Reign of Numbers

0101101001……… the elements by which the modern world is made of. Pythagoreans are no more wrong. Time has proved that numbers are the only realities. Thanks to information technology and boom in business, world has turned to be digital. Hence all walks of life have begun their struggle for survival; first to fit into the digital world and then to be the fittest. Numbers alone are the criteria to evaluate the success of any enterprise. Digital technology is the best technology; the firm which has made maximum profit is the best firm; the employee who has brought maximum profit to the company is the best employee; the entrepreneur who has made maximum profit is the best entrepreneur; the student who is placed at the highest salary is the best student; the richest man is the most successful person……… Uncountable achievements never count.

So called abstract world of art and aesthetics is no exception in adapting themselves to the binary system. Dutch scientist Nicu Sebe from the university of Amsterdam, has developed an algorithm to dissect the enigmatic smile of Monalisa, with the assistance of researchers at the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois. They have come to the conclusion that the classic smile consists of 82.67% happiness, 9.17% disgust, 5.81% fear and 2.19% anger.

A few questions that springs forth in my mind at this juncture are: Who is the best husband/wife/mother/father/brother/sister? How can we devise a software to dissect the conjugal/parental/fraternal love? How can we make it measurable? A time may come when a son/daughter makes a digital analysis of his/her parents’ love and says you loved me 35% which is worth 5 lakhs rupees and my duty to you will be over if I pay that amount back.