Society considers people numbers
By Divya Malik
When you have someone's social security number, you have access to their entire life. Financial records, family history, employer information and medical records are some of the main areas where you can retrieve information. If you wanted, you could find out the name of their second grade teacher. It's fascinating how a simple nine-digit number can provide a wealth of information and essentially define a good portion of that person's life.
But society identifies us by more than just our social security numbers. In fact, our society is obsessed with numbers. We see them everywhere -- in our GPA, when applying to graduate schools and even in our own personal lives. We are defined and often times consumed by them. When you hear of someone obtaining a 4.0 at a university, what are the first thoughts that seep into your mind? Smart? Genius? Workaholic? These words immediately fly into our minds because of what society conditions us to think about numbers.
We grew up observing that those who receive a 4.0 are intelligent, hardworking and simply amazing. We've been conditioned to think that our GPA is a holistic representation of who we are and as students we strive to obtain that perfect GPA, no matter what the cost. If we don't have good grades, we don't get a solid GPA, and if we don't have a solid GPA, we won't get into graduate or law schools. And if we don't get into graduate school, we won't get a good job. If we don't get a good job, we will have failed. And then what?
As a senior who is frantically applying to law school, I have personally realized the abundant power that numbers hold. I met a USC law school admission representative last week who asserted that if I had anything below a 160 on the LSAT test, I shouldn't waste my time applying. I was not only extremely disheartened, but I also realized that if I don't meet the numbers for a particular school, then I am not good enough for them.
Do these numbers really account for the person I am holistically? The research, leadership positions and community service that I have done lose the battle against numbers on my application.
GPA and standardized test scores are not the only areas that use numbers to label people. Consider how many sexual partners an individual has had. The more sexual partners a person has, the more promiscuous society holds them to be.
We even hold number labels within gender. A man who has slept with 15 women is known as a pimp and a god-like warrior, while a woman who has slept with 15 men is more often than not labeled as easy or a slut.
Knowing how many people a person has slept with can only tell us so much. It doesn't tell us their life story, what their values are, what their goals in life are or what experiences they have had. All we know is one miniscule aspect of their life, which probably holds no governing power over who they are as a whole.
These examples are just few of the many ways that we attach power to numbers in order to define individuals. For example, the greater the number of drinks you have in one night, the greater chance you have of being labeled the sloppy one of the night who blacked out and made some bad choices.
And what about income? We live our entire lives trying to obtain the highest income possible. It is a goal that some die trying to accomplish. Those with high incomes are deemed superior to the rest and those with low incomes strive to be like the best. Many years at a job give you seniority over everyone else.
The number of Facebook friends you have determine how popular you are. The bouncer at the Hut checks the numbers on your ID before allowing you in.
Why do we spend so much time using numbers to make assessments about individuals? The simple answer: it's convenient. These numbers are affiliated with labels that give us the ability to pass judgments in a convenient manner. This way we can feel as if we know some part of the person instead of taking the time to get to know the person. We might think we know someone when we're given the truth their numbers convey. But we don't know who they are at all, because we did not take the time or the energy to get to know the individual.
Divya Malik is a senior psychology and political science double major.