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What's your favorite number?

the_infernal_optimist posted on Aug 22, 2007 | views: 1671 | Tags: numbers, silly, little league, Math
I'm really starting to feel like the bridgekeeper in a certain Monty Python movie now. (I promise not to ask about the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow...)

I'm also fairly certain it's been asked, at least tangentially, before...but there are enough new people here to make it worth asking again, so humor me. :-p

What's your favorite number? Why?

I'll go ahead and answer.

My favorite number is and has always been eight. There's so much about the physical representation of the number that appeals to me: it's rounded, and I prefer round/curved to angular in most everything. It's red for me, which is not my favorite color, but it lends a certain strength to things.

There are other aspects of eight/8 that draw me in as well. It's an even number, and therefore feels balanced in a squared-off way (I find four-based balances much more satisfying than pyramid-esque ones, if that makes any sense at all.)

Also, if you turn 8 on its side, you get the symbol for infinity (this turns it burgundy, a color I find deeply soothing and mesmerizing by turns). A proper 8 has no beginning and no ending, but it's filled (as opposed to 0, which has many negative connotations but also balances well).

Your turn. :)


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Comments

  • exhibit_c said on Aug 22, 2007....
    A mathematician has a very different take on favorite numbers.

    First, he is much less likely to select one based on its decimal
    representation. For example, your favorite number of 8 (decimal) looks
    like 10 in octal notation. Not so curvey. But to a mathematician, they
    are the same.

    Second, he is far less likely to stick to the integers, though he may,
    especially if he is a number theorist. Many mathematicians would pick
    e, or pi, or i.

    And mathematicians would be more likely to use the word "interesting"
    than the word "favorite." Here is one of the most famous anecdotes
    from mathematics, featuring G. H. Hardy and Srinivasa Ramanujan:

    "I (Hardy) remember going to see him (Ramanujan) once when he was lying ill in Putney.
    I had ridden in a taxi-cab number 1729, and remarked to him that the number seemed
    to me a rather dull one, and I hoped it was not an unfavourable omen. 'No' he
    reflected, 'it is a very interesting number; it is the smallest number expressible
    as the sum of two cubes in two different ways".     [Hardy, 1940]
  • beyondtheveil said on Aug 22, 2007....
    I've never been into numbers, my wife is the one that likes numerology. But I understand why you like eight. The number seven I've always liked, probably because its such a beautiful word. 
  • the_infernal_optimist said on Aug 22, 2007....
    exhibit_c: I am also intrigued by i. That's a good point - I suppose we do come at things from wildly differing perspectives sometimes, and that has a huge effect on where one would even begin with a question like this one.

    beyond: It is a nice word, isn't it? :)

    ~Infernal
  • exhibit_c said on Aug 22, 2007....
    infernal: I suppose you argue about whether i is or is not a number. To a mathematician, it is an element of the complex domain, but the phrase "real number field" would exclude i.

    It would be called a "complex number", but if a non-mathematician wanted to exclude it, I could see the point.

    Similar remarks apply to the degrees of infinity.
  • evil_twin said on Aug 22, 2007....
    My favorite number is three. I feel like it has special significance. They say that things come in three's and I've known this to be true. Bad things usually happen in three's, but so do good things. Plus, there's the holy trinity. The law of three. It has spiritual ties too :-)

    -evil_twin LA
  • exhibit_c said on Aug 22, 2007....
    Interestingly, science supports the idea that three is a special number for choices, groups, etc. In information theory, there is a formula that indicates the amount of information involved in making a seletion from a group. It turns out the most information comes from selecting from three choices.


  • fearing said on Aug 22, 2007....
    Infernal - I enjoyed your explanation of 8.  My favorite number is 7.  I like the religious significance.  You mentioned that 8 was red for you.  7 is yellow for me.  Yellow and purple are my favorite colors.  Over the many years I have worked with kids, they eventually figure out this is my favorite number.  Anytime we play the game "I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 10" they know I'll pick 7.  I know they know it but I still play the game that way. 

