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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   2054 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 18, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

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The Incas had no written language and were quite good at organizing impressive construction projects.

They had record-keeping using a system of knots/cords though. And some sort of nerd caste who made and read those knots. So there was external scaffolding for their cognition to aid with organizing the civilization, even without any actual writing.

And some sort of nerd caste who made and read those knots.

Did the symbol of this particular caste happen to be 4 right angles radiating out from a central point 90 degrees offset from each other, perchance?

(If so, we have discovered something fundamental about the nature of knot-sees.)

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