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I realize that it may seem that most of my waking thoughts are concerned with numbers and equations. While this is true for my desire to understand and explain everything around me, I do enjoy many other things other than making spreadsheets and coming up with equations. Included in my many other passions is writing and reading poetry. This blog will be about one of my favorite poems – “La Tierra Giro para Acercarnos” – or “The Earth Turned to Bring Us Closer”. It was written by Eugenio Montejo, and was even mentioned in the movie “21 Grams.” Here it is:
The earth turned to bring us closer,
it spun on itself and within us,
and finally joined us together in this dream
as written in the Symposium.
Nights passed by, snowfalls and solstices;
time passed in minutes and millennia.
An ox cart that was on its way to Nineveh
arrived in Nebraska.
A rooster was singing some distance from the world,
in one of the thousand pre–lives of our fathers.
The earth was spinning with its music
carrying us on board;
it didn’t stop turning a single moment
as if so much love, so much that’s miraculous
was only an adagio written long ago
in the Symposium’s score.
Now, my interpretation of this poem has to do with (as always) the mathematical side of this, and it has always been why this poem has stuck in my mind over the years. I see it being written about someone who has found the love of their life – suggested by “The earth was spinning with its music carrying us on board.” He or she is looking back in amazement and the infinitely many things that had to happen in a certain way for their love to be realized suggested by “An ox cart that was on its way to Nineveh arrived in Nebraska” and “A rooster was singing some distance from the world, in one of the thousand pre–lives of our fathers.“ It is almost that the these future events had to have been written a long time ago to ensure such a beautiful outcome - “as if so much love, so much that’s miraculous was only an adagio written long ago in the Symposium’s score.”
But the mathematical side that really makes this special to me is that I realize that so many events had to happen in just the right way to allow me and my future wife to meet and fall in love. If you really consider how many variables would have to be exactly right to ensure that I would meet this girl at the right time in history, it is truly mind boggling. Now consider the amount of wars, famines, large disasters, small accidents that must have happened over the course of the last couple thousand of years. They all had to occur with the proper outcome in order for her and I to be born at the proper times and places and to then meet at sometime in the future. I love that thought, and therefore this poem. Let me know your thoughts. CD
Yesterday we explored percentage of one’s life, and today we will expand on those figures and attempt to figure out when a particular percentage will occur in the future.
We determined that my girlfriend and I have been together for 10.109% of my life. (Today that number changed to 10.119%)
Today’s question: On what date will we hit the 20% mark? 50%?
To start off, we need to figure out our starting point. How many days into my life did the zero mark occur – or better stated, how many days into my life did I meet my girlfriend?
To figure this out, we need to determine how many days are between Sept 23,1980 (my birthday) and March 12, 2005 (the day her and I started dating). In this case it equals 8,932 days.
We need to adjust our standard equation for finding percentages next:
Part P
——— = ——— We now know our percentage, we just need to know the number of days to make this percentage.
Whole 100
D 20(percent)
———— = ——————-
8932 + D 100(percent)
Basically, we are now saying “How many days into the relationship (D) have to pass before that number equals 20% of my entire life (8932 + D)?”
We need to cross multiply:
100D = 20(8932 + D)
Simplify:
100D = 178640 + 20D
Subtract 20D from both sides.
80D = 178640
Divide both sides by 80.
D = 2233
That means 2233 days from the start of my relationship (or 2233+8932 days since I was born), I will be at the 20% mark.
Using this page: http://www.timeanddate.com/date/dateadd.html, we find that 20% will occur on April 23, 2011.
For 50%, we can take a few shortcuts if we think about the question we are asking.
When will I have spent half of my life in this relationship? Restated, that asks when will the days before I met her equal the days after I met her?
So, 8932 days + 8932 days = Number of days at which point 50% occurs (from my birthday.)
8932 + 8932 = 17864 days from my birthday, or Tuesday, August 21, 2029.
See how it works for you!
CD
For my first post, I would like to explore percentages, specifically the percentage of a specific period of time in relation to the total amount of time the person is alive. Let me give you an example:
I have been with my girlfriend since March 12, 2005. As of today (12/11/07), that equals 1005 days.
I was born on September 23rd, 1980. As of today, that equals 9941 days.
We need to come up with an equation that allows us to calculate the percentage of days that I have been with my girlfriend out of the total number of days that I have been alive.
The standard equation for finding a percentage is simple:
Part P
——— = ——— (with P equaling the percentage we are looking for.)
Whole 100
Part would equal 1005 days, because it represents a part of my life of which I am looking for the percentage.
Whole would equal 9941 days, because it represents my whole life, so far.
It would look like this:
1005 P
——— = ———
9941 100
If we solve by cross multiplying,
1005 * 100 = 9941 * P
Then simplify,
100500 = 9941 * P
Divide both sides by 9941 to get the variable by itself on one side of the equation:
10.109 = P
I have been with her for exactly 10.109% of my life, (and let me say that is has been an amazing 10.109%!)
You can use this formula to find this type of percentage for just about anything: Percentage of days spent in school, percentage of days spent in your curent job, percentage of days spent in your current house…the possibilities are endless.
For some help figuring out the number of days (in your life, in your relationship, etc) check out this page:
http://www.timeanddate.com/date/duration.html
Tomorrow we will attempt to find the exact day (in the future) I will hit the 20% and 50% mark.
CD
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