Barry
26-04-2011, 21:55
Numerology is any of a number of systems, traditions or beliefs in a mystical or esoteric relationship between numbers and physical objects or living things.
Numerology and numerological divination by systems such as isopsephy ( ἴσος isos meaning "equal" and ψῆφος psephos meaning "pebble", is the Greek word for the practice of adding up the number values of the letters in a word to form a single number. The early Greeks used pebbles arranged in patterns to learn arithmetic and geometry) were popular among early mathematicians, such as Pythagoras, but are no longer considered part of mathematics and are regarded as pseudomathematics by modern scientists. This is similar to the historical relationships between astrology and astronomy, and between alchemy and chemistry.
Today, numerology and nemeromancy (prediction using numbers) is often associated with the paranormal, alongside astrology and similar divinatory arts. The term can also be used for those who place excess faith in numerical patterns, even if those people don't practice traditional numerology.
Many societies associate certain numbers with prosperity and good fortune, whereas other numbers are to be avoided. For example, in Christian cultures the numbers 3 and 7 are good (and 21 being 3 x 7 is considered doubly good). The number 13 is considered unlucky in these cultures, whereas it is considered auspicious in Buddhist countries, as are the numbers 5, 9 and 108. The number 666 in Christian cultures is famous for being imbued with almost unspoken significance.
In Chinese culture certain numbers are considered auspicious, lucky and good, whereas others are considered to inauspicious, unlucky and bad. Cantonese frequently assign the following definitions, which may differ in other Chinese languages:
1. 一 [jɐ́t] - sure
2. 二 [ji̭ː] - easy 易 [ji̭ː]
3. 三 [sáːm] - live 生 [sáːŋ]
4. 四 [sēi] - considered unlucky since 4 is a homophone with the word for death or suffering 死 [sěi], yet in the Shanghainese, it is a homophone of water (水) and is considered lucky since water is associated with money. Many buildings in China do not have a 4th floor (just as in Christian countries the 13th floor or a house number 13 is renamed)
5. 五 [ŋ̬] - the self, me, myself 吾 [ŋ̭], nothing, never 唔 [ŋ, m]
6. 六 [lůːk] - easy and smooth, all the way
7. 七 [tsʰɐ́t] - a slang/vulgar word in Cantonese.
8. 八 [pāːt] - sudden fortune, prosperity 發 [fāːt]
9. 九 [kɐ̌u] - long in time 久 [kɐ̌u], enough 夠 [kɐ̄u] or a slang/vulgar word derived from dog 狗 [kɐ̌u] in Cantonese.
The lucky, auspicious and good numbers are thus 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 13.
Some "lucky number" combinations include:
· 99 - doubly long in time, hence eternal; used in the name of a popular Chinese-American supermarket chain, 99 Ranch Market.
· 168 - road of prosperity or to be prosperous together (literal translation is "continuing to be wealthy"). Many premium-pay telephone numbers in China begin with this number. It is also the name of a motel chain in China (Motel 168).
· 518 - I will prosper, other variations include: 5189 (I will prosper for a long time), 516289 (I will get on a long, smooth prosperous road) and 5918 (I will soon prosper)
· 814 - Similar to 168, this means "be wealthy, entire life". 148 also implies the same meaning "entire life be wealthy".
· 888 - Three times the prosperity, means "wealthy wealthy wealthy". (e.g. the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing were designated by the Chinese officials to begin on the most auspicious date possible to ensure the success of the Games for its hosts: August 8, 2008 - on the 8th day, of the 8th month in the 8th year of the new millennium at 8 seconds and 8 minutes past 8 pm (local time))
· 1314 - whole lifetime, existence.
· 289 - This combination is quite straight forward: ease in finding enough luck/fortune and holding it for a long time. (2 is easy, 8 is fortune, 9 is enough and/or for a long time.