  • nursecutie said on Aug 22, 2007....

    Seven is my favorite number too!!! It's lucky! :) Fearing, did you know you were the SEVENTH comment, too??? LOL! Perfect!!

    xxoo natalie xxoo

  • the_infernal_optimist said on Aug 22, 2007....
    e_t: You're so right about the vast dimensions of three - it's been special in religious, mythical, and many other contexts for forever, it seems.

    fearing: How cool! My 7 is actually yellow as well! :-D

    exhibit: Thank you for your continued insights - very interesting!

    ~Infernal
  • fearing said on Aug 22, 2007....
    Infernal - I wonder how/why that is?  Cool that our number 7s are both yellow but what is the psychology behind putting colors with numbers?  Do you know?  Something to think about.
  • destinydiva said on Aug 22, 2007....
    wow what a cool way to express!!  i never looked at the number 8 that way before....  :-)  my fav number is five, and ya know, i feel very inferior now cus i dont even have an explanation!!
    i loved your explanation though... 

    hmmm im gonna give myself some time to think bout why i like number 5......  why dont i have a reason???  uhhhhh!!!  i need a reason !!!!  I want a reason like yours .... 

    it will come to me ....    :-)  mmm nope still no reason....  i zvill be back with one :-)
    (a reason)

    now if my fav number was 2 i could say because it looks like a swan and swans are soulmatey, they stay together forever with their mate, and I'm all romanticky like that....  (tho did you ever question wether swans have affairs???  who would know?? they all look the same!!)

    (btw..i think i am maybe finally loosing the plot!!  ha ha :-) 

    Destiny xx

    5  ..... nope still nothing coming to me????  how can i have a favourite number and no reason???




  • Yaboyndot said on Aug 22, 2007....
    I honestly have 2 favorite numbers, but they are related. Its 6 and 51. 51 is my favorite because I liked the way it looked on my football jersey and I practically wore it from junior hight throught college. 6 is more of a recent add it started with my fraternity and it keeps entering my life on a regular basis. And of course 5+1 =6
  • silverwhisper said on Aug 22, 2007....
    i dig on numbers slightly and have always been fond of 3, 7, 12 and 17. the first three b/c they're powerful numbers w/ significant meaning. i like 17 cuz it's always been lucky to me.

    ed
  • the_infernal_optimist said on Aug 22, 2007....
    natalie: Score another for lucky seven! I didn't notice that about fearing's comment - neat that you did. :)

    fearing: There's something to be said for associations that many people might have (like red "A" given the whole "A is for apple" line in school - my "A" is blue, btw, got me in a bit of trouble in kindergarten actually), but the few people I've met with colored numbers have been synesthetic as far as I can tell, which is a bit different than association...I don't understand it all, but I'd encourage you to dig up everything you can on the subject and devour it all if you're interested enough to pursue it.

    destiny: I lmao thinking about swan affairs just now! :-D Perhaps there are reasons behind your liking the number five that you're just not aware of - I'm sure they're there somewhere! :)

    Yaboyndot: Good point about your two numbers being related - that's pretty nifty. :) It's odd sometimes how certain numbers keep coming back. My cell phone number, for example, is the first phone number I've had in my whole life that didn't contain at least one 8 - at one point there were four of them in it, not including my area code!

    ed: I can understand why the first three would have their appeal for you, and a lucky number seems like a handy thing to have (I don't think I do have one there, so I just use 8 because I like it so much already ;-)).

    ~Infernal
  • fearing said on Aug 22, 2007....
    {Off to look up "synesthetic"}
  • .x.heart.of.gold.x. said on Aug 22, 2007....

    I've always liked the numbers: 4, 5, and 13. I don't know why, though......maybe because my son is four??? Thenn......what about my daughter, who is two yrs old?? I can't come up with an explanation as good as yours, infernal.!

    I'll have to think about it......grr......I dont like thinking!!!! :~(               LOL

    .x.heart.of.gold.x.     [ally]

  • sweet_cookie01 said on Aug 22, 2007....
    hmmmm.... i have a couple of favorites.... all signifies something important in my life...
     
