Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

When maths began to make sense...

lakshmi
lakshmi
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Science always had me asking questions such as how we can be sure. Yet, geography, being my friend, who threw in latitudes and longitudes and imaginary lines that determine our hours of the day, was easily accepted.


Being in September I am proud to note that it is 23rd as I write this and world is experiencing equinox and it is time for autumn and spring depending on which part of the earth you are.


Hikka the one that could be a tropical storm or depression had its path marked by the latitudes and longitudes even before it was named. The lines that were just part of our geography class are still applicable. I thought I had said goodbye to maths in high school, only to be told in university everyone has to take two classes of maths for the degree. I dodged it for a while until there was just no other way but to complete them.


Reporting for a business channel meant a lot of currency conversion and percentage calculations to be used in business stories. Maths never left my side and in fact now I sit with it. I even realised I am not that bad in maths. The sums have begun to make sense and in fact are quite enjoyable.


Now they say if we keep practicing simple calculations it might keep us away from developing Alzheimer’s.


There is also another theory — what you run away from keeps chasing you. I think it is part of the karma system. The other fact is that we might just be having a mental block. A mental block towards maths or whatever the subject or situation is.


Latitudes give us an indication of the climate the region faces where as the longitudes help us in setting of our clocks to the standard time. We could understand the sun, moon and the earth but not our minds.


While there is a concept of mapping of the brain, there is something else that reveals about us that could lead to a better understanding of us. Is it for our own good? Not sure yet, but we always have the potential to develop it.


The ‘it’ is data. You are data. We use bank cards for the easiness. We carry a mobile phone on us for the ease of communication. In both cases we are developing data on ourselves. We leave a trail. I once filled out a review for fun in an app. Now it pops us with the question on how did I like the place I just visited. Some places I did go and others I had gone past. Can the data be used for commercial purposes? Of course the answer is yes.


Digital marketing experts will point what a blessing data is in direct marketing. They do not just have to broadcast an advertisement but today they know exactly the target group.


Maybe privacy needs a new definition and we must all just accept the new direction and fate. It could be that after a while we will consider it a norm when a company calls and says we have just gone through your data and we realised it is time for renewal of your car


insurance, “would you like to try our service?”


Let alone the embarrassment of forgetting about renewing of the insurance policy but the shock of a stranger knowing the personal details might take a while to wear off. What about the moment you withdrew cash from the ATM only to be messaged why use cash? Why not use your card?


‘And be part of the data,’ I think.


The fact is there is no other way. We are in the digital age and that means we are part of data network. There are steps taken to protect personalised data as mentioned by leading digital platforms ensuring only authorised stakeholders will use the data for analysis. On the other hand we cannot run away.


Many countries in the world use only plastic money now and use of cash is an exception and bit coin is not far away. We did after all come from the origins of barter system till here.


At least we can be grateful for now they have not actually gone mainstream with mind reading. But we are very busy revealing our thoughts on


the social media.


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