Life Is Maths

Artem and I discussed life. I did miss conversations such as these, I cannot lie. I lost much in Christina's graduation, though she gained plenty. Artem and I distilled his immigration experiences and our lives' trajectories and stories down to a singular metaphor that at once brought us both an enlightenment so brightly visible in his eyes as we uncovered it. Life is simply mathematics.

Ignore for a moment the calculations and the technical aspects of the field and consider instead each mathematical equation as a series of steps. Narratively, we are first taught integers as a simple and constructed world within defined borders of whole numbers. Soon we, as young disciples, are shown the other end of this spectrum in negative numbers i.e. the idea of equal but opposite is introduced. In some manners this reminds me of princeps Augustus. A notion of equality but weighed unequally. Though -3 and 3 sum up to 0, -4 and 3 leave more to be desired and the 3 was not enough to achieve the desired neutrality for the magnitude of the -4 was slightly too high. Eventually we are taught algebra. I remember how algebra fascinated me. I would look at an equation on paper and be fascinated by the realization that the answer which I am trying to find is at all moments in time right in front of me; it is simply unseeable as of now due to how the equation is arranged. A certain rearrangement here, and an equal rearrangement there, sometimes some factoring and at other times some expanding later, a complex equation boils down to a simple beautiful "x =".

I remember the joy I felt each time at this stage. Suddenly the initial inequality begins to look obvious now that the answer had been found. Life is very similar. Over time we learn new skills and new tools to uncover solutions and solve problems, to rearrange our luck and shift our perspective, to find the answers and solutions that were there all along. Much like in exams I would regret, we must keep going on. We must learn that once we feel stuck, there is inevitably a mistake that has been carried forward that can be corrected or there is no mistake and we need only rearrange the pieces in front of us and find a different perspective to continue solving the problem. This is an inherently empowering analogy. The solutions exist, and require only the will and effort to have them uncovered.

This is pure conjecture but I do believe there is also a correlation with people who are uncomfortable with unsettling ethical and philosophical topics and the same people being uncomfortable at the sight of mathematics. In my eyes, mathematics is essential then less for its technical compute than for its ability to train a brain to problem-solve and to become accustomed to trial by error — for indeed our society's very bylaws are built around this very idea of trial by error enshrined through the recording of precedents, much like a self-discovering machine or a recursive equation.

Life is maths.