How Do Numbers Give One Meaning
Throughout the span of human recorded history, we have recorded vast amounts of data and continue to gather data every second. A great part of this information resides in numbers and how much of something there is. These numbers indicate growth, depreciation, loss, success, whether or not this amount of grain will feed an entire family, how much morphine would save a certain person’s life, and much more. Numbers are an incredibly valuable asset for all of humanity. Without numbers, civilization itself would be impossible to maintain and the world would be in catastrophic mayhem.
Bit of a dramatic intro there. The point is that numbers give life a great amount of meaning. It can completely change one’s mood and emotions in a blink of an eye. We as humans rely on numbers and statistics to determine whether or not we are going to survive this next month. Now if you’re a kid who typically does not care too much about numbers, how do they still give meaning? Not to sound like a boomer but it’s phones. Phones and social media give kids all this access to numbers giving their life meaning. Whether its a small child who wants to hit a certain high score in a video game, or a girl posting her latest TikTok and it going viral, these numbers become pivotal to their happiness. It begins out as cute fun and just as something to do while they are bored, however, it quickly begins to grow as an obsession. These children begin to do anything to gain those numbers. Social media begins to take over and implicitly tells them “If you do not have a certain amount of likes, you are not as good of a human”. Much like the times of old when people would be devastated if they did not receive as much food, these teenagers are devastated by not receiving enough likes. This narrative is supportive by a peer-reviewed source written by Anthony L.Burrow and Nicolette Rainone in which they state, “Accordingly, positive feedback should boost self-esteem because it signals acceptance by others. Yet, the extent to which self-esteem is sensitive to positive feedback may depend on individuals’ sense of purpose.” This demonstrates how impactful these likes and comments can be on an individual as it exemplifies their self-worth. This leads into my next point.
Why are these statistics so unequivocally important to humans in general. These numbers are the easiest way we can measure our success. It simplifies all of life’s complexities and puts it in a convenient and easy way to read. A single number filled with so much complexity, yet, we as humans only look at the end result. We let that number determine our value in life and whether or not we are good enough. In my personal experience, I used to let numbers determine my worth every single day. Well, actually I still let them rule my life to some extent still (it’s a bad habit). As a very impressionable 14 year-old whose YouTube channel was taking off, likes and views took over my life to the extent where I would look every 30 minutes at my channel to see how a video was performing. If it underperformed, I would be so upset and sad throughout the day. I didn’t care that I gained new subscribers or interacted with amazing that people; the only thing that mattered to me was the views and likes. It fueled my anxiety every single day and became a terrible obsession. A study was conducted by a group of scientists that stated, “However, low self-esteem youth were significantly affected by peer norms for deceptive like-seeking.” (ScienceDirect) This demonstrates the outside pressure people are put under in order to seem that they are ‘cool’. It becomes this idea that people need these likes in order have any sort of value in life.
However, social media and statistics can not always be negative on younger people. In this article by Harvard, one can see the beginning reason why social media was created in the first place, “Social media may provide individuals with a platform that overcomes barriers of distance and time, allowing them to connect and reconnect with others and thereby expand and strengthen their in-person networks and interactions.” In my personal experience, I would love to see the notification that someone had just responded to me and wanted to talk with me. It made me happy because I felt that I was making a friend and truly having a connection with that person. However, in relation to this topic, the in-depth conversation I was having with a person is much healthier than just valuing my worth based on likes. And unfortunately with most of the social media, the majority of time spent on apps is not about having in-depth conversations and making friends, it’s seeing how many likes one gets and seeing how many likes your ‘acquaintances’ get. These oversimplifications that are derived from numbers is what is in our minds constantly.
In conclusion, numbers greatly affect our life whether it be on social media, school, or wherever number apply. We must be careful to not let the simple number drive our happiness. We must realize that there is a grand amount of reasons why a post was not liked as much such as timing and how many people were on the platform. We also must not forget the valuable comments people leave and the friendships that we have encountered along the way. We must not build value on something so simple.
Daniel Chavez
