6/6/06 and the struggle against irrational thinking

[soylentgreen]

When does superstition cross the line into genuine interference with, ya' know, just living?

Assumedly normal people take 6/6/06 lunacy to asinine level! (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060606/ap_on_fe_st/babies666)

[Chicago obstetrician, Dr. Scott] Pierce, who works at two Chicago-area hospitals, said he and his colleagues canceled any deliveries scheduled for Tuesday. But he added, "I'll do nothing that is ethically not indicated."

So much for someone in the sciences providing a voice of reason. "We'll just c-sec the little sucker when 'signs are favorable'" I've always considered the medical techniques that can be called into service during a birth to be pretty amazing, though I envisioned them in the service of the health of the mother and the child(especially in emergencies), not glib methods to accommodate irrational fears and superstitions.

I don't know what's more of an eye-opener...the fact that any doctors would go along with such primitive thinking...or that, as Dr Pierce points out, 25% of all births involve the ol' kaiserschnitt. I had no idea it was that often. Then again :rolleyes:, how the hell would I have known?

[Maksutov]

There's a pretty good book out there on this topic called Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer. This whole medical mess helps puts the lie to people who claim numerology, astrology, etc., are harmless. When people use irrational reasons to make critical life decisions, they're in trouble and we're in trouble.

BTW, re the book's title, don't forget, i before e except after c. If you forget that rule, maybe your neighbors will remind you.

[HenrikOlsen]

BTW, re the book's title, don't forget, i before e except after c. If you forget that rule, maybe your neighbors will remind you.
Except in names where using the rule will get you in trouble, and in general since there are lots of other exceptions as well. :)

[soylentgreen]

There's a pretty good book out there on this topic called Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer.

I have that myself. Frankly, along with "Demon-Haunted World", it's a vital comfort to have around here sometimes.

[Jim]

Not numerology, but my son was born on the morning of New Year's Eve, along with a couple of other children delivered by the same doctor.

He had a big night planned, so he got the mothers to agree to induce. That way, he avoided any interruptions.

[farmerjumperdon]

I have that myself. Frankly, along with "Demon-Haunted World", it's a vital comfort to have around here sometimes.

Yesirree, those are both great books. I'm going to make sure my kids read them as soon as they are ready for the vocabulary.

My 8 year old comes home from school yesterday telling me some of her classmates said the world would end at 6 PM. I pointed out that we better finish our tacos quickly because it was already 5:46; then laughed. Got a big smile from here.

About 6:30 we were watering the garden and she casually mentioned that 6:00 had gone by. We both smiled. She asked if her friends were dumb or something, and noted that one of their moms is a teacher at the school. I explained that first of all, somebody else had almost certainly planted that notion in them; and second, that yes some people ignore their own common sense and smarts when it comes to certain topics. They probably do not REALLY believe it, but like being in on something that seems so special. We concluded with talking about how special many things are without the need for goofy stuff.

At bedtime I had to do a little reinforcement because the kids (4th graders mind you) are already talking about 2012.

[tofu]

Well, obviously there is nothing really special about the date 6/6/6, but given its cultural significance, I think that if I was an expectant mother, I would probably not want to make my kid spend his entire life having that conversation.

somebody: Date of Birth?
my kid: 6-6-06
somebody: Oh, are you satan? ha ha ha.
my kid: yeah that's funny, I've never heard that before. *sigh*

I also probably wouldn't want to have a kid on 9/11. His birthday parties would always be surrounded by depressing recaps of the terrorist attacks on the news.

So, in my opinion, this doesn't have much to do with numerology or irrational thinking.

[jrkeller]

Well, obviously there is nothing really special about the date 6/6/6, but given its cultural significance, I think that if I was an expectant mother, I would probably not want to make my kid spend his entire life having that conversation.

somebody: Date of Birth?
my kid: 6-6-06
somebody: Oh, are you satan? ha ha ha.
my kid: yeah that's funny, I've never heard that before. *sigh*

I also probably wouldn't want to have a kid on 9/11. His birthday parties would always be surrounded by depressing recaps of the terrorist attacks on the news.

So, in my opinion, this doesn't have much to do with numerology or irrational thinking.

My driver's liscense ends in 666 and evertime I show it, I pretty much here that line. It does have its advantages too. It is a good conversation starting, especially if the checker is cute.

[ToSeek]

I wonder how many hospitals call the 13th floor the 14th.

[jrkeller]

My 8 year old comes home from school yesterday telling me some of her classmates said the world would end at 6 PM.

