Ship of Fools: Favourite numbers

Thread: Favourite numbers Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

Most people have a favourite number - what's yours, and why?

Here are some of the more entertaining reasons why some people decided on their favourite numbers (scroll down, the YouTube is an ad).

Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :

Not saying - use it too much in passwords.

Posted by Porridge (# 15405) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
Most people have a favourite number - what's yours, and why?

Here are some of the more entertaining reasons why some people decided on their favourite numbers (scroll down, the YouTube is an ad).

They do? Who knew?

Posted by Nenya (# 16427) on :

I don't have a favourite number - I'm not actually that fond of numbers, more of a words girl myself - but I much prefer odd ones. I always like it better when my age is an odd number, for instance.

Even numbers are so rounded and self satisfied - "I'm divisible by two, you know..." Odd ones are more edgy, and bristling with possibilities.

Nen - worries about herself sometimes...

Posted by balaam (# 4543) on :

583, because it is sub prime.

Posted by no prophet (# 15560) on :

I like phi, φ, 1.618. It is the Golden Ratio. Which is worth a web search IMHO if you've never heard of it.

Pi, π, is another one, but not as aesthetically exciting.

Posted by HCH (# 14313) on :

Actually, 583 is not prime, as it is 11 times 53, and it is not a sub prime number, as it is not 1 less than a prime.

Posted by Boogie (# 13538) on :

28 - I have no idea why!

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

I like 16. 1 and 6 feature in my birthdate, and they add up to 7, which is quiet and peaceful after the egocentricity of 1 and the noisiness of 6 (there are 6 1s in it, after all). I usually have a 16 in my range of numbers if I buy a lottery ticket.

Posted by not entirely me (# 17637) on :

3.

Always has been my favourite.

It's "hard" and "blue" but no idea why it's my favourite otherwise.

Posted by HCH (# 14313) on :

Just for the record, 28 is considered a perfect number (like 6) because it is the sum of its proper divisors: 28 = 14 + 7 + 4 + 2 + 1.

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :

I like 1000003, the smallest and most memorable seven-figure prime.

Posted by Chorister (# 473) on :

My favourite numbers as a child were 3 and 10. I think that was because, at the time I was into favourite numbers, they were the ages of myself and my younger brother. I used to count up to either 3 or 10 regularly, over and over, to restore order to my world. Although this is many years ago now, I still admit to a sneaking regard for those numbers which kept be going way back then.

Apparently, according to a programme I watched, when people are asked to pick a number between one and ten, 3 and 7 are the favourite choices. And that when people are asked to pick a two digit number, the one most often picked is 37. Not sure why.

Posted by Yonatan (# 11091) on :

4. It was the number on the 'Hymns Ancient and Modern' which was allocated to me when I was a choir boy. Also liked it because I thought it symbolised the Trinity + 1, the 1 being me. Seeing it written out like that makes me realise just how weird that is. Ah well.......

Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :

347, because it was my grandparents' membership number at the Bel Air Bay Club on the beach in LA near the end of Sunset Boulevard and also my father-in-law's house number on Cherry Avenue in Long Beach, though the latter no longer exists. I really don't use it for anything important though, I just like it!

Posted by Graven Image (# 8755) on :

4711 a cologne used by an friend long long ago.

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :

Certain fondness for 5.

Because I remember looking at my spread fingers and thinking I have 5 fingers and I am 5 years old - and being entranced by the realisation that there was something - fiveness - which transcended any specific instance.

Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :

quote:
Originally posted by no prophet:
I like phi, φ, 1.618. It is the Golden Ratio. Which is worth a web search IMHO if you've never heard of it.

Pi, π, is another one, but not as aesthetically exciting.

I rather like e which I learnt to several decimal places when I was a schoolboy*:

2.718281828459045...

Wikipedia gives it to fifty decimal places, which is probably more than is necessary for Ship use.

*Yes, I was a bit of a maths geek [nerd?] back then.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
Certain fondness for 5.

Because I remember looking at my spread fingers and thinking I have 5 fingers and I am 5 years old - and being entranced by the realisation that there was something - fiveness - which transcended any specific instance.

We had this thread before. I commented that my favorite number was five when I was a kid, because I decided it looked like a cute little round man with a cap on. Ken came sailing in five posts later.... [Big Grin]

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
We had this thread before.

Curses. I thought I'd found something original - no memories of a previous one.

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :

78, because it was my late grandparents' house number. I'd talk about going to 78 for the weekend, for example, so it was more than just a number, it was my favourite place to be.

Posted by bib (# 13074) on :

24 because my three children were all born on the 24th of the month (different years and different months. Child number 1 was two weeks late, child number 2 was two weeks early and child number 3 was born on her due date. I'm always amazed at this and therefore choose 24 as my lucky number.

