# numbers (1-numbers.org)

People say numbers to mean the symbols we count with, like 1, 2, 3, or phone numbers, lottery numbers, or house numbers. It can also mean a lot of something, as in 'we have numbers on our side.'

## What a model may hear
- numeric data type (programming languages and databases): may treat input as integers, floats, or decimals and perform math or validation on it
- phone number or identifier (telecommunications and identity systems): may parse for country codes, format strings, or check against spam databases
- array of values (data science and statistics): may expect a dataset, generate distributions, or run statistical tests
- command-line arguments (Unix and shell scripting): may interpret as positional parameters like $1, $2, $3

## Where people and models part ways
- Says: "give me the numbers"
  Means: show me the sales figures or statistics
  May be taken as: may return raw numeric arrays without context or labels
  Say instead: "give me the sales figures with labels and units"
- Says: "these numbers don't add up"
  Means: something seems wrong or inconsistent
  May be taken as: may run a math check and report the sum is correct, missing the figurative complaint
  Say instead: "these claims seem inconsistent, can you check for errors"
- Says: "I have your numbers"
  Means: I have your contact information
  May be taken as: may assume possession of a dataset or mathematical constants
  Say instead: "I have your phone number and email address"

## Tips
- Specify units and format when asking for numbers
- Say 'statistics' or 'figures' if you want analysis, not raw digits
- Use 'phone number' or 'ID number' to avoid type confusion
- Say 'a large group' instead of 'numbers' if you mean many people
- Ask for 'labeled data' when you need numbers with context

## Often confused with
- digits: emphasizes individual symbols, not quantities
- integers: excludes fractions and decimals in math
- figures: often implies calculated or financial data
- numerals: the written symbols, not the values
- data: broader, includes non-numeric information