The problem of infinity

From Toki Pona

Toki Pona only uses simple numbers like one, two and many. This number system is fairly common among many world languages (see below).

Why not go higher?

The simple reality is that having words for every possible number is already a losing battle. By their very nature, numbers are infinite. Name any number; a higher one exists. The higher and more precise you want to go, the more abstract and disconnected from the present moment it becomes. Every human language has a breaking point where it must resort to scientific notation, which in the West, originated with Descartes in 1637.

As humans, our conscious and practical understanding of reality also has its limits. For example, would you imagine and relate to 407 books any differently than to 408 books? Developing advanced number systems is a step towards the goal of wrapping your head around infinity.

With its simple number system, Toki Pona simply chooses to quit while it's ahead. Instead of trying to tame and control every minor aspect of infinity, Toki Pona embraces the natural flow of the universe and looks at the deeper patterns of reality.

Example

A friend of mine asked a speaker if he could say, in his language, how many spears he had. None of the Australian aboriginal languages has any words for numbers other than 1 and 2, so all he could do was list them. He said, "Well, I have a ceremonial spear, a long throwing spear, a shorter throwing spear, a jabbing spear and a broad blade spear." "That makes five," my friend said. "If you say so," he agreed. "If I took one away," my friend asked, "how many would you have left?" "Well," he replied, "it depends on which one you took away, doesn't it?"

— Peter Ladefoged, English-American linguist