Roman numerals banished from museum to aid comprehension

Arabic numerals will be used instead of Roman in the Carnavalet Museum in Paris to make it easier for visitors to understand. Some say this is a perfect illustratation of the "cultural catastrophe" that is currently taking place all across the world.

CULTURE WORLD MARCH 21. 2021 14:33

„This grotesque move is the perfect summary of the ongoing cultural catastrophe. First, we don t teach people things, and then we do away with those things so that people who don t know about them don t feel uncomfortable,” Massimo Gramellini, a columnist for the Italian daily Corriere della Sera newspaper has said.

Italian classical philologist Luciano Canfora, quoted by the paper, also condemns this „stupidity,” which he considers to be part of a „more sweeping blow” to culture „in the spirit of political correctness.”

„Why not just pass a law that imposes mandatory illiteracy in order to return to exclusively oral communication,” he adds, ironically.                                      

Regarding the decision, Carnavalet Museum Director Noemie Giard said „we are not against Roman numerals, but they could be an obstacle to understanding works and exhibitions.”

CULTURE WORLD

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museum, roman numerals