Quad is now owned by a Chinese company. Fortunately the iconic designs do have numerological auspicious association. The Quad 33/303 combination is doubly auspicious as 3 + 3 = 6, both 3 and 6 are good, and the same holds for 303. Also 3 x 3 = 9, also auspicious. The Quad 44/405, despite the awkward “4” is OK: 4 + 4 = 8, 4 x 4 = 16 and 1 + 6 = 7, also good. For the 405, 4 + 5 = 9. The same good luck follows the 510 and 520 designs, as well as the 34/306 and 606, 707 and 909 amplifiers. Given the special importance of “8”, maybe the Chinese will fill in the gap and produce a power amplifier called the Quad 808?
So what of the Quad II and 22? Well not so good for the Chinese, but in German numeromancy the numbers 11, 22, and 33 are said to be ‘master numbers’ which are not reduced to a single digit; so that’s all right then! And it confers blessing on the Ferrograph 632 tape machine.
The Quad FM4 tuner is doomed, but not the FM3, AM3 nor the 66 products. So too is the Garrard 301, but not the 401 (nor the 501; but nobody seems to be giving that newcomer any attention). And, shock horror, the Technics 1210 is saddled with an inauspicious number.
Yet:
Certain numbers were considered sacred, holy, or magical by the ancient Egyptians, particularly 2, 3, 4, 7, and their multiples and sums, so the audio company 47 Labs have an auspicious number, as they do according to the German cabbalists (4 + 7 = 11). Looks like there is an escape route for the Technics 1210 deck after all!
The 23 enigma refers to the belief that most incidents and events are directly connected to the number 23, some modification of the number 23, or a number related to the number 23 (and by extension 5 = 2 + 3)
Robert Anton Wilson cites William S. Burroughs as being the first person to believe in the 23 enigma. Wilson, in an article in Fortean Times, related the following story:
I first heard of the 23 enigma from William S Burroughs, author of “Naked Lunch”, “Nova Express”, etc. According to Burroughs, he had known a certain Captain Clark, around 1960 in Tangier, who once bragged that he had been sailing 23 years without an accident. That very day, Clark’s ship had an accident that killed him and everybody else aboard. Furthermore, while Burroughs was thinking about this crude example of the irony of the gods that evening, a bulletin on the radio announced the crash of an airliner in Florida, USA. The pilot was another captain Clark and the flight was Flight 23.
Burroughs wrote a short story in 1967 called "23 Skidoo." The term "23 skidoo" was popularized in the early 1920s and means "it's time to leave while the getting is good."
The Principia Discordia states that "All things happen in fives, or are divisible by or are multiples of five, or are somehow directly or indirectly appropriate to 5". This is referred to as the Law of Fives. The 23 Enigma is regarded as a corollary of this law. It can be seen in Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea's The Illuminatus! Trilogy (therein called the "23/17 phenomenon"); Wilson's Cosmic Trigger I: The Final Secret of the Illuminati (therein called "The Law of fives" and "The 23 Enigma"); Arthur Koestler's Challenge of Chance, as well as the Principia Discordia. In these works, 23 is considered lucky, unlucky, sinister, strange, or sacred to the goddess Eris or to the unholy gods of the Cthulhu Mythos.
In humans, each cell normally contains 23 pairs of chromosomes making 46 all together. Now 4 + 6 =10 and 1 + 0 = 1, and this is associated in Chinese numeromancy with the self or individual. But I don’t know what this says for the Auditorium 23 SUT, save 2 + 3 = 5 and that’s good.
As with most numerological claims, the enigma can be viewed as an example of apophenia (perceiving patterns or meaning in meaningless data: like seeing a face in an inkblot), selection bias, and confirmation bias. In interviews, Wilson acknowledged the self-fulfilling nature of the enigma, implying that the real value of the Laws of Fives and Twenty-threes lies in their demonstration of the mind's power to perceive "truth" in nearly anything.
