Chapter 111 non-quantitative factors

Electronic technology has brought us into the digital age.Digitization is quantification.It seems that everything can ultimately be deconstructed into numbers.The recently deceased Chinese-American historian Huang Renyu repeatedly emphasized the importance of digital management in his series of works. He believed that the reason why China lagged behind the West for more than a hundred years in modern history was because of the long-term lack of quantitative thinking and management methods.Now China has made great progress, and digitalization has penetrated into our daily life. For example, we use CDs to listen to music and watch movies. Those graceful sounds and beautiful pictures are actually a series of playbacks of digital records. The higher the degree of quantization, the finer it is. The better the effect.Our housing conditions can be described by a series of numbers: how much is the building area, how much is the usable area, how much is it worth per square meter, how much is the decoration cost, how much is the property management fee...even the total number of hours of sunshine shining into the window in all seasons can also be estimated.Whether it is the development of the entire society or the improvement of our own quality of life, it is of course gratifying to enter into a conscious, strict, meticulous, and accurate quantification process, which can be reflected in digitization.

However, there are still non-quantifiable factors in our lives that are worth cherishing.A microelectronics expert said, don't think that subtle digital means can express everything in analog.For example, when a couple is standing by the cradle, when they silently stare at their beloved son in the cradle, and then look up at each other, the expressions on their expressions, especially the emotions in their hearts, cannot be quantified. This factor is more important than all other quantifiable factors that combine them together, including their age, education, income, housing conditions, etc., and it is priceless-the so-called priceless, That is, the value cannot be measured by numbers, so it is especially precious.

To give another example, I have been to many people's study rooms, whose study room impresses me the most and envies me the most?It was the study of He Moxie, a sinologist, in the suburbs of Oslo, Norway.If you ask me how good his study is, is it large in size, rich in books, and elegantly decorated?Or is it enough light, complete equipment, comfort and tranquility?All of these factors are quantifiable.Like decoration, it can be quantified from the amount of investment; comfort can be quantified from the decibel value of external sounds.In terms of quantifiable factors, his study room does not actually have the upper hand. Not only is the area not very large, the windows are not well oriented, and the total amount of candlelight entering the year is not high. If you use an instrument to measure the air flow The daily average value may not be gratifying; but the non-quantitative factors in his study, such as the atmosphere that can never be felt without being there, are intoxicating.In recent years, I found a study in the rural areas of the eastern suburbs of Beijing. Because it is close to the Wenyu River, I named it Wenyuzhai. I paid special attention to creating its non-quantitative elements well. Writing in it, I have a kind of physical and mental integration into the surroundings of the Wenyu River. The feeling of complete relaxation of nature, this feeling cannot be expressed in numbers, and it is even difficult to describe it in words. It is a kind of emotional ripples deriving, and a poetic cloud flashing, which constitutes the most precious thing in my life. elements.

We often have anxiety, and after careful inspection, we will find that almost all of what we are anxious about is quantifiable, and the specific thinking mode of anxiety is also very digital.Nor can it be said that it is not good to worry about quantifiable things with digital means. In terms of the social benefits of doing things and one's own legal rights and interests, it is not only necessary but also serious to pay attention to quantifiable factors.But the bad elements in anxiety must be eliminated, and the key is to get rid of those redundant numbers.An acquaintance told me that he once fell into the anxiety of self-conscious obscenity because there was only one bathroom in his house, while some classmates had two or more bathrooms in their homes.But once he was at the home of a classmate who was still living in a hutong courtyard and had to be discharged from the hospital after going to the toilet. Quantitative anxiety like a bathroom can spoil your mood.

In a digital age, it is really a blessing for a person to consciously maintain some unnecessary and unquantifiable feelings that have nothing to do with numbers in spirit. been quantified.Then, in the era of increasing digitalization, non-quantitative factors intertwined with emotion and poetry are emerging, which constitutes a more auspicious omen for the whole society.