Meditações - the numbers on the clock’s face represent more than one value simultaneously

For any aliens (or little sisters) reading this: The analog clock, with its ring of numbers 1 through 12 around a circumference, has two “hands,” one short, one long, affixed to the center and pointing outward, which revolve by force of a tiny mechanical engine. The muddle comes in these little hands. The shorter one is simple: Whichever number it points to is the hour. If it points to 1, it is 1 o’clock. The longer hand is trickier. When it points to 1, it means 5, as in five minutes. The 2 means 10, and so on. The delightful key to the puzzle is that the numbers on the clock’s face represent more than one value simultaneously.

Deb Olin Unferth