The antrophology debate around the studies of the Piraha: an Amazon culture

In the amazon, lives a small group of people who build a culture called  Pirahã, that has been in the middle of one of the most problematic scientific discussion.

Daniel Everett (Professor of Phonetics and Phonology at the University of Manchester) published his study in the Current Anthropology (2005) magazine, which deals with the strange cultural conformation and the most fundamental cognitive categories of this tribu, based on a extensive field work. 

In this investigation, Everett argues strongly the theory of universal grammar, postulated by Noam Chomsky (the most respeted linguist in the present). He also made a strongly review to other widely accepted and respected postulates in the cognitive sciences, arguing that there were certain limitations in the cultural matrix of the Piranha (such as, for example, inability to account in their culture). This further deepened the discussion, since it had passed ethical parameters.

He discussion it's basically the debate about Sapir and Whorf's  linguistic relativism against the universalism of Chomskian court. 

It could be said that Everett's findings on the Pirahã have been very discussed, although almost always from a theoretical point of view. The author was clear about the risk involved. Since he knew that the data he was publishing were extremely controversial. One example of this is the thigs that are explained in this chart or graph.

This show that the Piraha language is the most simple and strange language ever heard, among the nearly 6,000 that are spoken today in the world. Without numbers, without pronouns, without colors, without tenses, without subordinate clauses and with only eight consonants - seven in the case of women - and three vowels: as the table shows.

Nevertheless, in spite of the thesis exposed, this, does not have much importance, because although all the cultural differences, the Pirahã not are neither more or less brilliant than anyone, and aren't more or less capable of learning some task or idea than another person. In conclusion, the language will impose limitations that will be more or less easy to draw, but not impossible.