The Beautiful World of Numbers (Also, Philosocom's Directory on Numbers)
Updated: Mar 24
(Articles on Numbers:
Unmasking the Hidden Language of the Universe
We usually picture numbers as cold, robotic things, locked within calculators, and dusty textbooks. But what if these rigid digits held a deeper secret, a hidden language beyond the physical realm? What if everything, from your name to your heartbeat, can be reduced numerical algorithims?
In the abstract composition of the universe, in the world beyond the mind, numbers dance as the fundamental language of reality. This realm, accessible only by the human mind (and perhaps other forms of consciousnesses), is what allows the display and development of various information on many degrees of expression (visual, logical and so on). In other words, numbers are what build-up reality.
Our typical education treats numbers as tools, instruments for measurement and calculation. We learn to add, subtract, multiply, and divide, mastering equations and formulas. But this instrumentalization, while practically valuable, masks and utterly ignore how numbers resonate the fact that they are an elementary component of reality around us.
Imagine each grain of sand, each leaf on a tree, each star in the sky -- all can be explained mathematically. Their composition, their movement, their location, their source and so on. Your birthdate, your name, even the time you were born -- if numerology is a correct method of exploration, they can be explained too with numbers.
This passion for numbers is not about chasing perfect grades or mastering algorithms. It's about recognizing the metaphysical logic of mathematics, the way it reflects the hidden order of the universe. It's about realizing that we are not merely physical beings, but physicality itself is, technically, a mathematical construct, as anything in the layers of existence can be reduced to mere interactions of numbers in one way or another.
Where Numbers Find Their Beat
Numbers stalk us through grocery receipts, haunt us on clocks, and flow in the pixels of our video games. But how do these omnipresent things actually come into existence?
The answer, I believe, lies in the indefinite struggle between the individual and the universe. Like snowflakes, all beings have some distinction in them. It's only a question of how dominant that distinction is. And in some cases, a lack of distinction, can be its own unique feature.
Each one emerges per a numerical process, and even emotions by their type and by their intensity, can be reduced to numbers and percentages. And with chaos theory, even emotions, response most uniquely to the ever-shifting tapestry of existence, thus proving how poorly consistent they are, in both development and in judgement. Why, then, act on petty emotion? You don't need not emotions and not willpower to do the moral thing, for you only need to understand the deep correlation of logic and morality. But I digress.
A child's first step, the crunch of autumn leaves underfoot, the dizzying spin of a roulette wheel – every interaction, every event, sparks a new numerical path of development, in the most subtle way possible. It is so subtle we don't even consider that it is all based on numeral reasoning.
This isn't to say numbers are entirely independent of philosophical reasoning. Ancient philosophies like Taoism of a universal force, the Tao, all that there is. It isn't about rigid rules or blueprints, but rather a gentle nudge towards what could be called the "natural sequence" of things -- one that is effortless, as presented in the concept of "Wu-Wei".
Numbers, then, become a natural, automatic score sheet that takes its course with or without us, designing the universe either by chaos or by some divine intervention, as it unfolds into countles streams of activity and development.
Yes, we often associate numbers with the rigid order of mathematics, the sterile world of calculators and spreadsheets. But this bare-bones view obscures a deeper truth. Speed isn't just a number on a speedometer; it's the very pulse of a chase, the adrenaline rush of a dive into the unknown, and the beat of the very organs that keep us alive and indicate how we and feel.
Do you really think that the heart opposes logic, when it is logical reasoning that can explain the heart and its symbolic nature? No. Everything can be explained logically. And what are numbers if not logical constructs?
This inherent connection between numbers and everything that exists extends even to what we perceive as the most "untouched" human experiences. Take music, that symphony of emotions in the form of sound waves. Each note, each beat, each pause in the score is a precise mathematical equation, a calculated dance of frequencies and durations. And yet, from this cold logic emerges a warmth that touches our hearts and minds, a testament to the hidden poetry within numbers.
Beyond Mere Counting
What is a number, truly? Not just a cold statistic or a sterile figure, but a vibrant brush painting the canvas of existence. It's a language that predates all form of human communication, and one that is capbale of existing without it.
Are numbers human-made? Did we conjure the kilometer from thin air, crafting meters and millimeters like clay figurines? No, we didn't invent them; we merely discovered them, gave them names like we gave names to anything we're capable of thinking about.
The tree doesn't sprout into being upon being named. It is oblivious to our labels. So too is the case with numbers. We are simply evolved enough to understand them, and to translate mathematics into various other fields in life. Engineering, architecture, computer programming, finances. All would be impossible to be as advanced as they currently are, without mathematical understanding.
Quality is not the only domain which numbers rule over. Even quality finds its worth in numerical scales. The five stars on a hotel review, the one-star abyss of disappointment – are they not mere representations of your lived experience, reduced into a language of numbers that symbolize both quality and quantity of your subjective experience?
But the true beauty of numbers lies not in their forms, but in their power to build. They are the architects of the universe, weaving not just atoms but also the very fabric of our beings, and of our potential as well. You can build armies, as well as organizations, based on numbers. A defined collective structure is not without its numbers as well, as something very essential.
How can you have a rank in the army if you don't have a defined/estimated number of subordinates under you? The U.S Department of Defense knows it well. And it's not only the quality of soldiers that can win a war, but their quality as well. While there were real-life instances of "one-man-armies", their example serves, nevertheless, as practical fantasies, possible only in rarity.
So even in order to change the tides of history, and the world at large, having an understanding of numbers is one that can give you much power. And in a sense, power is everything.
Wouldn't you agree that there is a degree of beauty in power? Power, for many, attracts, and especially those whom you are familiar with to whatever extent. And power, too, can be measured. See how even attraction, which can lead to love, can be a product of numbers, as with anything else in the universe.