Posted by Gee D (# 13815) on :

47 - one of the great vintage years of last century, in vineyards all around the world and in the San as well.

Posted by Schroedinger's cat (# 64) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
We had this thread before.
Curses. I thought I'd found something original - no memories of a previous one.

I get that at my age too.

Posted by balaam (# 4543) on :

quote:
Originally posted by HCH:
Actually, 583 is not prime, as it is 11 times 53, and it is not a sub prime number, as it is not 1 less than a prime.

OK, sub prime.

Posted by balaam (# 4543) on :

My favourite number used to be i. But then I realised I was imagining it.

Posted by balaam (# 4543) on :

quote:
Originally posted by balaam:

quote:
Originally posted by HCH:
Actually, 583 is not prime, as it is 11 times 53, and it is not a sub prime number, as it is not 1 less than a prime.
OK, sub prime.

OOPS, semi prime.

Posted by Kaplan Corday (# 16119) on :

Digression alert.

Does anyone else associate colours with numbers?

For me, one is white, two dark blue, three bright orangey red, four light grey, five yellow, six dark green, seven pale blue, eight dark brown, nine dark grey, and ten a browny red (similarity of ten and tan?)

I gather that the technical term for this is grapheme-colour synesthesia, but I'm not sure that I really have it, because I don't actually see the numbers on the page in those colours.

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :

When we were children words were coloured
(Harlot and murder were dark purple)....

I didn't have quite the lurid vocabulary of the young McNeice obviously, but numbers - and days of the week - as among the earliest abstract concepts you had to learn/memorise partook of that primal synaesthesia.

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kaplan Corday:
Digression alert.

Does anyone else associate colours with numbers?

For me, one is white, two dark blue, three bright orangey red, four light grey, five yellow, six dark green, seven pale blue, eight dark brown, nine dark grey, and ten a browny red (similarity of ten and tan?)

I gather that the technical term for this is grapheme-colour synesthesia, but I'm not sure that I really have it, because I don't actually see the numbers on the page in those colours.

Ish. I'm the generation that had cuissinaire rods at school - white/one; red/two; green/three; pink /four etc, so I was actually taught that two reds equal a pink, and three greens and a white equals orange. It's not synesthesia, though, just the way I was taught. I can see numbers up to ten in their cuissinaire colours.

Posted by The5thMary (# 12953) on :

4. I just like the way it sounds. Forrr. When I was in my late teens, early twenties, one of my acquaintances was a young man who was the fifth of his line and we called him "Four", to be cute. I've always remembered that.

Posted by Kaplan Corday (# 16119) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
When we were children words were coloured
(Harlot and murder were dark purple)....

And adultery is scarlet - the first letter is, anyway.

Is merely moderately sensationalist writing lilac literature rather than purple prose?

Posted by HughWillRidmee (# 15614) on :

7 - from time immemorial so no idea why

However - in the late 70s I joined a large national salesforce - my area no. was 7! - then, in the mid 80s they decided to computerise the system and I had to become 007. You can imagine how I hated that - not!

Posted by Wild Organist (# 12631) on :

42. Douglas Adams thought highly of it, and that's enough for me.

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kaplan Corday:
Does anyone else associate colours with numbers?

Yes: some stand out more than others. 8 is unequivocally orange-red, hard; 6 is pale blue; 3 is a sort of mid to dark green; 11 is silver. 4 is red, but not a very bright one, while 9 is a kind of mauve-grey. I have no idea about the others.

It's entirely possible that I may have been influenced by numerology as a child, where the colours are associated with numbers, signs of the Zodiac, etc.

Posted by Stercus Tauri (# 16668) on :

quote:
Originally posted by balaam:
My favourite number used to be i. But then I realised I was imagining it.

Aaaarrrghhhh.....!!!

Posted by chive (# 208) on :

Three and eight are my safe numbers. Three is only safe on its own but eight can be safe in multiples or divisibles of itself (ie half of eight or half of half of eight). Every day when I travel to work on the Eurotunnel my colleagues and I discuss whether the carriage we're in is a safe one according to the Law of the Threes and the Eights.

It is safe to go upstairs if there are threes or eights involved. Thankfully both my house and my work have twelve steps which is eight plus half of eight so therefore safe.

When I walk I do it counting up to eight in my head. I always have to make it so when I finish where I'm walking to it is on an eight step otherwise I can't stop.

At one junction on the way to work I count the cars waiting to go the other direction. If there are three or follow the eight rule the day will be safe.

The Law of Threes and Eights makes life quite complicated sometimes.

Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kaplan Corday:
Digression alert.

Does anyone else associate colours with numbers?

