Right now numbers speak louder than words: over 85,000 and counting confirmed cases of Coronavirus COVID-19 in the United States, putting the U.S. in the “lead“; over 3 million U.S. unemployment claims; $2 trillion (how many zeros?) emergency assistance bill.
I had said to Martin one of these mornings that it is definitely a strange state of the world when we wake up and wonder what the numbers are before even the first cup of coffee. It’s no way to start the day. What’s macabre is the inclination to check on the “stats” throughout the day. I appreciate the overview of the CSSE dashboard from JSU, but listing countries by case numbers reminds me of Olympic rankings.
The postponement of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 was announced a few days ago. It is to be rescheduled for a later date until but not later than summer 2021. I hope it will indeed take place lest these numbers be foreboding of worst to come.
In dark and difficult times, let beacons like the vision and values of Olympism keep from despair. Instead of numbers consider the Olympic creed:
“The important thing in life is not the triumph, but the fight; the essential thing is not to have won, but to have fought well.”
Yes, the numbers are dismal. Perhaps ponder pi instead. Better yet, why not bake and enjoy one:
Or you could calculate your stimulus payment.
Not feeling like baking, crunching numbers or lifting a finger really? Then I would consider maybe watching Pi, Darren Aronofsky’s debut about a mathematician’s obsession to find order in the world. Find order in the world: Isn’t that most of us right about now?
For lighter and fun film fare with numbers and math in the fore, there’s Good Will Hunting, which I would watch again more for Robin Williams and Stellen Skarsgaard than Ben and Matt. Still, “How do you like them apples?”
Hidden Figures is a heartwarming and uplifting true story about three African-American women working at NASA who were the brains that launched John Glenn into orbit.
Going way back: My sixth grade math teacher showed us Stand and Deliver, which resonated with me as an immigrant working-class kid with a math (algebra) fervent dad.
Good movies and good riddance to dismal numbers.
Thanks for the movie recommendations. Anything to distract us from what is going on outside our apartment. We also look at the stats first thing – although this morning I made a point not to in an effort to forget for a minute the pending doom. Hope everyone staying in and avoiding people.