I Hope You Like Pain.

Numbers is hardly real and they never have feelings
But you push too hard, even numbers got limits
Why did one straw break the camel's back? Here's the secret
They're a million other straws underneath it, it's all mathematics
--Mos Def

What makes the world go 'round? Some people act like they don't even know what's up, but the answer is simple: numbers, numbers, numbers, and the way we manipulate them. Here, I'll show you.

What song is playing on your iTunes right now? Steppin' It Up by ATCQ is playing on mine. Listening to the beat of the song alone, have you ever thought about the mechanics of how it was constructed? The measures and scales used? The organization of tones? One thing in music related to mathematics is called "musical set theory," which according to Wikipedia is defined as a "theory [that] provides concepts for categorizing musical objects and describing their relationships." Take a quick look and skim this so you can visualize how numbers and math comes into play with the sounds you enjoy.

I could go on and talk about that computer you're using and how it processes millions upon millions of binary code, but you probably already knew that. So what's an obscure example of how mathematics involves my life as well as yours? Well, after a long night of drinking around downtown Davis for Brian's birthday, I woke up this morning and boiled some water for my coffee. Water, water, water. Life's solvent right? Obviously I wasn't thinking this shit up while I was boiling the water in the saucer, but it all makes sense as I sit here and type this. Water on our planet is probably the primary reason why life is sustainable. It's no surprise that mathematics plays a role in how the molecules are held together, and in how water interacts with other biomolecules. One notable thing about water is that it can absorb large amounts of heat/energy due to it's high specific heat (thank you, special bond angles). Read here, appreciate the math and science involved.

Mathematics is involved in almost every practical (and impractical) example. Did you know that if you have 23 people in a room, the probability of two people having the same birthday is better than 1/2? Those odds are better than any casino game in Vegas. Whenever you walk around downtown San Francisco, do you ever think about the math involved in building the multi-million dollar condominium complex right beside the Bay Bridge? Well you should, because if you really think about it, the chances of someone messing up a simple calculation while determining strength yields of the materials used in construction are there--mistakes can be made, and buildings can come crashing down due to them.

Mathematics and numbers bring about interesting points. They are used in instances of ingenuity. They can be used to better our communities. But on the flipside, they bring negative connotation as well.

As Mos said, numbers never have feelings. Unfortunately, numbers play around with our own feelings and emotions. How many people were persecuted during the Holocaust? How many young kids are on trial in Jena, Louisiana due to discriminatory circumstances? At what rate are our rain forests deteriorating? Calculate the growth of crime in your community. Count the number of youngsters in California alone who can't even do the math due to our flawed educational system. What do you know about how money is made in this country and how the Federal Reserve gets richer and richer off of your own money while our nation accumulates a debt that will probably never be paid for (read here)?

As you can see, numbers involved, our world is filled with various problems and dilemmas, past and present. So how do we solve it all, seeing that this world is all one big algebra problem? It's simple mathematics right?