    1- because its the birthday of semi hubby and my late father plus our anniversary, and who doesnt want to be number 1 right?...giggles...
     
    8 -  the same reason as yours, its continuous cycle.
     
    16 - because its my birthday and its divisible by 8... (hmmm does it matter really?..LOL..)
     
    4 - because its the birthday of my daughter.
  • mom said on Aug 22, 2007....
    1- cause it's the loneliest number

  • rmuxagirl said on Aug 22, 2007....
    I don't really have a favorite number, I never really thought about it.

    And I gotta say I love the Bridge keeper in Monty Python I can quote that whole scene lol.
  • Mamie said on Aug 22, 2007....
    my fav number is 5 (high FIVES Des!!) but it is lucky for me because when I was in first grade, the teacher was going to give away a REAL chalk board eraser to whomever guessed the number and I guessed five and WON!! I just knew ever since then that 5 was gonna be my lucky number!!
  • wakingharmony said on Aug 22, 2007....

    that is hard for me 4 has aways been a number i like  I was born on the 4th So was my father 2 of his brothers my granddaughter and many others.  35 & 53 are 2 otheres i like I was born in 1953 my mother in 1935   when I was 35yrs old my mother was 53yrs 

  • mirrorimage said on Aug 22, 2007....
    my favorite number has always been 7...i'm not sure why...it's not because its supposed to be lucky, i've just always really liked it.
  • Expendable said on Aug 22, 2007....

    Pi. Π

    So essential, so unnoticed. Full of depth.

  • 5dollar said on Aug 22, 2007....

    4 is still my favorite number, although it recent years it was 8. It's 4 because that's the number I had all through little league. 8 becaus it was Troy Aikman's number, first at UCLA, and then later with the Dallas Cowboys and Troy is my favorite football player, although he is retired now. But 4 will always be special to me.

  • hotaka said on Aug 22, 2007....
    I typed a long comment about an interesting number but after I submitted it there were server problems and I lost contact with SC for ten minutes. Now I have to go so I will be back later. Maybe exhibitC knows the number I am going to mention when I try again.
  • vacantmind said on Aug 23, 2007....
    Pi. its the best known irritational number. Oh how it describes me.
  • moonriver said on Aug 23, 2007....
    moonriver k'ung fu-tzu say, pi and 11. why eleven? it's afterthought of 7. vacantmind and expendable, we have same thoughts about pi. 11 kowtows to both of you.

  • Suddenrain said on Aug 23, 2007....
    I seem to have an attraction to zeros. They look great on a check. Plus it reminds me of a continuous circle of love. 77 has also been lucky for me. I have no idea why. It just always pops up.
  • paulwar said on Aug 23, 2007....
    my number is 666
  • PassionTraveler said on Aug 23, 2007....
    I have several favorite numbers -- 3 and 7.

    I found it interesting that Infernal Optimist sees numbers with colors. I don't see colors with my numbers, but I see the calendar as a three dimensional image in my mind - like a wheel -- with December-January at the top, and June-July at the bottom. Ask me anything about a month, and instantly, my spatial awareness transports me to space and I'm seeing this wheel float horizontally before me.

    I'm not even sure why I like those numbers, but every astrology, fortune cookie, numerology, etc... all keep pointing to these numbers as meant for me, or significant.

    I just like them.

    PT

     
  • fearing said on Aug 23, 2007....
    @Passion - That is cool about the calendar!
  • gingersoul said on Aug 23, 2007....

    Infernal.....I like Pi and 3......

    The first one because is so mysterious.....Moon, what a coincidence....:-)

    The 3 because i like to think it as a tripod...with the perfect balanced strenght of each legs to support any weight.

    Plus, in interiors design they teach you that you should always decorate in 3's....never 2's or 4's ...because 3 is the symbol (by ancient times) of elegance and balance......it seems the our brain reacts visually better in a house where the elements are positioned in group of  3's...interesting...:-)

    I have a weakness for 6  too though..... 

