Perhaps the best way to understand is to make an analogy about early childhood learning. If we tell toddlers about numbers, they have no idea how to perform complex human tasks (for example, mathematical analysis). Instead, the numbers are words that are learned perhaps by memorizing the song that uses them (“One, Two, Buckle My Shoe”).
The song is a kind of substitute, which allows the infant to refer to numbers without actually using them. Over time, this morphs into the ability to point to one object at a time, then point to two objects, then count five fingers on a hand, and so on.
Finally, when the child is four or five years old, he understands the concept of the system behind the numbers and can integrate their use in more complex tasks.
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