I had a similar experience with my son when he was almost 7. He told me that one of classmates couldn't believe that his parents would let him celebrate Satan's birthday. It was Halloween and he was going trick or treating. We had a good laugh about that.

[Doodler]

I wonder how many hospitals call the 13th floor the 14th.

Some apartment buildings still do. The one I lived in when I first moved out of my parent's house didn't have a 13th floor.

[Doodler]

Well, obviously there is nothing really special about the date 6/6/6, but given its cultural significance, I think that if I was an expectant mother, I would probably not want to make my kid spend his entire life having that conversation.

somebody: Date of Birth?
my kid: 6-6-06
somebody: Oh, are you satan? ha ha ha.
my kid: yeah that's funny, I've never heard that before. *sigh*

I also probably wouldn't want to have a kid on 9/11. His birthday parties would always be surrounded by depressing recaps of the terrorist attacks on the news.

So, in my opinion, this doesn't have much to do with numerology or irrational thinking.

Oh, its irrational thinking alright. Peope dwell on stupid crap and the media eats it up by shoving it in our faces knowing America's sick predelection for feeling sorry for itself.

Hopefully 9/11 will eventually end up a second page story like the Alfred Murrah building. The only thing keeping it relevent is the political capital various bloodsuckers in Washington think they can squeeze out of it to maintain popular support for Iraq and Afghanistan. While I'm sure very few people with more than half a brain between their ears fall for it, given what I've seen in America lately, we're a depressingly rare breed.

[R.A.F.]

I also probably wouldn't want to have a kid on 9/11. His birthday parties would always be surrounded by depressing recaps of the terrorist attacks on the news.

[Tongue firmly in cheek] I have the solution for that, simply turn off the TV during the party. :)

So, in my opinion, this doesn't have much to do with numerology or irrational thinking.

"Approximately" 1/365th of the population has as their b-day, 9/11. I would consider them to be, IMO, irrational if they were to dwell on the attacks every year.

[Argos]

I agree with tofu on that [given the general stupidity] being born in a such a day could pose practical [though minor] problems for the person.

[Doodler]

I agree with tofu on that [given the general stupidity] being born in a such a day could pose practical problems for the person.

Not so sure about that. A few days after the accident, a woman who gave birth to a boy ON 9/11/01 said she had no problem with the idea of having her son's birthday to think about rather than the attacks.

And, ya know, most people don't realize, you can turn the TV off...

[soylentgreen]

"Approximately" 1/365th of the population has as their b-day, 9/11. I would consider them to be, IMO, irrational if they were to dwell on the attacks every year.


I used to have a calendar(from 1988, I think) called "The Bad News Calendar". I hung on to it for a few years and, unfortunately, lost track of it. For each day, it listed at least three significant disasters, catastrophes, plague outbreaks, military screw-ups, etc...from that 24-hour period throughout history. Basically, it showed that with enough research, being born on any date can be made to seem a spooky sign.

[zebo-the-fat]

Mrs zebo was born on December 25th, but she only gets one card 'cos I'm a nasty old meany!:D

[Argos]

I used to have a calendar(from 1988, I think) called "The Bad News Calendar". I hung on to it for a few years and, unfortunately, lost track of it. For each day, it listed at least three significant disasters, catastrophes, plague outbreaks, military screw-ups, etc...from that 24-hour period throughout history. Basically, it showed that with enough research, being born on any date can be made to seem a spooky sign.

Yeah, but few things have the power of 666 in the public´s [lack of] consciousness.

[Captain Kidd]

We were cracking jokes about it most of yesterday morning. It turned out to be one of those times where if it could go wrong, it did.
Last minute room change for a meeting.
One of the presenters getting called for a random drug test minutes before it's suppose to start.
The other presenter getting there to set up only to find out squatters had moved in without clearing it with facilities.
Last second chasing everybody down in person to inform them of the meeting being cancelled.

Had some other circus acts throughout the day too like multiple telecons being scheduled simultaneously. But then, that's typical and only the date brought it to any real attention, and then just to crack jokes about it.

[NEOWatcher]

This one could probably fit in a few threads. Most likely the one about rounding and accuracy in the media.

Baby Born On 6/6/06 Weighs 6.66 Pounds (http://www.newsnet5.com/family/9333980/detail.html)
That must have been a very still baby for the scale to get that kind of accuracy.
Or maybe it was 6.67 pounds and they waited for it to burp.

Key point in the last sentence
Nurses said Lee's not the first baby to have the same birthdate and weight.

