Don’t Divide by Zero!

Podcasting is the best invention since sliced bread! There is so much to learn about in this world. You can learn about any subject from the best experts in their field. A great podcast is Modern Wisdom by Chris Williamson. Chris has conversations with a whole range of interesting people and publishes three times a week. There is always a conversation to look forward to.

While listening to a Modern Wisdom podcast, I came across the concept of dividing by zero. It is not as if I didn’t know about what it means mathematically to divide by zero. Chris Williamson used the saying “divide by zero” in a completely novel context.

Mathematically, if you divide by zero, you get infinity, whatever that is. In this context, dividing by zero implied that you ended up with zero.

The way in which the saying was being used was in relation to doing something so insanely stupid that it could ruin your life.

Think about what that might look like.

In my judgement, these “divide by zero” events are often done unconsciously by young people who perhaps don’t know any better. I was that young punk who didn’t know any better. However, dividing by zero is not only reserved for the young and stupid.

The life implications of dividing by zero are that the consequences of one’s actions can be a burden for the rest of life.

The ultimate “divide by zero” is some crazy action where you end up killing yourself. Some might argue that could, in some cases, be a better outcome than living with the consequences.

We have all seen those YouTube videos of a backyard party where someone thinks it is a good idea to jump off a two-story house into the swimming pool and misses. You could get lucky and just break an arm. You could also end up in a wheelchair for life. That is dividing by zero.

A one-night fling of drunken, unprotected sex in the back seat of your dad’s Merc. One of your swimmers gets past the goalkeeper - what then? Sure, you can argue that having a child at a young age is not something that will ruin your life. It may in fact, bring incredible joy. But think of the path not travelled because of that “divide by zero” moment.

Divide by zero moments often coincides with other events. Namely, drinking and showing off. You might call such an event an ego moment. Sometimes these ego moments happen when no one is looking, like on the back of a motorbike when you decide to take the gap. You could get lucky but was it worth it?

Having narrowly escaped a few “divide by zero” moments in my life, I am constantly on the lookout for how they might show up. The message here is to be aware of how and when these “divide by zero” moments show up. And then to make a good choice in the moment.

Justin Spencer-Young                                                       Twitter @fastforwardjsy

Justin Spencer-Young@fastforwardjsy