Numbers
Numbing the World with Numbers: How the Digital Age Turns Humans into Data Points
In the age of algorithms, metrics, and KPIs, numbers have become the silent rulers of our lives. From credit scores to bank balances, job performance metrics to social media likes, the world has reduced people to a collection of data points. For MoNoRi-Chan, the realization of this numerical dominance didn’t hit until he became a cog in the corporate machine, where he learned that numbers weren’t just tools—they were labels, constraints, and weapons.
From Humans to Headcounts
"When I first started working," MoNoRi-Chan reflects, "I still saw people as people. Clients were individuals with unique needs, and coworkers were humans with aspirations and struggles. But somewhere along the way, the corporate world started putting numbers on everyone—and everything."
You aren’t just you anymore. You’re your employee ID. You’re your monthly KPI performance. You’re the balance in your account. Numbers infiltrate every corner of existence, transforming relationships and interactions into transactions and data points.
Bankers and Their Number Game
The banking world is perhaps the most glaring example of this numerical obsession. To banks, you are:
- Your credit score: A singular number that dictates whether you’re “trustworthy” enough to borrow money.
- Your account balance: A measure of your worth to their system.
- Your transaction history: A ledger of what you’re allowed to do—or not do.
In this system, you aren’t a human; you’re a sum of digits. This reductionist view isn’t limited to banks—it’s pervasive across all industries.
The Corporate Dehumanization of Numbers
MoNoRi-Chan’s experience in the corporate world brought a dark epiphany: numbers rule everything. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) were his gods, and spreadsheets his scriptures.
“Every day, I wasn’t solving problems for people. I was chasing metrics”, MoNoRi-Chan admits. “I stopped seeing clients as humans with needs. They became data points in a quarterly report, just like I became a metric on my boss’s dashboard.”
It wasn’t just about hitting targets; it was about survival in a system that rewards those who play the numbers game best. Over time, this mindset bleeds into everything. Even personal life starts to feel like a ledger of value extraction, where emotions and connections are traded like commodities.
Finding Humanity Beyond the Metrics
The turning point for MoNoRi-Chan came when he walked away from the grind. Quitting the corporate world offered clarity—but not peace.
“At first, I thought I’d escaped. But the corporate world left a scar: I kept seeing people as numbers, even after leaving. I couldn’t turn it off,” he says.
It wasn’t until he rediscovered love and compassion—real, human connections—that he began to break free from the mindset. Love reminded him that not everything is quantifiable. Compassion showed him that people are infinitely more than the numbers attached to them.
The Digital World’s Number Obsession
Today, the dehumanization of numbers is more pervasive than ever. Technology has amplified it, embedding numbers into our very identity:
- Social media: Your worth is measured by likes, followers, and engagement rates.
- Corporate systems: Algorithms decide who gets promoted, fired, or even interviewed.
- Health apps: Your well-being is boiled down to steps, calories, or sleep scores.
This isn’t just about efficiency—it’s about control. Numbers make people predictable. They strip away the messiness of humanity and replace it with tidy columns of data.
Numbers as Tools, Not Shackles
MoNoRi-Chan doesn’t advocate for abandoning numbers entirely. They’re essential in the digital world, and they hold immense power to solve problems, drive innovation, and improve lives. But he warns against allowing numbers to dominate humanity.
“We’ve let numbers become our masters when they should be our tools,” he says.
The solution lies in balance. Numbers can quantify progress, but they can’t measure purpose. They can calculate efficiency, but they can’t create meaning. MoNoRi-Chan urges us to reclaim our humanity by using numbers responsibly—without letting them define us.
The Redemption of Empathy
The antidote to a world obsessed with numbers is empathy. By choosing to see the person behind the credit score, the worker beyond the KPI, and the soul beyond the spreadsheet, we can begin to dismantle the system that dehumanizes us.
MoNoRi-Chan’s journey—from corporate cog to compassionate human—reminds us that numbers are powerful, but they’re not everything. In a digital age, reclaiming our humanity is the ultimate rebellion. After all, as MoNoRi-Chan puts it, “Life isn’t just a spreadsheet; it’s a story—and stories can’t be told in numbers alone.”
