A few days before I finished college, I was called into the
principals office.
As I entered the office, I was met by a stern looking principal
and an even sterner looking math's teacher.
I was told to sit down, and although I should probably have
been shaking in my boots, I was not. I sat down full of the confidence
of a ''mature'' (an oxymoron really) teenager, crossed my arms
and waited for a tongue lashing.
''You do realize that I can't actually give you a final grade in math's
since you have failed every test this year'', Mr Peterson, the math's teacher
said as he raised his eyes above the rim of his glasses.
''Is there a reason for you failing all your tests?''
Mr Peterson and the principal both looked at me with
searching eyes as they waited for me to give an answer.
So I told them that I had been accepted to the Conservatorium
of Music and that I would start straight away after the
summer holidays.
Boldly I told them that there was no need for math's in
music so I didn't care about not receiving a grade, because
I was going to become a professional musician.
Much to my bewilderment, as I was making my proclamation,
they looked at each other, smirked, and with a ''Good Luck'' I
was shown the door.
What was that all about? I wondered.
So, this is what you need to know: Until I started to study music,
I was what is called an ''ear player''. Which meant I learned how
to play by listening and then copying.
I could not read a dot of music, it was all hieroglyphics to me.
For the first two years of studies I faked my way through
all my lessons by relying on my ears, but as the music we
studied became more and more complex,
it became clear to me that knowing how to read sheet music
was a definitely a huge benefit.
(Reading sheet music one does not have to memorize everything.)
I finally told my piano teacher, Stella Tchaikovsky, that I couldn't
read music and this made her roll her eyes, and slap me on the shoulder.
''Naughty!!! she exclaimed.
So, from then on, I started to learn how to turn the ''hieroglyphics''
into something that I would eventually be able to read as easily
as words on a page.
And guess what.....it's all math's!!!!
Numbers everywhere. Numbers for the notes, the tempo, the
chords, the fingering, the scales, the modes, etc.etc.
(Hence the reason for the math teacher and principal
smirking when I told them that there is no math's in music.
They knew there was.
Mind you, regular math's does not ''sound'' as good
as musical math's methinks.)
(A digit is a single numerical from 0 to 9. A number is a string of
one or more digits.)
Alright, enough with the technical stuff.
What was once primarily a tool for measuring and counting
has now progressed into something that in my view seems
to be pivotal to life as we know it.
Right now, for instance, I am typing this and what I see
looks like words, letters, but, really it's 1's and 0's.
And, the image above looks like a man and a giant question mark
although really, what I see, is a bunch of pixels.
More and more we are relying on the intangible, codes of
1's and 0's, than on the tangible.
Which for me is a bit of a worry.
I watched a doco on Netflix which asserted that basically
it would only take 8 good hackers to cause serious havoc on
the planet. I think they said that it could be done
using a process I think they called ''the process of
a fire sale''.
Are we putting too much trust in technology?
Are we relying too much on numbers and digits?
Since all technology is driven by some form of ''energy'',
what happens if we run out of it?
Will tomorrow's child know how to make a fire,
know how to cook over an open fire,
know how to keep warm without electricity,
know how to wash clothes without a machine,
know how to work together face to face,
know how to write, calculate, or draw
with an ordinary pencil?
I can't help but wonder if perhaps Albert Einstein
was right when he said:
''It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has
exceeded our humanity.''
about the image: acrylic on paper in homage to the original movie poster
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