“When you start looking for something you tend to find it. This wouldn't be like Simon Newcomb, the great astronomer, who wrote a mathematical proof that heavier than air flight was impossible and published it a day before the Wright brothers took off. I'm talking about people who found a pattern in nature and wrote several scientific articles and got it accepted by a large part of the scientific community before it was generally agreed that there was no such pattern, it was all just selective perception.”
In the Illuminatus! Trilogy, he expresses the same view: that one can find a numerological significance to anything, provided "sufficient cleverness." (And never was a truer word said.)
Myriad is a classical Greek name for the number 10^4 = 10,000, or a group of 10,000 people, etc. In English, the word can either refer to 10,000 or to an unspecified large quantity. There are also words in other languages with the same classic meaning as "myriad":
Chinese, Japanese and Korean even have words for a myriad squared (10,000^2): yi (億/亿), oku (億), and eok (엌/億)(pronounced "awk"), respectively. In Japan, a myriad cubed (10,0003) is a cho (兆); a myriad to the fourth power (10,0004) is a kei (京).
The English numbering system divides large numbers into groups of three digits, and so the names for such numbers follow this division (10,000 = ten thousand). Asian numbering divides large numbers into groups of four; so in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean, 30,000 really would be "three myriad" (3,0000 - Japanese san-man). One million is a hundred myriad (100 x 10000 instead of 1000 x 1000); the next uniquely named number after a myriad is 億, which is myriad myriad (10000 x 10000) or a hundred million.
Archimedes of Syracuse used the recursive 'myriad' 'myriad' 'myriad' etc. to count the number of grains of sand on a beach, and hence, the entire universe. By extension myriad can, as has been mentioned, be used to suggest an almost uncountable, or infinite number.
Myryad is the name of a well-respected manufacturer of audio equipment.
Legend has it that whoever starts the 10,000th thread on the Art of Sound audio forum will be rewarded with untold wealth and riches by the mysterious and awesome Grand Inquisitor of Wrexham; but this legend is perhaps best treated as the fairy tale it is.
What a harmless load of bollocks all this is!
Numerology and numerological divination by systems such as isopsephy ( ἴσος isos meaning "equal" and ψῆφος psephos meaning "pebble", is the Greek word for the practice of adding up the number values of the letters in a word to form a single number. The early Greeks used pebbles arranged in patterns to learn arithmetic and geometry) were popular among early mathematicians, such as Pythagoras, but are no longer considered part of mathematics and are regarded as pseudomathematics by modern scientists. This is similar to the historical relationships between astrology and astronomy, and between alchemy and chemistry.
Today, numerology and nemeromancy (prediction using numbers) is often associated with the paranormal, alongside astrology and similar divinatory arts. The term can also be used for those who place excess faith in numerical patterns, even if those people don't practice traditional numerology.
Many societies associate certain numbers with prosperity and good fortune, whereas other numbers are to be avoided. For example, in Christian cultures the numbers 3 and 7 are good (and 21 being 3 x 7 is considered doubly good). The number 13 is considered unlucky in these cultures, whereas it is considered auspicious in Buddhist countries, as are the numbers 5, 9 and 108. The number 666 in Christian cultures is famous for being imbued with almost unspoken significance.
In Chinese culture certain numbers are considered auspicious, lucky and good, whereas others are considered to inauspicious, unlucky and bad. Cantonese frequently assign the following definitions, which may differ in other Chinese languages:
1. 一 [jɐ́t] - sure
2. 二 [ji̭ː] - easy 易 [ji̭ː]
3. 三 [sáːm] - live 生 [sáːŋ]
4. 四 [sēi] - considered unlucky since 4 is a homophone with the word for death or suffering 死 [sěi], yet in the Shanghainese, it is a homophone of water (水) and is considered lucky since water is associated with money. Many buildings in China do not have a 4th floor (just as in Christian countries the 13th floor or a house number 13 is renamed)
5. 五 [ŋ̬] - the self, me, myself 吾 [ŋ̭], nothing, never 唔 [ŋ, m]
6. 六 [lůːk] - easy and smooth, all the way
7. 七 [tsʰɐ́t] - a slang/vulgar word in Cantonese.
