Favorite numbers
Aug. 21st, 2011 05:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nancylebovArticle about favorite numbers. And a survey about favorite numbers.
The article isn't quite the same as the radio piece, which included that Alex Bellos, as a mathematician, was annoyed by people who kept asking him what his favorite number was, and he couldn't imagine having preferences among numbers.
Eventually, he turned his annoyance into curiosity (I'd say this is a sign of a civilized person), and started asking people about their favorite numbers, and found that a lot of people have strong opinions on the subject. Some people like numbers for their mathematical qualities, and some have anthropomorphized fantasies about their favorite numbers. (See the article for cute illos of the fantasies.)
Also, while 7 is the best-liked number (worldwide and cross-culturally), the survey is only recently getting spread into China, so I wonder if there are going to be more people who like 8.
There was no mention of fanfic about numbers, but if you know of any, please post.
Not only do I not have a favorite number, but when I was a kid, my piano teacher asked me whether I preferred sharps or flats. It may have been whether I preferred key signatures with sharps or flats. In any case, I stopped dead because I didn't have a preference and couldn't imagine having one. It turned out that I was the only student he'd ever had who didn't have a preference.
The article isn't quite the same as the radio piece, which included that Alex Bellos, as a mathematician, was annoyed by people who kept asking him what his favorite number was, and he couldn't imagine having preferences among numbers.
Eventually, he turned his annoyance into curiosity (I'd say this is a sign of a civilized person), and started asking people about their favorite numbers, and found that a lot of people have strong opinions on the subject. Some people like numbers for their mathematical qualities, and some have anthropomorphized fantasies about their favorite numbers. (See the article for cute illos of the fantasies.)
Also, while 7 is the best-liked number (worldwide and cross-culturally), the survey is only recently getting spread into China, so I wonder if there are going to be more people who like 8.
There was no mention of fanfic about numbers, but if you know of any, please post.
Not only do I not have a favorite number, but when I was a kid, my piano teacher asked me whether I preferred sharps or flats. It may have been whether I preferred key signatures with sharps or flats. In any case, I stopped dead because I didn't have a preference and couldn't imagine having one. It turned out that I was the only student he'd ever had who didn't have a preference.
