| ZERO:
a schizophrenic cipher often presenting as the false personality of a bipolar disorder |
 |
Usually symbolized by by the cipher 0, zero
is a numeric personality entirely confused
and disturbed by the several roles it is expected to play.
Such a lack of consideration for its mental health
has left it as a totally convoluted personality so that
attempting to invert it results in it imaging itself as infinity.
In one context it is expected to symbolize the initializing of a cumulative
count.
Although innumerable counting exercises have been touted as having been successfully
completed...for births and deaths
and votes and populations and the like...
many are initiated which have little prospect of
ever having the zero incremented.
Thus for example, at the last global census of disembodied
gods, the counter remained steadfastly on zero.
Certainly this was due partially to the lack of consensus as to the
classification criteria and partially to the problem of labeling any
god as having been counted.
There was no agreement at all as to whether a god should be visible or
not, or be able to perform miracles or not,
or to have any of the human qualities of
power, avarice,
jealousy or love.
There is also still a zero on the counter for attempts to count
the number of really big bangs, the number of
invulnerable species and
the number of individuals who return from the dead.
However valid the count may in fact end up being, in all such cases the
incumbent zero inevitably begins to believe
in its own indispensability.
In another situation it is allocated the responsibility of marking the reference
origin of a space-time continuum.
When zero is assigned to such a task, the phenomenon
of deferring to it on almost every occasion very quickly results in a
pathological dilation of its ego.
Positions require its personal certification.
Distances require its cooperation and agreement.
Even supposedly independent angles and vector quantities require its
participation in verifying their relationships.
Its self-importance becomes inflated beyond containment.
In the process of designing means to implement certain
logical ideas on
computing machines, the number zero is usually designated as representing
falsity, whilst its binary pole one
is allocated to truth.
All very fine you might think.
Not so.
By permanently being constrained as the advocate of falsity, zero becomes entirely
divorced from reality.
In never being permitted to experience truth, it is like a slave
condemned to a life of labour below ground in the mines of the unfounded.
Whilst some sympathy may be justified because of its size and maturity,
it is prudent not to be deceived.
It is almost more trouble than its worth.
In spite of threats and counselling, zero continues to pose endless
mathematical problems for the unwary.
The frustrating dilemmas created by zero are almost infinite.
Consider just one simple example.
An extensively used logical argument is stated thus:
If A x n = B x n then A = B.
We might be forgiven then for supposing that:
Since 4 x 0 = 3 x 0 then 4 = 3.
This is certainly true for literary trilogies in 4 parts
and quadrilaterals with one side of zero length,
but it is deeply resented by tourists whose 4 home currency units
are exchanged for only 3 of the local variety.
To avoid this uncomfortable dilemma, the aforesaid rule
actually bans zero.
In many similar situations, zero is so truculent and uncooperative
that it has to be specifically excluded from participation.
Trying to count the number of times zero can be subtracted from one is
a quite psychotic undertaking.
Such confusion is linguistic swindling.
It relies upon the concepts
and terms being used vaguely and casually.
The dilemmas will only ever be resolved by cautious
examination of the language being used.
Every supposedly logical
argument purporting to prove
an attitude or point of view, relies upon the imprecision and
convenient bias of the language employed.