Sometimes you ponder over such trivial issues and after a while you think what a weird thought it was! It happens frequently with me.
This time I was studying some algebraic equations with my bright table lamp ON, emanating white candescent light, with all the small tiny creatures girthing around the lamp. Miffed with all the complexities of finding the unknown with the rarest known values, I started pondering over the variable ‘x’ which one usually uses in solving equations.
Why does one uses an X so frequently and not any other variable? Its not a hard and fast rule to use ‘X’ to signify the unknown value but the stereotyped primary education always taught us to use an ‘X’ whenever we faced questions like ‘Ram bought a dozen apple for 24. How much does an apple cost’? In spite of inflation eating out the common mans budgeting plan and daily life , the NCERT books still show the price of a dozen apple to be 24. Guys! At least update the price to the latest trend so that the kids can feel inflation creeping our lives.
Anyhow, I was at ‘x’ and was thinking how many times it must have been used. I was thinking about the appearance of the alphabet and found it to be very artistic and beautiful. The other version using the curvaceous lines and not the jagged ones has symmetry and appeals soothingly to ones eye. Not that any other alphabet is asymmetrical (read ‘H’,’V’,’W’ for examples) but ‘X’ with its curves stands apart.
Mulling over such a trivial issue took me places in my thoughts. Soon I realized its time to stop. Sometimes thoughts give you such a weird feeling that you think Was that a thing to be thinked ? But thinking has no rules to follow. So you can literally stride your imagination to places. Weird or not – a thought is a thought.
Lullaby
5 years ago
6 comments:
hehehe...
there is actually a reason for that too as i discovered upon googling once upon a time!
but thank god you didn't! the reasons are lame! your post was far more interesting!
:P
i keep finding these weird things to worry about at times when i'm least supposed to have these things on my mind! but i guess it's a trait of geniuses, wouldn't you agree???
:P
lol!
At risk of sounding boastful ...
a definite YES!I DO ;)
A well thought one! Yes, this post made me recall that my junior grade arithmetic text books still say eggs @ 0.24 paisa a dz! Now that I am reading the article, I recall what I used to tell myself..."Wow! Now that's cheap". Factually, that Re 0.24 a dz was cheap in 1980s as well, when I was a fledgling young one. It is 2009, and our authors are still at Re 0.24 a dz...I stop to ask a question here to these authors and publishers - Are you recession-proof (education sector partly is) OR are you out of ink for OR is it plain simple negligence? Guys, wake up and smell the coffee!!!
An interesting post . Left me thinking too . Why x ?? Does it have any symbolic meaning that it has been passed down thru ages .
The minuscule letter x represents a dead person. like u say ex-husband or ex-boss . Is something that's gone and orgotten . As in case of algebra we replace that x wid a number and the x is gone .
My take on that but yeah a nice open ended article . Kudos !!
@anita : Liked the observation of x representing forgone and forgotten. X sounds mysterious too. mite be because of these all conotations attached to it.
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