Qualitative Aspect

Years back I spoke in a brief presentation on Financial Modeling “As is the limitation with accounting, so it is with financial models that the qualitative aspect cannot stated in it. It is only that quantitative aspect that can be incorporated in them through numbers. But you can add footnotes to say what the numbers don’t.”

Being in finance and financial modeling, I juggle with numbers a lot. My life is so filled of them and thus the quantitative aspect. Of late, a void in me, I felt existed for some time, only grew larger. I wondered what it was all about. Something that wasn’t easy to figure out. I believe I’m missing the qualitative aspect. I’ve quite a bit of the quantitative stuff. I earn, though not much, but I do -- again, a number. Everyday it is all about how much profit, margin, how many customers, how much goods -- numbers again.

There was a time, now seems long ago, when my life was quite bereft of numbers – student life. I guess life wasn’t that bad at that time, though I had more in my brains than in my pocket. Well, that’s a fact now too. But the ratio is quite smaller – quantity of stuff in the pocket increased and in the brains decreased. Those days, I had nothing like numbers to worry about. The lessons in school had to be understood well. The folk song had to be absorbed in. I traded not in numbers but delved deep in things that pleased me. Not that numbers upset me, but I’m forced to deal with them like it is a chore. I had no reason that time to indulge in petty politics or listen to any of the foolish things any fool had to say. Understanding things wasn’t a chore. So was talking to people. What quality!!

The question that I now face is that how to I bring in the qualitative aspect now? The world, my friend, is obsessed with the quantitative one. And weekdays are all about them. I listen to songs and watch around. My respect for liberal arts has grown manifold over the past few years. Earlier, I saw them making very little contribution to the world. Of course, the thought came out of my own limited vision and comprehension. A good novel, a good song, a good write up, etc can infuse a lot of warmth, bliss and satiation which I feel that numbers lack. Frankly, they are quite dry. They just say yes or no, unlike a philosopher. They have an inherent limitation of view and there is very little debatable about them. They point in one direction, which is good but they can point to a goal which is very near, that is, they lack the ability to look far too ahead across the horizon. Liberal arts I feel is limitless. It can extend to whatever you can think of and is capable of presenting things that can be pondered over and debated.

Numbers will tell you “how many friends”. “How important” is the real thing, which is beyond the scope of numbers. I’m still trying to figure out the ways to get more of the qualitative aspect in my life. They don’t cost much. But I’m trying to buy the time I need to get to them.