For me, one is white, two dark blue, three bright orangey red, four light grey, five yellow, six dark green, seven pale blue, eight dark brown, nine dark grey, and ten a browny red (similarity of ten and tan?)

I gather that the technical term for this is grapheme-colour synesthesia, but I'm not sure that I really have it, because I don't actually see the numbers on the page in those colours.

Synesthesia doesn't mean you can't visually see that the numbers on the page are in black ink (or red, or blue, or whatever). It means that you have a strong and involuntary association between a number or letter and a color (some people see it in their mind's eye). IMHO a sure sign of synesthesia is if you see one of those hand-colored car wash signs where the local youth group is fund-raising, and somebody has decided to do each letter in a different rainbow color--and your hand starts itching to go over and correct the colors.*

*Yes, that'd be me. [Hot and Hormonal]

And 1 is white, two is red, three is yellow/orange, four is light yellow/green, five is electric blue...

There are also people who have associations with sounds, textures, or tastes rather than/in addition to colors.

Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :

I like eights too. I had a mildly OCD-like condition in childhood, and I used to walk home counting steps in eights. I can still count things by eights and sixteens in a semi-conscious, not concentrating kind of way--which is handy when you're doling out Easter eggs or something.

But I do wonder about the possible OCD connection, now that I see my son doing much the same.

Posted by Starbug (# 15917) on :

I associate some numbers with emotions. I think it's something to with the way they look on the page. For example, 5 always looks angry and 3 looks frightened.

My favourite number is 7, which is supposed to be lucky and also because I read somewhere that's it's God's number, i.e. 7 represents perfection. The devil's number is 666, which falls short of perfection because it can't reach 7, no matter how many more sixes you add to the end of it.

I'm a bit OCD...

Posted by Eutychus (# 3081) on :

quote:
Originally posted by HCH:
Just for the record, 28 is considered a perfect number (like 6) because it is the sum of its proper divisors: 28 = 14 + 7 + 4 + 2 + 1.

I used to think 28 was the perfect age, which I aspired to attain. Now it seems Far Too Young.

Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Lamb Chopped:
I can still count things by eights and sixteens in a semi-conscious, not concentrating kind of way--.

Very handy for doing music, as well!

My number is 13. Not always lucky, but it's mine. (I was 13 on Friday the 13th.)

It could be I like the number because a baker's dozen of a favorite pastry is a Good Thing™.

Posted by Kyzyl (# 374) on :

The speed of light c is a pretty good number (299 792 458 m/s)

Posted by Ian Climacus (# 944) on :

The BBC World Service's version of More or Less had an episode dedicated to this recently.

I've always been partial to 3.

Posted by The Phantom Flan Flinger (# 8891) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Wild Organist:
42. Douglas Adams thought highly of it, and that's enough for me.

You and me both.

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :

quote:
Originally posted by North East Quine:

quote:
Originally posted by Kaplan Corday:
... Does anyone else associate colours with numbers?
Ish. I'm the generation that had cuissinaire rods at school - white/one; red/two; green/three; pink /four ...

I was just thinking exactly that - I'm that generation too!

Posted by Zappa (# 8433) on :

33, though you'd have to ask D.H. Lawrence why.

Posted by cattyish (# 7829) on :

When I was a wee girl I started to feel like I'd be safer if I did everything a set number of times. It was usually ten. It was so inconvenient and anxiety-provoking that I resisted the urge and got over it within a fortnight or so. Having met lots of people who struggle with obsessive compulsive behaviours I am now grateful that the habit didn't stick, and that no number makes me overly anxious now.

Three is a good number for a road trip, and seven for a camping weekend. I like to cook for nine including children for Christmas dinner.

Cattyish, numbers for most occasions.

Posted by que sais-je (# 17185) on :

quote:
Originally posted by no prophet:
Pi, π, is another one, but not as aesthetically exciting.

To be totally nerdish, I'd go for π expressed in base 16. It begins: 3.243F6A8885A308D313198A2E037
07344A4093822299F31D0
082EFA98EC4E6C89452821E638
D01377BE5466CF34E90C6CC0AC29B7C97C50DD3F84D5B5B54 709179216D5D98979FB ...

In decimal π's digits appear to be completely random. If someone asks, "What's the millionth digit of π" you have to calculate all the first million to find out. Though the base 16 digits above look random there is a formula to give you just the 1000000th.

So if by chance we'd had evolved with 16 fingers π wouldn't have seemed quite so mysterious.

[Try not to break the scroll lock, please.
Thanks,
Ariel, Heaven Host.]

[ 04. May 2014, 16:57: Message edited by: Ariel ]

Posted by Patdys (# 9397) on :

226, cos I'm no longer a wannabe.

Posted by Sparrow (# 2458) on :

My lucky number has always been 9, don't know why.

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