[farmerjumperdon]

We were cracking jokes about it most of yesterday morning. It turned out to be one of those times where if it could go wrong, it did.
Last minute room change for a meeting.
One of the presenters getting called for a random drug test minutes before it's suppose to start.
The other presenter getting there to set up only to find out squatters had moved in without clearing it with facilities.
Last second chasing everybody down in person to inform them of the meeting being cancelled.

Had some other circus acts throughout the day too like multiple telecons being scheduled simultaneously. But then, that's typical and only the date brought it to any real attention, and then just to crack jokes about it.

Hey, I had that happen today. Sure it isn't 667 that is evil?

[farmerjumperdon]

I wonder how many hospitals call the 13th floor the 14th.

I thought most buildings (at least in the US) do not use the number 13 in their floor designations.

[Argos]

Nurses said Lee's not the first baby to have the same birthdate and weight.

But in kilograms all the mystique disappears...

[Doodler]

I thought most buildings (at least in the US) do not use the number 13 in their floor designations.

Its not rigidly enforced. A 12 story building that was designed by the firm I work for at one point had a 13 story incarnation which would have been labelled 13.

[kzb]

Numbers are important to the real rulers of the world as symbols. There does not need to be anything supernatural involved.

666: look at barcodes. Find one that also has the numbers printed underneath the barcode, and with a 6 amongst those numbers. Notice the slightly longer double parallel lines at the beginning, middle and end. Now look how a 6 is coded; that's right, double parallel lines.

The parallel lines at the beginning middle and end are on EVERY barcode. They are not actually read as sixes, but nevertheless, everything that is sold SYMBOLICALLY has "666" on it.

The internet was "invented" at CERN. Have a look at the CERN logo

http://public.web.cern.ch/Public/Welcome.html

and tell me what you see !

Using a code of A=6, B=12... etc,

computer=666
Kissinger=666
witchcraft=666
New York=666

"www" codes as 666 in Hebrew

[NEOWatcher]

The internet was "invented" at CERN. Have a look at the CERN logo

http://public.web.cern.ch/Public/Welcome.html

and tell me what you see !

A bunch of 9s? ;)

[HenrikOlsen]

The internet was "invented" at CERN. Have a look at the CERN logo

http://public.web.cern.ch/Public/Welcome.html

and tell me what you see !

Erh, where did you get that idea?

And I'm seeing a couple of accelerators in that logo, not numbers.

Using a code of A=6, B=12... etc,
Using a code of b=6, k=60,z=600... etc,
kzb=666

so what?
"www" codes as 666 in Hebrew
How? "w" isn't a hebrew letter.

[Jim]

The internet was "invented" at CERN. ...

Lies! All lies!!

Al Gore invented the internet. Every good American knows that.

[Gillianren]

I wonder how many hospitals call the 13th floor the 14th.

Not as many as you might think--I don't think I've ever seen a hospital that tall.

Anyone else watch The Colbert Report last night? Now, while I immediately came up with a Reagan name that didn't have six letters (his friends called him "Dutch"), I'm willing to bet something similar could've been come up with for practically anyone.

[Swift]

Have a look at the CERN logo

http://public.web.cern.ch/Public/Welcome.html

and tell me what you see !

A round paperclip
http://www.poeme-online.com/images/small/CR30CVCLIPI.jpg

[Makgraf]

When does superstition cross the line into genuine interference with, ya' know, just living?
Well of course you'd say that... you hold the Mark of the Beast.

"Soylentgreen" has 12 letters, and what is 12 but two groups of 6?

Now if you assign a simple A=1,B=2 equivelence to each of the letters of "Soylentgreen" and you get 159! Add all those numbers togther and you get 15! And add those numbers together and you get 6! And what happens when you put that 6 together with the previous two 6s: 666! Nice try there Soylentgreen... or should I call you The Destroyer Who Will Rend The World

:P

[farmerjumperdon]

My first and last names each have 6 letters. (That's a 2 out of 3, and if you mulyiply 2 X 3, you get 6). THREE SIXES!

Also, the first and middle names of my moniker here (farmer and jumper) each have 6 letters. (That's another 2 out of 3, and 2 X 3 equals 6 - AGAIN 3 SIXES!).

There's a six in my phone number and 2 in my SSN, YIKES! THREE SIXES AGAIN!

I am the devil thrice incarnate!

(Runs screaming from the house, with wife and children thinking he is going mad and just needs to be left alone, but in reality our hero has just pulled a fantastic coup and is off to the dropzone to catch some air with fellow semi-sane friends).

