There’s Magic in Numbers, Sometimes…
Art by Tomas Mayer
Though I was never one to LOVE MATH, numbers mean things to me–like birthdays. The numbers that proclaim the dates when my children were born or when I met my husband are like magic to me. In a group of numbers–those always stand out. And because that is a common trait for many people, it’s what we choose when picking numbers in a lottery or a roulette game. The number holds MAGIC for us. I’ve heard stories how a certain number became a winner. One in particular relates using a beloved athlete’s team number. That choice caused a huge win. When that happens, wouldn’t you try it again?
Numbers can elicit memories.
the numbers on the house you lived in as a child
your birth order in a large family– “I’m number two.” “You think that’s a big deal, I’m number nine.”
the year you graduated from college, married, had a child, got a great job
it’s also true that the number of a given year can be painful: someone you loved died, or you lost your job or got divorced or were diagnosed with some disease.
Numbers can be about smaller landmarks, things we check off on the journey of our lives.
runs or points scored in some amazing athletic event
amount of dollars won in a school writing contest
your GPA
scores on the SAT (I confess I have no memory of those numbers. I think I remember my ACT)
number of boyfriends or girlfriends one dated. There could be more numbers in this particular category, but that’s all I’ll say!
salaries! That’s a big one. Remembering can make you laugh. In my first teaching job I made $7,350. I will never forget that number.
BUT NOW MORE THAN EVER, IT’S TEST RESULTS
Yes, as we grow and change throughout our lives, numbers that apply to our physical well being become a big deal: your weight; in some cases, your height; your eyesight–is it 20/20? For me, never a day in my life! Then later on, and this is just part of life, it’s blood pressure, weight again, and all the numbers that appear on test results after a blood draw. There is information about measurements in your body that most of us never even considered in our youth. Now those numbers mean something, require attention either through exercise, medication, diet or the reduction of stress. Now a visit to a physician feels like MAGIC when your numbers are in the healthy range.
RESEARCH CONCERNING OUR FAVORITE NUMBERS
Can you guess which number from 1-100 is our favorite number, per careful research? It’s the number 7! Alex Bellos reports in The Guardian, that an online survey he launched revealed that almost 4,000 people pronounced the number 7 their favorite:
It cheers me up and gives me a feeling of comfort,” said a female participant, aged 48, from Norway.
“It has great symbolic value as an expression of Muslim belief and the miracles of God,” wrote a 25-year-old man in Lebanon.
“It is the best. Like a nice and clever woman,” added a Hungarian man, aged 20.
A survey done by Dan King of the National University of Singapore and Chris Janiszewski of the University of Florida asked participants if they liked, disliked or felt neutral about numbers from 1 to 100. Data revealed even numbers and ones ending in 5 are much better liked than the other odd numbers. The study revealed that we do react emotionally to numbers. And that our responses are often similar. They also deducted that people respond positively to numerical properties, the size of the number and its divisibility by either 2 or 5.
Bellos writes: So interesting, that our favourite number is 7, an odd number, when even numbers are more liked and seen as calmer and better than odd numbers…but in my survey, favourite numbers are much more likely to be odd than even, with a ratio of 60/40. Counter-intuitively, our favourite numbers are generally not the ones we like best or rate as good. Like is very different from love. (I thought all of that a little confusing.)
ONE LAST THOUGHT: THAT IS NOT CONFUSING. Number love or like also applies to the health of our planet.
TODAY IS EARTH DAY.
How are the earth’s number doing?
Since the Industrial Revolution, temperatures over land and ocean have gone up 0.8° to 1° Celsius (1.4° to 1.8° Fahrenheit), on average in that span of time. A prediction from scientists from 2013 states that temperatures could rise at least 2°C (3.6°F) by the end of the century under many plausible scenarios — and possibly 4°C or more. SOMETHING to think about for yourself and your children and your children’s children.
NUMBERS DO MATTER, whether they have magic properties for each one of us or not.
Thanks to THE ART OF TOMAS MAYER http://www.tomasmayer.com/index.html
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