Numbers

Numbers often seemed like a safer way of doing things. If it has to beÊ'done by the numbers,' there's less chance of someone's subjectivity getting in the way of a productive task. Numbers have given researchers a special feeling of closeness to the truth, while being as easy if not easier to manipulate than qualitative data. Computers have become management's most adoring laborers, replacing workers who needed constant pay and praise. With the advent of sophisticated servomechanisms during World War II, new realms of manufacturing possibilities appeared in the dreams of the servants of capital.Computer-Assisted Design and Computer-Assisted Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) fulfill managers' dreams of willing servants, working tirelessly to get the draft sketches just right and then turning them into reality. However expensive this way of doing it by the numbers may be, it has proven cheaper than the old way of doing it by hand (costing jobs) and has made new projects possible (perhaps creating jobs).