  • brokenandused said on Aug 23, 2007....

    infernal_  i have two numbers that stand out in my life, the first one being 7. The reason for 7 is when i was young i was very sick, i missed over3 months of school. My grandpa bought me a troll (remember those?) and it had a huge 7 on it's shirt. Shortly after i got better and believed for a long time it was due to the #7 troll!! lol... i know better know... anyway, the second number is 19. 19 is the day of my bday, i've had locker #19 for 6 yrs when in school and it's the day of my mom's bday.

    Im very interested in how you put colors with numbers. Is this something you do yourself or is there reasearch on this?

  • leadoffkarma said on Aug 23, 2007....
    My favorite number has always been 7. I don't know why.
  • Me-Myself&I said on Aug 23, 2007....

    howdy there, my favorite number is..."4"...see how proud i am of it!!**smile**

    no joke, most of my life there are 4s everywhere.. it started before i was

    borned. my grandfather died on his 44th birthday and 4 years later i was

    born on his birthday ...which is on the 4th....my phone has 4s in it, my address

     has 4s in it, my ss# has 4s in it, my son was borned at 4:22, when he was

    in Iraq his tow trucks and all were numbered 44...i could go on and on if

     i think hard enough soooooo my lucky number is "4"  ****smile****

  • the_infernal_optimist said on Aug 23, 2007....
    Wow - thanks for taking the time to reply, everybody!

    Every response is interesting, but I'm only going to mention a few here (sorry!):

    rmuxagirl: You have good taste in movies. ;-)

    PT: How cool about the calendar! Mine is more of a roller-coaster wave, and time itself is a sphere.

    broken: It's not a conscious effort, if that's what you mean. See synesthesia. :)

    I'm surprised so many people like pi. I find it an irritating number for some reason, probably because it's irrational.

    ~Infernal
  • wakingharmony said on Aug 23, 2007....
    MMI~ That is so me.... besides 4's above  My youngest wasborn in the 4th mo at 422am  (I also live at 422 street)  she weight 4 lbs 8oz ,  the one b4 the 24th...the house I was raised in had 44 in address... I just found it really neat you have a child also born at "4:22!
  • brokenandused said on Aug 23, 2007....
    Infernal _ 1 in 23 !! wow, how cool!! It's almost like you have a super power lol
  • hotaka said on Aug 23, 2007....
    Okay, trying again. I like 3 because it reminds me of a wave when turned on its side, and three 3s together look like the ocean with a series of waves. It's similar to an 8 but incomplete, making it not yet perfect but with potential to become perfect. I also like 23 because as a kid my favourite hockey player's number was 23. I associate good things with 23.

    Now here's an interesting number. I think exhibitC will know it.

    142857

    Watch the sequence unfold as you multiply it.

    x 2 = 285714
    x 3 = 428571
    x 4 = 571428
    x 5 = 714285
    x 6 = 857142
    x 7 = 999999

    Next it repeats but you add a 1 to the front and subtract 1 from the final digit.

    x 8 = 1142856
    x 9 = 1285713
    x 10 = 1428570
    x 11 = 1571427
    x 12 = 1714284
    x 13 = 1857141
    x 14 = 1999998

    Then it repeats again, this time you put 2 in front and subtract 2 from the final digit. And then 3, and then 4... it goes on and on.
    If I made any mistakes while typing this it's because I am typing and thinking quickly. Check out the number and you will see it works. I have a class now. See ya!
  • the_infernal_optimist said on Aug 23, 2007....
    hotaka: Wow, that's nifty! :-D

    ~Infernal
  • PassionTraveler said on Aug 25, 2007....
    Hotaka, are you a mathematician?
  • hotaka said on Aug 29, 2007....
    No, but I wish my brain had the capacity for me to be one. My dad told me about that number a long time ago. I thought it was cool so I remembered it. When I can't remember the exact number then I just divide 999,999 by 7.
  • PassionTraveler said on Aug 29, 2007....
    That is really cool. I'll commit that to memory. Thanks hotaka
     
    :)

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