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All in the numbers

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 25, 2008

For better or for worse, we are a society molded by numbers.

Born in the 11th month of the last decade of the 20th century. Five foot, four inches. Six foot, two inches. One hundred fifteen pounds and 200 pounds.
Grade point average 4.4 or 3.5, SAT 1300 or 1150. Salary of $45,000 versus one of $75,000.

Numbers are dictatorial. Pause for a minute and run through all the images - I won't say stereotypes because that's a negative connotation - you just processed. How many of them were actually prejudiced? The student with the 4.4 grade point average and the 1350 SAT must be one of those brainiacs who just can't seem to pull his nose out of a book, and his counterpart must be one of those lazier students depending on an athletic scholarship to pay his way through college.

Maybe the accusations are true. In fact, they probably are, minus the 3.5 and an athletic scholarship. Not all students with a 3.5 GPA are athletes. Conversely, not all students with a 4.4 are brainiacs. But the converse rarely seems to matter as we focus on the presumptions.

More than 27,000 hopeful high school seniors applied to the University of Florida last year. 10,289 were admitted. That either means the school is extremely competitive, or it received an influx of applicants, most of whom were unqualified. The former half of the statement is opportunistic, leading people to believe that those admitted are the best of the best - or the best of the best for that school, as the cynical point of view pushes through. Numbers and assumptions - the positive and the negative - intertwine to mold perception. Let's test this.

Twenty-two. That's how many columns I've written to this day. Harmless. There is no association to this particular 22, unless you're counting how many columns it takes until I stop writing. There is no underlying implication that I'm good at what I do, or one implying that I'm bad at what I do. It's just a number. A number like 4.4, 1300, or 45,000, void of assumption until one of us steps in and plays the judge.

Sierra Mision is a student at Gulf High School.

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