8. 八 [pāːt] - sudden fortune, prosperity 發 [fāːt]
9. 九 [kɐ̌u] - long in time 久 [kɐ̌u], enough 夠 [kɐ̄u] or a slang/vulgar word derived from dog 狗 [kɐ̌u] in Cantonese.
The lucky, auspicious and good numbers are thus 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 13.
Some "lucky number" combinations include:
· 99 - doubly long in time, hence eternal; used in the name of a popular Chinese-American supermarket chain, 99 Ranch Market.
· 168 - road of prosperity or to be prosperous together (literal translation is "continuing to be wealthy"). Many premium-pay telephone numbers in China begin with this number. It is also the name of a motel chain in China (Motel 168).
· 518 - I will prosper, other variations include: 5189 (I will prosper for a long time), 516289 (I will get on a long, smooth prosperous road) and 5918 (I will soon prosper)
· 814 - Similar to 168, this means "be wealthy, entire life". 148 also implies the same meaning "entire life be wealthy".
· 888 - Three times the prosperity, means "wealthy wealthy wealthy". (e.g. the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing were designated by the Chinese officials to begin on the most auspicious date possible to ensure the success of the Games for its hosts: August 8, 2008 - on the 8th day, of the 8th month in the 8th year of the new millennium at 8 seconds and 8 minutes past 8 pm (local time))
· 1314 - whole lifetime, existence.
· 289 - This combination is quite straight forward: ease in finding enough luck/fortune and holding it for a long time. (2 is easy, 8 is fortune, 9 is enough and/or for a long time.
Quad is now owned by a Chinese company. Fortunately the iconic designs do have numerological auspicious association. The Quad 33/303 combination is doubly auspicious as 3 + 3 = 6, both 3 and 6 are good, and the same holds for 303. Also 3 x 3 = 9, also auspicious. The Quad 44/405, despite the awkward “4” is OK: 4 + 4 = 8, 4 x 4 = 16 and 1 + 6 = 7, also good. For the 405, 4 + 5 = 9. The same good luck follows the 510 and 520 designs, as well as the 34/306 and 606, 707 and 909 amplifiers. Given the special importance of “8”, maybe the Chinese will fill in the gap and produce a power amplifier called the Quad 808?
So what of the Quad II and 22? Well not so good for the Chinese, but in German numeromancy the numbers 11, 22, and 33 are said to be ‘master numbers’ which are not reduced to a single digit; so that’s all right then! And it confers blessing on the Ferrograph 632 tape machine.
The Quad FM4 tuner is doomed, but not the FM3, AM3 nor the 66 products. So too is the Garrard 301, but not the 401 (nor the 501; but nobody seems to be giving that newcomer any attention). And, shock horror, the Technics 1210 is saddled with an inauspicious number.
Yet:
Certain numbers were considered sacred, holy, or magical by the ancient Egyptians, particularly 2, 3, 4, 7, and their multiples and sums, so the audio company 47 Labs have an auspicious number, as they do according to the German cabbalists (4 + 7 = 11). Looks like there is an escape route for the Technics 1210 deck after all!
The 23 enigma refers to the belief that most incidents and events are directly connected to the number 23, some modification of the number 23, or a number related to the number 23 (and by extension 5 = 2 + 3)
Robert Anton Wilson cites William S. Burroughs as being the first person to believe in the 23 enigma. Wilson, in an article in Fortean Times, related the following story:
I first heard of the 23 enigma from William S Burroughs, author of “Naked Lunch”, “Nova Express”, etc. According to Burroughs, he had known a certain Captain Clark, around 1960 in Tangier, who once bragged that he had been sailing 23 years without an accident. That very day, Clark’s ship had an accident that killed him and everybody else aboard. Furthermore, while Burroughs was thinking about this crude example of the irony of the gods that evening, a bulletin on the radio announced the crash of an airliner in Florida, USA. The pilot was another captain Clark and the flight was Flight 23.
