The question: If you could be a letter or a number, which would you choose?
Someone once gave me this answer:
"You can't be a letter. You're nothing but a number, no, a series of numbers. Whether it's your age, your income, your GPA, your dress size, your zip code... it doesn't matter. It all comes down to numbers. People judge you by them. You can deny it all you want, but you can't change it. We're all just statistics. You are nothing but a number."
I guess I'm crazy, but I'd like to disagree.
Numbers represent all the things in life that don't last. They matter in the moment, but they soon fade away and you forget them. Numbers aren't constant or permanent. They're just momentary glimpses into your life at that moment. You can change them when the moment changes. After all, dates and times are numbers, too. They fade away.
Letters, on the other hand, are more memorable. We use them to communicate. A world without letters would be cold and lonely.
Most importantly, large groups of numbers just make bigger numbers. Large groups of letters make words and sentences and stories.
In short, I would choose to be a letter. Which one? Maybe x. It's not a letter that you use very often, but it has a very nice sound. It's also one of the few letters that can stand alone. A stand alone x has different meanings depending on the context. It can mean treasure, kisses, mistakes... I like the letter x.
Don't listen to the pessimists. Be a letter. Make a statement.
Love,
Jess
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Most importantly, buy a vowel :P
ReplyDeleteNever quite thought about it that way.
ReplyDeleteGah, you're making me think!
Don't forget that numbers can represent letters. Binary code, for example. And a lot of codes have numbers representing letters, because it's more complicated.
ReplyDeleteI don't see numbers as temporary. Numbers are formulaic and represent patterns and structure. Chemistry, mathematics, biology: all have a base in numbers, not letters. Letters are more creative, more fluid, but just as temporary. "I love you" can be there one day and gone the next. Letters can lie. They can be fickle. There are millions of Heathers in the world, but only one person with my social security number (as far as I know).
"I like math."
"Ew, why?"
"Because it's the same in every country."
I'd either be a 7 or an h.