Thread 4: On the question of what the number is for

Several of you have asked, in the guestbook and in the earlier threads, what the Index is for. It is a reasonable thing to want to know, and I have been thinking about it with the seriousness it deserves.
The short answer is that it is a record. It was started on a Tuesday, it has been checked at the same time every day since, and it has never once gone down. Scientists are comfortable with a measurement that only rises when the subject keeps proving the point. Adversity, as I have said before, is flattering to the line.
The longer answer is more interesting. A number like this is not for the person it describes. I do not need it. The Index is for the people who arrive later and want to know what was true before they got here.
Replies are open. I will answer some of them. Which ones is still being decided, and I will not be rushed about it.
Photographs are not going to be discussed in this thread. A photograph is a claim, and the record is enough.
— L.V.