One
Created | Updated Oct 20, 2010
<font align="center" size="+2"><b>It's not a lot.</b></font> <BR/>
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"One is the loneliest number that could ever be....Two is just as bad as one. It's the loneliest number since the number one."
---Unknown Song Artist <BR/>
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One is a singularly useful number. You can use it when counting yourself, the amount of people that are exactly like you, or even how many noses you own--assuming you're of the human race, of course. This handy numeral is often found in front of many zeros, but is better served by itself, with no others around. <BR/>
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The essence of the number one is simply thus: there is an object, and there is none other but the object. Such a simple concept has been with us for centuries. It is not known whether the ancient Greeks or Arabs first came up with this idea, or if the number predates all human knowledge. A historical investigation into the origin of one might be fruitless, as this number is the easiest to learn about, and the hardest to ignore; so it would be so firmly ingrained in our culture that pinning down a sole origin would prove difficult. For simplicity's sake, it is easiest to assume that this number came about very early on, possibly by an individual of some sort.<BR/>
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It's also easy to list things that you can use the number for. There is only one h2g2. There is only one Paris, France. There is only one...one. Any more than that, and it would not be one. It would be two, three, four, and so on. All the way up to infinity, in fact, which is a pretty darn big number.<BR/>
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Counting to one is staggeringly easy. Start with zero, if you prefer, and then name the amount that comes after it. You only have to do this once, and you're already there. This feature has been debated by mathematicians, who think that the square root of negative six should be in there somewhere first, but the majority of thinking, reasoning human beings will agree that one is the first number.<BR/>
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Many attempts have been made to take that which is many, and change it to be a singular entity or object. The majority of the time, it doesn't work--witness corporate mergers, committee forming, global economy, 3-D puzzles, organized rallys, trash compactors, and public utilities commissions. One is One; it cannot be duplicated, as then it would be Two. Though we can refer to a group as being one group, they are still many individuals wrapped into a general term.<BR/>
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There is only One One. <BR/>
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<BR/>
"One is the loneliest number that could ever be....Two is just as bad as one. It's the loneliest number since the number one."
---Unknown Song Artist <BR/>
<BR/>
One is a singularly useful number. You can use it when counting yourself, the amount of people that are exactly like you, or even how many noses you own--assuming you're of the human race, of course. This handy numeral is often found in front of many zeros, but is better served by itself, with no others around. <BR/>
<BR/>
The essence of the number one is simply thus: there is an object, and there is none other but the object. Such a simple concept has been with us for centuries. It is not known whether the ancient Greeks or Arabs first came up with this idea, or if the number predates all human knowledge. A historical investigation into the origin of one might be fruitless, as this number is the easiest to learn about, and the hardest to ignore; so it would be so firmly ingrained in our culture that pinning down a sole origin would prove difficult. For simplicity's sake, it is easiest to assume that this number came about very early on, possibly by an individual of some sort.<BR/>
<BR/>
It's also easy to list things that you can use the number for. There is only one h2g2. There is only one Paris, France. There is only one...one. Any more than that, and it would not be one. It would be two, three, four, and so on. All the way up to infinity, in fact, which is a pretty darn big number.<BR/>
<BR/>
Counting to one is staggeringly easy. Start with zero, if you prefer, and then name the amount that comes after it. You only have to do this once, and you're already there. This feature has been debated by mathematicians, who think that the square root of negative six should be in there somewhere first, but the majority of thinking, reasoning human beings will agree that one is the first number.<BR/>
<BR/>
Many attempts have been made to take that which is many, and change it to be a singular entity or object. The majority of the time, it doesn't work--witness corporate mergers, committee forming, global economy, 3-D puzzles, organized rallys, trash compactors, and public utilities commissions. One is One; it cannot be duplicated, as then it would be Two. Though we can refer to a group as being one group, they are still many individuals wrapped into a general term.<BR/>
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There is only One One. <BR/>
