Numerically Obsessed

Indians are obsessed with numbers. Maybe its simply hardwired into our brains at birth. We are encouraged to learn our timetables before we are encouraged to read a book. We calculate how much money we can save by using this or that coupon. We attend parties where we shamelessly ask our hosts how much their house costs. We secretly (and sometimes not so secretly) discuss everything from each other’s SAT scores to salaries. And for what? What do these numbers mean? What do they represent?

In my opinion, numbers are just an easy way to quantify someone. Have a grade point average above 3.5—you’re intelligent. Below? You’re average. Nothing farther could be from the truth. 

In a world where everyone starts on equal footing, perhaps these methods of evaluating a person would make sense. But we don’t all start on equal footing. Most of us don’t know the struggles those around us face on a daily basis. Should we really be making snap judgments so easily?

What do these numerical hallmarks of success even mean anyway? You can be a brilliant person but if you contribute nothing to society, what does it matter? As the famous saying goes, “The man who can read and doesn’t has no advantage over the man who can not,” 

Does making a six-figure salary really make you happier than someone who perhaps makes a less but has higher job satisfaction? Does being able to ace every test make you better than someone who can imagine new worlds using their creativity? 

This obsession with numbers is a progressive problem. Children soon learn to base their self-esteem on the accomplishments they gather. Those who fall short of the above-average curve lose all motivation and stop trying. Those whom society holds up lose their initial passion and continue to seek extrinsic rewards and meaningless markers of success.  

Next time, instead of asking your child what they got on the test first, ask them what they learned. When you’re in someone’s house, notice the care and effort they’ve put into making it a home before measuring their square footage. Never judge someone’s intelligence based on a number. 

Above all, be proud of yourself and others for things that cannot be measured. Value someone’s character—their kindness, patience, compassion, humility. In the end, those are the things that matter more.

Nivi Elango