Burroughs wrote a short story in 1967 called "23 Skidoo." The term "23 skidoo" was popularized in the early 1920s and means "it's time to leave while the getting is good."
The Principia Discordia states that "All things happen in fives, or are divisible by or are multiples of five, or are somehow directly or indirectly appropriate to 5". This is referred to as the Law of Fives. The 23 Enigma is regarded as a corollary of this law. It can be seen in Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea's The Illuminatus! Trilogy (therein called the "23/17 phenomenon"); Wilson's Cosmic Trigger I: The Final Secret of the Illuminati (therein called "The Law of fives" and "The 23 Enigma"); Arthur Koestler's Challenge of Chance, as well as the Principia Discordia. In these works, 23 is considered lucky, unlucky, sinister, strange, or sacred to the goddess Eris or to the unholy gods of the Cthulhu Mythos.
In humans, each cell normally contains 23 pairs of chromosomes making 46 all together. Now 4 + 6 =10 and 1 + 0 = 1, and this is associated in Chinese numeromancy with the self or individual. But I don’t know what this says for the Auditorium 23 SUT, save 2 + 3 = 5 and that’s good.
As with most numerological claims, the enigma can be viewed as an example of apophenia (perceiving patterns or meaning in meaningless data: like seeing a face in an inkblot), selection bias, and confirmation bias. In interviews, Wilson acknowledged the self-fulfilling nature of the enigma, implying that the real value of the Laws of Fives and Twenty-threes lies in their demonstration of the mind's power to perceive "truth" in nearly anything.
“When you start looking for something you tend to find it. This wouldn't be like Simon Newcomb, the great astronomer, who wrote a mathematical proof that heavier than air flight was impossible and published it a day before the Wright brothers took off. I'm talking about people who found a pattern in nature and wrote several scientific articles and got it accepted by a large part of the scientific community before it was generally agreed that there was no such pattern, it was all just selective perception.”
In the Illuminatus! Trilogy, he expresses the same view: that one can find a numerological significance to anything, provided "sufficient cleverness." (And never was a truer word said.)
Myriad is a classical Greek name for the number 10^4 = 10,000, or a group of 10,000 people, etc. In English, the word can either refer to 10,000 or to an unspecified large quantity. There are also words in other languages with the same classic meaning as "myriad":
Chinese, Japanese and Korean even have words for a myriad squared (10,000^2): yi (億/亿), oku (億), and eok (엌/億)(pronounced "awk"), respectively. In Japan, a myriad cubed (10,0003) is a cho (兆); a myriad to the fourth power (10,0004) is a kei (京).
The English numbering system divides large numbers into groups of three digits, and so the names for such numbers follow this division (10,000 = ten thousand). Asian numbering divides large numbers into groups of four; so in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean, 30,000 really would be "three myriad" (3,0000 - Japanese san-man). One million is a hundred myriad (100 x 10000 instead of 1000 x 1000); the next uniquely named number after a myriad is 億, which is myriad myriad (10000 x 10000) or a hundred million.
Archimedes of Syracuse used the recursive 'myriad' 'myriad' 'myriad' etc. to count the number of grains of sand on a beach, and hence, the entire universe. By extension myriad can, as has been mentioned, be used to suggest an almost uncountable, or infinite number.
Myryad is the name of a well-respected manufacturer of audio equipment.
Legend has it that whoever starts the 10,000th thread on the Art of Sound audio forum will be rewarded with untold wealth and riches by the mysterious and awesome Grand Inquisitor of Wrexham; but this legend is perhaps best treated as the fairy tale it is.
What a harmless load of bollocks all this is!