[Doodler]

http://www.filecabin.com/up1/1136699456-Bunny%20and%20pancake.jpg


Mod edit: <No hotlinking please!>

[Van Rijn]

Heh! First time I've seen the Bunny in the pancake hat. Makes me think of Monty Python for some reason. Sort of an "And now for something completely different" moment.

On the plus side, I really didn't notice much 06/06/06 silliness (media, religious "preachers" making pronouncements, etc.). Not anything like the Y2K bit.

[Maksutov]

Heh! First time I've seen the Bunny in the pancake hat. Makes me think of Monty Python for some reason. Sort of an "And now for something completely different" moment.A lot better than a pancake with a bunny on its head (unstable position for the bunny).

On the plus side, I really didn't notice much 06/06/06 silliness (media, religious "preachers" making pronouncements, etc.). Not anything like the Y2K bit.That's because you (lucky guy) don't live in God's CountryTM AKA the United States. ;)

[Maksutov]

[edit]So, in my opinion, this doesn't have much to do with numerology or irrational thinking.The secondary reason for not wanting the birth on 6/6/06 is to avoid embarassment and hassles for the kid. The primary reason that this situation exists at all is numerology and irrational thinking.

[Van Rijn]

A lot better than a pancake with a bunny on its head (unstable position for the bunny).


True . . . also better than a pancake in the bunny hat.


That's because you (lucky guy) don't live in God's CountryTM AKA the United States. ;)

Ur, well, I do live in California. Granted, some would like to debate whether that is part of the U.S. . . .

But seriously, I didn't see much silliness. There was a small article in the paper a few days before, and even the head honcho of a local SuperChurch (big building, reportedly lots of fire and brimstone in the sermons) said this was the wrong day for all that apocalyptic stuff.

[Maksutov]

True . . . also better than a pancake in the bunny hat.Right. Pancakes, pancakes, hasenpfeffer, SPAM, hasenpfeffer, pancakes, SPAM, hasenpfeffer, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, no syrup on Tuesdays. Ur, well, I do live in California. Granted, some would like to debate whether that is part of the U.S. . . .Strange, I thought you were located in Europe somewhere. But California will do as a semi-equivalent non-US location. :) But seriously, I didn't see much silliness. There was a small article in the paper a few days before, and even the head honcho of a local SuperChurch (big building, reportedly lots of fire and brimstone in the sermons) said this was the wrong day for all that apocalyptic stuff.So, did he say what was the right day?

:think:

[Swift]

Hey, that's cruel to animals to put flat food on top of bunnies. I coming to call that animal rights group up, you know the one, PITA.

[Doodler]

Hey, that's cruel to animals to put flat food on top of bunnies. I coming to call that animal rights group up, you know the one, PITA.

Pancakes Installed as Tophats on Animals?

[TrAI]

...
666: look at barcodes. Find one that also has the numbers printed underneath the barcode, and with a 6 amongst those numbers. Notice the slightly longer double parallel lines at the beginning, middle and end. Now look how a 6 is coded; that's right, double parallel lines.

The parallel lines at the beginning middle and end are on EVERY barcode. They are not actually read as sixes, but nevertheless, everything that is sold SYMBOLICALLY has "666" on it.

...


Hmmm...
Well, the universal product code barcode numbers are made from 7 lines, while the start and stop indicators are 3 lines and the middle indicator is 5, IIRC. Also, all number codes on the right side of the middle indicator must be inverted in relation to the ones on the left side, the stop indicator is not. six is indicated by 1 black, 1 white, 1 black, and 4 white widths, or 1 white, 1 black, 1 white and 4 black... So no "6" in the start, middle and stop... Of course, people still see them...

[yuzuha]

http://www.filecabin.com/up1/1136699456-Bunny%20and%20pancake.jpg

OOLONG! Been ages since I've seen Oolong the balancing bunny! Stumbled onto this http://www.fsinet.or.jp/~sokaisha/rabbit/rabbit.htm memorial site (Oolong died in 2003 age 8.5) while surfing Japanese sites a couple of years ago. Cute. Very cute. But, most people don't even take that many pictures of their kids!

[NEOWatcher]

My first and last names each have 6 letters. (That's a 2 out of 3, and if you mulyiply 2 X 3, you get 6). THREE SIXES!

I never thought about it before but the count of my real name is 665, and in it's native language the last letter is pronounced in a way it sounds like 2 in English... so I translate to 666
Also, the first and middle names of my moniker here (farmer and jumper) each have 6 letters. (That's another 2 out of 3, and 2 X 3 equals 6 - AGAIN 3 SIXES!).

