Is it possible to learn and simultaneously articulate the metaphysical basis of that learning? In my contribution to the forum I tell of how I came to recognise that bilingual Yoruba children could articulate the contrasting metaphysical framings of Yoruba and English numbering. The story introduces an arena I call "ontics" that recognises the contingencies of metaphysical commitments in the present. My claim is that learning to recognise and strategically articulate ontics as enacted metaphysical commitments in the present is useful in cross-cultural and transdisciplinary learning and crucial in inquiring into learning.