If I had to pick a lucky number, it would easily be 37.
37 is the most awesome number, EVER.
When I was about 15 years old, this strange thing started to happen. I noticed how regularly when I looked at the clock it was 37 minutes past the hour. This happened for years. At first I just thought it was a bit odd, but after a while it was just uncanny. Some nights I'd be sitting in my room, and every hour I'd look up and see 37 past the hour, never looking at the clock at any other time. For years it felt like at least 50% of the time (maybe 37% of the time?) that I looked at the time it was 37 past. That's just not statistically normal. I attribute it to some sort of subconscious mechanism, that's been tuned on 37. The really interesting thing is that if this is true, it's absolutely amazing, because the clocks that I'd see the time on were not always at the correct time, even varying by several minutes in relation to each other. I would very rarely notice 36 or 38 past the hour though. If I did happen to glance at the clock at 36 past the hour, I'd keep watching the clock until it ticked to 37 past, generally I'd only have to wait for a few seconds. Because this happened for so long, I've even been able to verify it with my family, pointing out to them that it was 37 past, and that I'd just looked at the time. It still happens to me, I see 37 all the time, and when I do I just smile to myself.
37 has appeared in all sorts of totally weird places that have had some relevance to me too. No specific examples are jumping to mind however, but stuff like, I'll be allocated ticket number 37, or have to go to a meeting in room 37, etc. I see 37 often too, on billboards, or people's house number, etc. This has been so common that it's not even unusual anymore, it's to be expected. For example, in the Matrix there is a scene where the clock ticks to 37 past. There are plenty of other movies where 37 has featured.
At first, I just though 37 was cool, because it 'felt' like a 'special' number. I've always been a bit miffed with 42. Because the answer is in fact not 42. It's very clearly 37 (at least it is for me).
Since I've had the best part of 10 years to become well and truly acquainted with 37 (which is *my* number by the way) let me tell you a few cool things that I've noticed about it.
37 is prime.
3 is prime.
7 is prime.
37 is the 13th prime number (counting 1).
13 is culturally significant, typically 'unlucky'.
13 is prime.
A typical roulette table has 37 outcomes.
37 squared is 1369.
Again 13. 69 is also a culturally significant number. 1,3,6,9 is counting in 3's. (bad luck comes in 3's)
There are 60 minutes in an hour, meaning when it's 37 past, it's 23 to.
23 is also prime.
666 is evenly divisible by 37. 18 times.
666 is culturally significant, as the 'devils number' or the 'number of the beast'.
18 is culturally significant as it represents that age at which you legally become an adult (in my country).
3 times 7 is 21.
21 is culturally significant. It represents 'coming of age' so to speak.
37 backward is 73, which is also prime.
Anyway, thought you might like to know a few cool things about 37. The number with which I have a long-running and incredibly profound relationship. I'm not a superstitious guy, except for when it comes to 37. I have a very strong superstitious feeling that 37 is somehow connected to my life and my future.
John.
p.s. Yes, the e-mail address jj5@37.com is mine, but I don't use it. One day, when I'm a millionaire, I will own the domain 37.com.
There are heaps of other little things with 37 too. Some are obtuse, but they're still cool, or just interesting (heh, you know, to me). Stuff like:
3 is the 3rd prime, and 13 is the 7th prime.
37 + 73 is 110.
3 + 7 is 10.
73 - 37 is 36. (again, the 3's thing).
Both 3 and 7 are very common. E.g. 3 spatial dimensions, 7 days in a week, etc.
37 is 0x25.
0x37 is 55.
23 is the 10th prime.
73 is the 22nd prime.
3 and 7 are diagonally across from each other on a keypad.
3 and 1/3 squared is 11.111111111111111111111111111111
3 and 1/3 cubed is 37.037037037037037037037037037037
7 divided by 3 is 2 and 1/3.
John.
Oh yeah, and I do know that 'one' isn't listed as a prime. The reason is that primes are supposed to be 'any whole number greater than one...'. But that messes up some of the coolness that is *obviously* in 37, and in my view makes this a bogus convention, that is probably inhibiting great discoveries surronding primes! :) And it's really only not listed by convention (says I), but it is really just a special prime (not as special as 37 though!) because it is also unity (or 'the unit', whatever).
The argument that "any whole number can be expressed as the product of primes, therefore allowing one as a prime trivialises that" is kind of lame in my view. I don't reckon one should be dropped from the list of primes on that account, but rather that observation should be reworded to allow for the trivial case of 1 and n. Meh. This was all Euclid's fault!
One is a unit, but it is also an identity in the decimal system and it does not have factors apart from itself and one (trivially inherant in the fact that it is also the unit). Thus in my view, observations regarding primes should comment on exceptions with regard to unity, but they shouldn't fail to include the unit in the set of primes. Either that or they should just stick to using the term irreducible, or give me a noun that I can use to refer to the set of whole numbers that have no factors apart from themselves and their unit. I mean, we allow one into the set of odd numbers!
Enough said.
Don't fuck with 37!
John.
Just a few more little (probably silly) things.
73 - 37 = 36
3 6's => 666
3 * 6 => 18
666 / 18 = 37
John.
From:
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/PrimeFactorization.html
"the number 1, by definition, has a prime factorization of "1")"
Bah!
I'm telling you. One is prime damn it!!
John.
Only problem is Mini, 37 is a bit too big for the roolette wheel
Hey did I tell you about the fuckwit I read somewhere on the intranet (or was it internet, i get em confused) who reckoned 57,000,000,000 was a prime number?
People like that should be summarily rounded up and shot.
I'd like to say to him (or her, hopefully him - as anal sex is more degrading to a man, not to mention infinitely more kinky)...
G> Ok, i'll stick my dick in your ass for every factor I can find in 57,000,000,000 Ok?
DC> Ok
"Only problem is Mini, 37 is a bit too big for the roolette wheel"
That's why they start at zero G! ;)
John.