for the number of apples you had. You could then have a bunch of columns, each for different things, say apples and oranges. The total fruit would be "a+o" on a given day. That's algebra. Then you have a discrete function f(d) such that on day d you have f(d) fruit. I don't think any of this depends on the way you count fruit. In other words, I think the numbering system does not INTRINSICALLY matter, although certainly a good base goes a long way towards simplifying the math.