The Numbers Racket

Numbers are everywhere in our lives and it seems we cannot escape them. They enable us to place a value on something, they enable us to quantify things, they enable us to categorise things, they enable a judgement of capacity and relativity, they enable us to measure – they enable – they enable.

Numbers are labels, representations, that go way back into the history of mankind – and they also go way back into our own personal history. We learn numbers very early in our lives, probably – because of fingers and toes – well before letters and words. We are armed with our own bodily means of numerical expression, and we soon gain a level of understanding about the cumulative sequencing of digits known as counting. 

Nowadays we live in “the digital age.” The presence in – and indeed the hold over – our lives by numbers is even more apparent than when I was a child.

In a world of materialism and consumption, the presence and importance of numbers is more than just as a quantifier – it becomes an identifier. In fact in a lot of cases it is the numbers in our lives that DEFINE us.

We are seduced by any form of numerical supremacy, in all areas of our lives. Whether it is to do with the BIG things in our lives right down to the minutiae, almost the infinite details, both magnitude and “minitude” are very attractive to us.

We have even coined a phrase for accepting the seductive presence of nothing, which we call Zero Tolerance. Of course, whether that is just zero zero or absolute zero – who knows or indeed who cares! “I will only accept Zero – there’s nothing more to be said.”

Now, although I’ve only scratched a fraction of the surface of this whole domain of numbers so far yet – I’d like to consider a very common and popular judged, quantified, valued, and numerical derivative that has a usage that never seems too over-exposed. 

Bucket Lists

Whether it is dealing with shades of grey or things to do before death – the daily infestation of bucket lists goes unabated.

Perhaps because there was a quantifier present, I found my attention being caught earlier by an article entitled “22 things that confident women don’t do.”

Now 22 is not what I would describe as a seductive number, so maybe instead I was drawn towards “confident women!” I usually am, but then again - who knows?

Anyway I duly clicked out of curiosity – or was it maybe to run the 22 things mentioned past my perception of the very amazing and confident women I know, just to see if the list matches them, or they match the list, or if I am way off beam with my perceptions!

I stepped into a whole new digital world! The website where the article was posted was like a buzzing beehive of Bucket Lists. Here is a sample of some of the “read this too” banners that hit my eye:
“30 Goals you should set yourself before you turn 30.”
“15 Things you may not know about single Moms.”
“13 Things only women who don’t put on makeup all the time understand.”
“5 Foods you must not eat.”
“3 Alarming facts you need to know before reusing water bottles.”
“10 Toxic persons you should just get rid of.”
“20 Quinoa recipes to keep you healthy every day.”
And so on ...

As you see the linguistic structures above, can you notice a pattern or patterns emerging?

Well they all start with the declaration of the number.
Then there’s some modal operators of necessity like should, need, don’t need and must.
YOU, too, are mentioned in most of them – which is important in grabbing your lapels of attention. Even in the list of things ONLY women who don’t put on makeup all the time understand, there’s a massive pivotal presupposition there depending upon whether YOU are one of THOSE women who UNDERSTAND. On another level this one also caught my eye – because I like women who UNDERSTAND.

Seductive? – You bet!

What might also be seducing you to go and read one particular list and be turning you off reading another?

Numerical Tolerance

We all have a tolerance level when it comes to numbers and numerical evaluation. Plus we also each have a threshold of magnitude acceptance at both ends of the scale. We understand much more if the tiny and enormous measurements are expressed in terms of something else.

So what happens in terms of bucket lists and that tolerance? Well - unless we’ve got loads of time on our hands, as a general rule small is both beautiful and useful when it comes to bucket lists. 

We’re more likely to read the 3, 5, and possibly 10 numbered ones than wading through the 30 Goals one - even if we are approaching the age of 30 from the right direction.

The same applies to 20 Quinoa recipes. Twenty? Why would anyone need 20? 

20 is attention, information, and choice, overwhelm. There is a law of diminishing returns once the numbers get beyond our Above Zero Tolerance - and, although Quinoa may be good, does it warrant a list of 20 recipes?

We’ll probably remember all 3 of the Alarming facts about reusing water bottles. We might deselect one or two of the 5 Foods we must not eat. But after that our brain glazes over like the Quinoa from recipe number 17.

OK, there are always exceptions!
I did read the one containing the number 22 –
but then I did say I’m drawn to Confident Women –
plus did I mention that I have plenty of time on my hands!