Laurentius

....... 6 >> 7 << 8 ........

AVE
The other day I was searching the web for some political information, when I came across with the following title: “The Seven Challenges of President (whoever)”. And there were, indeed, seven challenges listed below as well as further comments on them. I can’t tell whether I was biased or not, but while reading the respective challenges I had the feeling that two of them should have been reduced to a single one, and wondered whether there could have been only “six challenges of President … “. No, there couldn’t have, I said to myself. It did not seem to have the same journalistic impact on the reader. “The Seven Challenges” sounded definitely more powerful than “The Six Challenges” or “The Eight Challenges”. Therefore, I said to myself, there is a possibility that a journalist should mold both the reality and his opinions (whether voluntarily or involuntarily) in the style that will allow the article to sell best. Now, this is not big revelation, but think about this "seven" possible alteration – is a mere number worth the effort?

1. What’s in a number? Perception? Fabrication? Both?
2. Is people’s preference for specific numbers affecting the way they perceive reality?
3. Does the subjective perception of the numeric reality have a consistent counterpart in the objective world?
AVE

Mecha_Dude

george carlin condensed the 10 commandments into two, 10 just sounds more athourative

ImGod

Numbers play into superstitious beliefs, lucky number 7, etc. That's why AA doesn't have 13 steps.

In the bible the 12 tribes of Israel leads to numerical references in multiples of 12.

I read an article on the origin of lucky/unlucky numbers once. I'll look for it.

Laurentius

AVE
Cool, but this guy with article ("The Seven Challenges of President ... ") sounds as secular as one can be. What makes him fabricate the numeric reality? Or is it spontaneously eroneous perception?
AVE

excreationist

Well this title directly mirrors some famous books like "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People". And the number seven is often associated with the word it rhymes with - heaven. Maybe the reason it is a lot more special than 6 or 8 is because it is a prime number - it can't be divided into even groups like 6 or 8 can. Apparently 13 is unlucky because Judas was the thirteenth person in the group. In China I think 4 in a very unlucky number, which is associated with death. I guess it just depends on the culture/traditions.

I guess what you're talking about here is just about "aesthetics". Seven just sounds sophisticated yet compact and 6 and 8 seem more functional and boring. Other prime numbers include 11, 13, 17 and 19. I think 11 and 19 seem clumsy since they are so close to standard numbers 10 and 20. 13 is traditionally seen as unlucky and 17 is a bit too obscure.
So 7 just sounds good. Other prime numbers are 2, 3 and 5. They are good for talking about tiny quantities, where 7 involves medium-sized groups of things.

[ January 08, 2002: Message edited by: excreationist ]</p>

cricket

"Seven" sounds nicer in the title. Like "The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success", the aforementioned Covey book, etc.

Laurentius

AVE
Yeah, that’s what I’ve been thinking of (relativist, cultural convention assimilated by its subjects throughout their lifetime). So, it’s just another human construction, with no actual connection to the real course of natural affairs. Then what about those universal numeric rhythms some talk about? Fabrications too?

But, as you must have noticed, I’m not referring to 7 only (this is supposed to function as a striking starting point). I’ve once heard that 12 is said by scientists to represent a pervasive numeric rule across the universe. And more specifically I know that flower petals show this weird sequence: 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89 (that is lilies have 3 petals, others 5, and so on). One may find numerous other examples. Do they mirror reality in any way? Or are they only instinctive misperceptions & cultural prejudices of man?
AVE

excreationist

Laurentius,
I started a thread on the straight dope messageboards <a href="http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=108758" target="_blank">here</a> about fibonacci numbers and petals.... some people should reply to it soon...

Laurentius

AVE
Thanks for the tips, Excreationist.

There are so many similar examples. Here’s another one: in our solar system the distance of each planet to the Sun times three divided by its orbital period times two always equals the same number (apologies for the non-mathematical form of this formula). This is a fact. Does this fact mirror rather our mathematical perception of quantities and rapports? Or is it a universal law?
AVE

excreationist

The thing is that planets have eliptical orbits and so have different distances from the Sun, depending on the time of the year. Which distance are you talking about (the minimum, the maximum or the average of the minimum and maximum, etc?)