Let’s get into it—this is a stinky one.

What were our high numbers growing up? Hundreds? Thousands? Millions? Billions?

Ten?

At what point does a statistic shock us now?

Do statistics even shock us anymore?

I always bring receipts, so look at this work, “A Small Problem with Big Numbers,” by Shreyas Kamath, in which he discusses how the human mind cannot comprehend large numbers.

When we look at numbers on social media now, a thousand sounds like 10 and a million sounds like a hundred. Having 100 likes on a post seems so small until you’re a gorilla and you see a hundred people charge at you over a speculative idea.

Death statistics— yes, we will talk about this—We see the numbers amass day by day, but we have been desensitized to it because we see it so much that it looks so unimportant.

Using a current problem, Palestine. 61,709 is the number of dead people at the moment, according to Aljazeera.

Looks pretty small compared to the usual numbers we see everyday right?

Let’s put it into perspective, 61,709 people could almost fill a large football stadium— for example, that’s about the size of a big match crowd at places like Anfield (Liverpool) where the seating capacity is 61,276. Check the picture below for reference.

Now imagine having 61,709 followers on Instagram. Imagine standing at the center of a stadium filled with 61,709 people, creating your usual get-ready-with-me (GRWM) content. I doubt you’d be able to get ready.

Another perspective, a group-chat in Germany was found, with 70,000 men learning tips on how to drug women and abuse them. That’s more than the entire population of Guersney, Europe. Do you know what 70,000 looks like?

You don’t?

Really?

Scroll up to that picture again.

Now, let’s divert from that topic. For now.

Let’s talk on something we all know and love— No not me, y’all are making me blush.

MONEY!

We all love money. Well, we love having it.

Money is one of those things that have been put out of perspective because a lot of people lack the amount of money they look forward to having. You see these questions all over the internet.

Then the answers pour in like clockwork.

People talk about buying their favourite things, a car, a house, food, clothes, jewelry. You name it.

Though a million dollars could cover it, think of how much would be left.

The median price of a 5-bedroom house in less luxurious cities in America, is $315,000. A Lamborghini Urus is around $250,000. Now these are obviously, very high-end products, but you still have $435,000.

For my Nigerian readers, $435,000 is approximately ₦696,600,969.90 (according to google 14/05/2025)

• If someone spends ₦100,000 per month, covering rent, food, transportation, and basic expenses, the money will last about 580 years—which means they’d never finish it in a lifetime

• At ₦500,000 per month, accounting for some comfort and savings, it would take about 116 years to spend it all.

• If they spend ₦1 million per month, living quite comfortably but not excessively, they’d use it up in about 58 years.

For my lavish spenders,

• ₦1 million per day on luxury items, vacations, cars, and entertainment, they would use it up in about 697 days (just under 2 years).

• ₦5 million per week, covering high-end restaurants, designer clothes, and exclusive events, they’d be finished in about 139 weeks (a little over 2.5 years).

• ₦20 million per month, including extravagant real estate purchases, luxury cars, and frequent international trips, it would last about 34 months (almost 3 years).

(Don’t forget this is just a spend for $435,000, not a million dollars. gasp!)

I made a poll on twitter (now called X, can’t believe I have to call it that) and asked the question “How long do you think a million dollars would last you?”

24 hours later, with 64 responses, the highest result was 41% for less than 10 years and 38% for less than 3 years. Lot of lavish spenders on my timeline, wow.

Okay so I left this draft for a while and left my train of thought. So, I’ll stop here.

Moral lesson: Big numbers are bigger than our brain can imagine.

If you want to read a different work from me, so this wouldn’t end on some cliffhanger, click on the next article below. (I’ll write more, just give me time)

Smell you later!

Nalena Kumar’s article on the Psychology of cartoons gives a deep dive into how they shape children and adults, how they see life as a whole, and how they understand the dynamics of society and human behaviours.

From violence in movies to sex on TV, kids’ shows and cartoons had their fair share of adult undertones, whether it be occultic, subtly sexual or downright violent, which was an issue in itself. It did not take too long for one parent to realise and ask, “Why is this in a kids’ show?”

As much as we would love to complain and say things we watched as kids did not affect us, we know it isn’t far from a lie. That’s why seeing characters depicted in a certain kind of goody-two-shoes-icity rubs you differently.

Changing animation styles and plotlines entirely so it would create a sweet childhood experience for the kids, keeping them away from the harshness of adulthood, capitalism and life as a whole, so it does not affect them, takes away important lessons that they need to learn.

Lessons? What lessons?

Thank you for that question— Have you not been paying attention?

Our cartoons, though we may not have noticed it then, were more progressive than the forced progression and inclusivity that the producers are trying to inculcate into kids’ shows of today. Be it diversity, equality, sexual orientation or real-world issues, the old shows subtly display them in these shows, and we realize how it slowly radicalizes and influences us as children, increasing its rewatch value and the nostalgia we get when we think of these shows. Plus, they were way goofier.

A popular example is the kids’ show, which I know a lot of us watched growing up, Steven Universe and Adventure Time. What was more woke than a show filled with mythical lesbians, gender performative roles, stigma, relationship dynamics and needless to say, the power of friendship?

Then, User FizzlePopBerryTwist from Reddit under r/cartoons said, “Oh cartoons in the 90’s weren’t woke, they’re so based and hetero-normative!” Don’t give me that. The 90’s invented were progressive AF. This villain is literally just called by a pronoun!”

Another one of my personal favourites, which I have watched multiple times, Scooby Doo Mystery Inc. Explains multiple mental disorders in the characters, from Velma’s Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Daphne’s Dependent Personality Disorder to Fred’s Classic Narcissism. It showed us how far people could go due to their greed and personal gain. Additionally, it taught children creativity with their imagination, and even problem-solving skills — I know how excited I was when I solved the mysteries before Velma.

I’m sure you get what I mean by now.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to talk down on all the modern kids’ shows. Some have had me bawling my eyes out during a single watch. Now, that’s where the problem lies. I watch it, and I move on (or feel some kind of irritation). Coming from someone who has rewatched 90% of her childhood shows, that’s something. There’s no urge to rewatch, and there’s no nostalgic feeling after the watch.

There’s no rewatch value. That’s why most kids’ shows now are poor renditions or imitations of more popular old shows.

Tweets from users based on this topic:

Back to the main thing, with the new era of being “woke” (derogatory), producers want to show how ‘in touch’ with society they are, by making the shows centre around a particular type of activism and not incorporating it in said shows. It does more harm than good because doing that makes it seem like agenda-pushing/ advocating a certain propaganda, creating more hate/spite for all parties involved.

Conclusion, I have no conclusion, this is still happening, and I’m not good at ending things (ask my exes).

Words coming out as easily as I thought about them became foreign to me.

Did I need to read more? I thought.

I read more.

Nothing.

I tried to reconnect with nature.

Nothing.

I tried using AI.

I almost hated myself for that, lol.

Then I kept asking myself what I needed to do, who I needed to talk to, and what I could do to make it better.

Then it hit me.

I was trying to write my words perfectly.

I was trying to be something I wasn’t. Perfect.

Then I decided I’d write. Anything and everything that came to mind.

A talk on my day, the way the weather felt, everything.

I would write everything.