When our minds are still sponges, at that tender age where our duty is to observe and act cute on command, we learn from our teacher ,the giant yellow bird with an imagination problem, how to count. First the basic 1-10, and then deviations of the arabic symbols we call numbers onward. From there, I believe, a world of problems start.
It is from this moment we learn how many more fruit snacks Timmy has than you. It is this age that we learn Mommy spends ‘x’ ammount of time fixing her hair, but only ‘y’ ammount of time playing Jenga with you. We now can record when we are to expect, when we are to be disappointed, how much longer we have to suffer, how much longer we have left together, etc. etc.
Would life be more meaningful without the stress of math? Think of how many of the world’s problems involve these numbers: money to some degree would be meaningless, age something that’s relative, and time comletely subjective. We would never be stressed to lose that 5 pounds, pay back that 36 dollars that we owe or race to an interview 15 minutes early to find that we are actually 20 minutes late.
Would humans be able to let go of this control? Because that’s what the number system ultimately is…a way to control the world around you through science and probability. Would humans be able to get there when they feel like it, wake when they are ready, pay what they feel is right, not worry about what the scale says but rather how they feel…or would the world be too up in the air?
Would the world be ok living on the basis of just trying; not having to make that certain percent, or would we find another way to torture ourselves?
The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.
~Eric Hoffer, Reflections On The Human Condition
I dont know if we would be able to completely let go. The problem I see with the idea of letting go of the number system is how are we going to talk about time. For example, "I'm going to be out for a long time". A long time can mean different things to different people. To a 5 year old kid a long time being away from his/her mother can be as little as a few minutes, on the other hand, for family who don't see each other often, a month can be a very short amount of time to wait. Reading your entry did make me think that we definitely do keep too strict a grip on numbers and that we should try live more relatively (if that makes any sense), I think that it is impossible for people to completely give up the solid ground that is scale and completely delve into relativity. Except Einstein, if anyone could do it, he could :)
ReplyDeleteAny thoughts?
Thank you for the entry, very thought provoking!
yeah dude for sure im burning some calendars right now dawg
ReplyDeleteBy giving up numbers, we give up everything. have fun being a caveman
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