[Essay] - 0 - 'Beyond the Numbers'

When you hear the number '0', what comes to mind?

For me, it's a 'slash'.

To be precise, the slash inside the 0. To be even more precise, that single line drawn to distinguish it from the letter O.

I've always liked the notation where a slash is drawn through the 0.

It's not just any 0. It's a 0 with a slash. That alone suddenly makes it look cool.

It feels like something a computer expert would write, or something a science student would scribble in the corner of their notebook, or something that might appear in some kind of blueprint or code.

Even though it's just a number, adding a single line suddenly gives it an air of expertise.

I thought it was cool, so there was a time when I would draw a slash through my 0s even when it wasn't necessary.

It's not like I was in a field where confusing an O with a 0 would lead to a major disaster.

I wasn't doing programming, nor was I drafting blueprints. I don't think there were many situations where I had to write down passwords on paper and hand them to someone else, either.

When I was a child, there were several things I imitated for their coolness before I understood their meaning. Being able to recite the colors of the rainbow as 'seki-tou-ou-ryoku-sei-ran-shi'. Wanting to use cursive writing excessively. Drawing the lines for long division with excessive care.

As one of those small ways of trying to act grown-up, I used to draw a slash through my 0s. But thinking about it again, it's a bit strange.

0 is the number that represents 'nothingness'.

There is 1 apple.
There are 2 apples.
There are 0 apples.

The phrase 'there are 0 apples' is strange when you think about it calmly.

It exists, even though it's not there.

We go out of our way to place the number 0 on a state of nothingness.
That alone is strange enough, but sometimes that 0 has a line drawn through it so it isn't mistaken for an O.

The number that represents nothingness holds a single line within itself so it won't be mistaken for something else.

It's somehow admirable.

The letter O and the number 0. They certainly do look alike.

When handwritten, they look even more alike.
An O written in a hurry looks like a 0, and a 0 written roundly looks like an O.

Even though letters and numbers look like inhabitants of different worlds, they easily become neighbors on paper.

As a result of being too close, a 0 is given a slash to assert, 'No, I am a number, not a letter.'

2 and Z also look a bit alike.

Some people put a horizontal line through a handwritten Z. That, too, must be to avoid confusing it with a 2.

Just by adding a line through the middle of a Z, it suddenly takes on the atmosphere of an exam paper from abroad. That, too, is a bit cool.

2 and Z. 0 and O.

Numbers and letters are closer than we think. We draw lines to adjust that proximity.

We cannot leave similar things looking similar.

This is a number. This is a letter.
This is a 0. This is an O.

A single line is not just a decoration.

I think it is a line for distinction, a line for contour, and a line to show that I am who I am.

Thinking about it that way, the slash inside the 0 starts to look a little different.

I was just writing it because it looked cool.
But in reality, that line has a proper role.

0 represents emptiness. But if it stays empty, it looks like an O.

That is why we add a line.

To make it possible to distinguish emptiness while keeping it empty.

It is a strange story.

If there is nothing, one should be able to just write nothing. But to convey that there is nothing, a 0 becomes necessary.

And for that 0 not to be mistaken for an O, one more line becomes necessary.

It takes effort to show that there is nothing. 0 is not emptiness itself.

Perhaps it is something that gave a name to emptiness.

It is something that took the state of 'nothingness' and brought it properly into the world of numbers, instead of just leaving it alone.

That is why 0 is powerful.

It is not that there is something there, like with 1 or 2.

But without 0, we cannot express that there is nothing. The more I think about it, the more amazing I find that to be.

When teaching arithmetic, I am careful about how I handle 0.

Adding 0 changes nothing. Multiplying by 0 makes it 0. You cannot divide by 0.

To children, 0 might look like a bit of a sneaky number.

It pretends to do nothing, then suddenly turns everything into 0.

Even though you don't know if it's there or not, it has quite a lot of influence once it enters a calculation.

0 dominates the scene with a quiet face. And yet, it looks just like the letter O.

Even though it is a number representing nothingness, if you are not careful, it looks like a letter. That is why we draw a line through it.

As if wearing a name tag that says, 'I am 0.' Come to think of it, I feel like that happens with people too.

Things that look the same from the outside can be completely different to the person themselves.

Being silent is different from not thinking about anything. Having a margin is different from being empty. Not saying anything is different from being unable to say anything.

But you cannot tell the difference just by looking. That is why people draw a line somewhere.

This is different. This is me. This is not just a blank space.

A line is needed to show that. The slash inside the 0 feels a little bit like that.

If you just draw a circle, it might be an O. But if you add a single diagonal line, it becomes a 0.

The number representing nothingness finally gains its own outline through that single line.

I think I was drawn to that feeling. Of course, I wasn't thinking that far back then. It was just, somehow, cool. That was all.

But what I like about numbers is that the reasons catch up later.

Finding meaning as an adult in things I liked for no reason. Even the slashed zero I imitated because I thought it looked cool has a reason: to distinguish it from the letter O.

And behind that reason lies the meticulous nature of humans, who try to give an outline even to nothingness.

0 is nothing. But nothingness is not the same as having no meaning.

Just as a blank space is different from a zero score.
Just as silence is different from absence.
Just as a blank sheet is different from a margin.

I think 0 is a number for properly placing nothingness.
0 must be 0.

For that reason, sometimes, a line is drawn through the middle.

Just a single line.

But just by having that line, the circle becomes a number.

The emptiness gains an outline.

Nothingness rises up as something that is there.

Drawing a line through 0 might not have been just showing off. It might have been a small mark to ensure we don't overlook what looks empty while it is still empty.

It seems that beyond 0, there are those of us who want to give an outline even to being empty with a single line.

Thank you for reading this far!

▶︎ I run a company, play baseball, do math, and write books.
▶︎ A 27-year-old working professional living a slightly unusual daily life.
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