Arithmetic is true. It’s true because
1. We accept the terms
2. It’s timeless. Past, present and future are the same, it never changes
3. It’s testable and verifiable
In every fourth-grade classroom, the statement, “9 is bigger than 7” is clearly true. We can count out nine marbles. We have an understanding of what “bigger” means. From this shared understanding we can build useful and complex outcomes.
On the other hand, “Cheryl is a better candidate than Tracy” might be true for some people, but it presents all sorts of trouble if we look at it through the same lens of “truth” as a term we learned in Math class. We know who Cheryl is and we know who Tracy is, but it’s not clear what “better” means in this case. Are we describing who will win an election in two weeks? That’s awfully hard to add up in advance.
Words matter but so do the numbers. It matters whether we are talking about ‘Math’ or simply an accurate description of what works.
Speaking to customers about Math or growing wealth, comparing simple and compound interest and running the numbers over a period of years has power. Doing the Math always demonstrates the truth. Show them that accumulating wealth starts as a simple Math exercise and you will open doors for more premium, more coverage and more lives covered. All Lives Matter, do the Math!
