Life by the numbers....
A simple guy making his way
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Maine
Posts: 7,867
Life by the numbers....
I wrote this back some months. but with so many new members i thought i would repost it. It's a bit whimsical.
I see every now and then, and most recently, a post about statistics. Sober statistics.
People want the reassurance that this is in their favor. That it won't be them but the other guy adding up to what no one wants to admit.
So, while certainly not a numbers guy, I decided to look at my life by the numbers.
Here's what I found out about myself.
There are 7,059,553,012 people in this tiny world.
In the US there are 314,967,442 of which I am only 1. Though the voices in my head would lead me to believe otherwise.
A simple google search of what number am I on earth tells me that I am the 3,401,031,718th person alive and get this.....
The 77,354,880,524th person alive since history began. Boy if I had a nickel for every person ever born....
Now of the US population, one estimate says 51.9% of us drink. A mere 130 or so million.
Again of which I WAS only 1 of.
To whittle things down to a more real perspective I am one of just over an estimated 11 million gay folk in the US. A number of little relevance but a number I was curious about.
Here's where the numbers start to crunch.
How many people do I know that drink. All of them but one. Really .... just one.
Alcoholics, like me, surround ourselves with drinkers. It made me feel normal.
How many people do I know that have stopped drinking and stayed stopped? Not nearly as many as drink. Other than SR and AA I don't know anyone.
Should that matter? Nope. Not at all.
I will be counted and used to compile many lists.
I can be dehumanized in equations that result in less than factual results.
Sober people give me a 50 / 50 shot at staying sober. Maybe even less.
I am not a number. I am not a statistic. I am ken. An alcoholic trying very very hard to make it and I believe I will. 110% everyday. I don't need the reassurance of a statistic. I need the reassurance of others like me.
That's all I need.
Disclaimer
**** all statistics obtained from the Internet. And we all know we can always believe what ever we find on the Internet. So this must be true.
I see every now and then, and most recently, a post about statistics. Sober statistics.
People want the reassurance that this is in their favor. That it won't be them but the other guy adding up to what no one wants to admit.
So, while certainly not a numbers guy, I decided to look at my life by the numbers.
Here's what I found out about myself.
There are 7,059,553,012 people in this tiny world.
In the US there are 314,967,442 of which I am only 1. Though the voices in my head would lead me to believe otherwise.
A simple google search of what number am I on earth tells me that I am the 3,401,031,718th person alive and get this.....
The 77,354,880,524th person alive since history began. Boy if I had a nickel for every person ever born....
Now of the US population, one estimate says 51.9% of us drink. A mere 130 or so million.
Again of which I WAS only 1 of.
To whittle things down to a more real perspective I am one of just over an estimated 11 million gay folk in the US. A number of little relevance but a number I was curious about.
Here's where the numbers start to crunch.
How many people do I know that drink. All of them but one. Really .... just one.
Alcoholics, like me, surround ourselves with drinkers. It made me feel normal.
How many people do I know that have stopped drinking and stayed stopped? Not nearly as many as drink. Other than SR and AA I don't know anyone.
Should that matter? Nope. Not at all.
I will be counted and used to compile many lists.
I can be dehumanized in equations that result in less than factual results.
Sober people give me a 50 / 50 shot at staying sober. Maybe even less.
I am not a number. I am not a statistic. I am ken. An alcoholic trying very very hard to make it and I believe I will. 110% everyday. I don't need the reassurance of a statistic. I need the reassurance of others like me.
That's all I need.
Disclaimer
**** all statistics obtained from the Internet. And we all know we can always believe what ever we find on the Internet. So this must be true.
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