“...Is there not a great deal of superstition where numbers are concerned? What can in some way be counted is accepted in science. Science loves to weigh, to compute; and social science loves statistics--again a matter of computation and reckoning. It will be difficult indeed for people to bring themselves to admit that all knowledge of the external world acquired through measure and number is so much delusion.
To measure--what does it mean, in reality? It means to compare something with a given dimension, be it length or volume...with a smaller unit. In such measurements, no matter whether of lengths or surfaces or weights, the qualitative element is entirely lacking. The number three always remains the same, whether one is counting sheep or politicians. It is not a matter of quality but merely quantity. The essential principle of volume and number is that the qualitative aspect is left out of account.
But for that very reason all knowledge derived from the principle of volume and measure is illusory; and the fact to be taken in all seriousness is that the moment we enter the world that can be weighed and measured, the world of space and time, we enter a world of illusion, a world that is nothing but a mirage as long as we take it to be reality. ...in truth, what things signify in space and time is their external aspect only, and we must transcend space and time, penetrating to much deeper levels if we are to reach the innermost truth, the innermost essence of things. -- Rudolf Steiner, Dornach 2/11/19
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