Do numbers even exist in Nature? I don’t think so. They are human concepts, to which humans have attached meaning. In Nature, things simply are as they are. For example, there’s a tall flowering plant growing in the woodlands and by the freeways, blooming with pink to purple flowers in profusion right now. Is it Wild Phlox or is it Dame’s Rocket? The two look very much alike. Wild Phlox, however, has 5 petals on each flower. It is a native wildflower. Dame’s Rocket has 4 petals to a flower, and it is an invasive species. One is celebrated, the other ripped out at the roots in great handfuls and left to wither in the sun.
We make a lot of judgments based on numbers. What’s your SAT score? Your credit score? Your cholesterol level?
Does it matter? We live; we make choices; we die. I think numbers are immaterial. I think character is everything. A growing thing, no matter the number of its parts, is alive. It deserves respect.
scillagrace 
Yeah…numbers schnumbers. I agree. Although…fractals in nature are all about perfect numbers. They are pretty cool. Have a wonderful weekend!
Fractals probably don’t call themselves fractals and don’t know that what they do is based on numbers…you know the point. But they are indeed cool!
I absolutely agree. When I first graduated, I got a job with Northwest Airlines as a reservation agent. On the third day they showed us into a huge room where there was a giant wall covered with lights. I was one of them. They could track how many seconds I was on each call, how long I had each customer on hold, and how many seconds between calls. That day I took the bus home and never went back, but I am always very kind and patient with my reservation agents to remind them that they are more than numbers and blinking lights.
What an interesting example! Wow.