3+4=6

“3+4 equals 6,” says my teacher. She wrinkles her nose to push her glasses up unto the bridge of her nose... gosh that annoys me. Staying after school and seeing her do it a couple more hundred times infuriates me! “Yes? Do you get it now?” she says with a glare. No! No I don’t get it! I don’t understand! Well, actually, I see why she might believe that three plus four is six but it doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t see the logic. Why can’t three plus four equal seven instead? Why do we start counting on the number that our finger is placed on and not on the preceding number? Who made all these rules up? I hate first grade! “You still look awfully confused, are you confused?” she says. I give her a glare that can stabbed an eye out. She doesn’t notice. Instead she takes out her VT500 (Virtual teacher version 500) from her purse under the table. The VT500 is small, portable, and shaped like those ancient tablets, it also has made a teacher’s job effortless. No that’s an understatement. The VT500 has become every student’s teacher, so in reality there is no need for human teachers. The VT500 starts playing a video explaining why four plus three equals six. Once the video ended my “teacher”, while wrinkling her nose, asks once again if I understand. She should worry about getting new glasses instead. There’s no point trying to convince me about something that I don’t believe is true. I didn’t feel like staying in that classroom another minute so I lie and say I completely get it. I stand up from the chair I was sitting in across from my teacher and start to walk away.

I go home and experiment with counting using jellybeans I found on the kitchen table. I go to my room and spill the bag of jellybeans all over my bed. After putting a few in my mouth I grab two red jellybeans and four blue jellybeans. I mix them together and count. Six. Four plus two equals six. I remove one jellybean. Five. Five is the sum of three and two. I jump off my bed and decide to pay my mom a visit in her room. As I walk in the VT Kitchen Experience automatically pauses the video it was playing on how to make healthy food choices when buying microwave food. My mom turns around and I ask her what two plus four is. “Two plus four? Woah, I haven’t done addition in a long time but I believe two plus four is five. Am I right? Let’s check my answer using a calculator.” I sigh and walk out just as my mom pulls her sleeve up to use the calculator that is on her phone watch. It’s disappointing having to rely on technology so much.

Everyone believes that four plus two equals five. But no one understands or questions why. If no one understands and questions why then... does he/she who questions why have an advantage over society? Is what I know to be true actually be false? It's a scary question, but it's definitely a possibility. A society that is wrong on something as simple as counting is bound to make enormous mistakes when it comes to bigger issues. If ever I wish to manipulate society I know it will be incredibly easy with no limit to what I can do, which is why this counting mistake will be my secret. I may be small but I have big ideas.