I think you planned it that way.:whistle:

There's a six in my phone number and 2 in my SSN, YIKES! THREE SIXES AGAIN!

3 6s in mine too. In fact most of the digits are divisible by 3...

Another thought if anyone wants to spend time with a baby name book.
I would imagine that a 6 letter name is probably the most common occurance.

[kzb]

<<Hmmm...
Well, the universal product code barcode numbers are made from 7 lines, while the start and stop indicators are 3 lines and the middle indicator is 5, IIRC. Also, all number codes on the right side of the middle indicator must be inverted in relation to the ones on the left side, the stop indicator is not. six is indicated by 1 black, 1 white, 1 black, and 4 white widths, or 1 white, 1 black, 1 white and 4 black... So no "6" in the start, middle and stop... Of course, people still see them...>>

That last bit, "...of course, people still see them..." -THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT! The barcode scanner does not read them as 6's, I know that. However, they are 6's to people, and that is the important thing. It's SYMBOLIC.

The CERN logo or symbol. If you can't see it, well what can I say. MY heart was in my mouth when I first realised.

"www" - I couldn't remember the exact details on this, but I've done a bit of quick surfing. The translation letter for the Hebrew character "waw", or "vav", is "w" in English. Every Hebrew character has a number, and this was well known in Biblical times. You know where I'm heading now -"waw" or "vav" has the number 6.

Of course it's possible it's all been done on purpose for ironic or humorous reasons, and several people on here are obviously highly amused by it all. I admit I'm a little skeptical about the words adding up to 666 myself meaning anything, except perhaps in the case of names.

Lustiger (=666) was a candidate for Pope. Perhaps that was a bit too obvious for them, so they chose Ratzinger (does not =666). He then chose the name Benedict XVI. Now I've not checked this myself, but apparently if you add up all the numbers after the names of all the Popes throughout history, this makes him Pope 666 !

[Damburger]

Numerology. Bah.

I reckon most of the news stories are being published as weak tie-ins to the Omen remake that came out on 6/6/06

[Tobin Dax]

I wonder how many hospitals call the 13th floor the 14th.
I know that in China, some number less than 6 (I think its one of those) is superstitiously associated with death, and so hospitals don't have that number floor. (Ahh, I wrote 6! ;) ) I'll have to double check this with one of my Taiwanese friends today, now that I realize that I have no clue which integer it really is. :)

[tofu]

Wow take a look at this:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006260268,00.html

A HORROR film fan who prayed that her baby would be born on 6.6.06 named her new boy DAMIEN.

I mean, it's cool that she's a horror film fan and all, but that's kind of a selfish thing to put on a kid.

On the other hand, maybe it'll make him a celebrity when he grows up.

On the other other hand, maybe he will be so enthralled with this imaginary character that he's named after, that he will turn into a little sociopath - something of a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Either way, it doesn't strike me as responsible parenting.

[Argos]

On the other other hand, maybe he will be so enthralled with this imaginary character that he's named after, that he will turn into a little sociopath - something of a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Yes, nobody should underestimate the power of language in shaping the character and behavior.

[gwiz]

The CERN logo or symbol. If you can't see it, well what can I say. MY heart was in my mouth when I first realised.
I suppose if you look at it the right way, it could be three sixes and two nines, so the number of CERN is 99666 or 69696 or 66996 or ....

[kzb]

<<I suppose if you look at it the right way, it could be three sixes and two nines, so the number of CERN is 99666 or 69696 or 66996 or ....>>

You're missing the point. To someone in the know, it's obviously a 666 symbol. Just because they've confused it a bit with a couple of shorter tails doesn't make it not so. When you couple that with "www" = 666, it's too much to be a coincidence.

[Halcyon Dayz]

Nothing wrong with the name Damian.
There are two Saint Damians (and probably soon a Saint Damien).

[Gillianren]

Lustiger (=666) was a candidate for Pope. Perhaps that was a bit too obvious for them, so they chose Ratzinger (does not =666). He then chose the name Benedict XVI. Now I've not checked this myself, but apparently if you add up all the numbers after the names of all the Popes throughout history, this makes him Pope 666 !

I'd guess not remotely, myself, given how many popes in history didn't have numbers after their names, and how few pope names have a higher number than, say, two. Now, it is true that the last pope to take a name not chosen by a previous pope was about a thousand years ago (Pope Lando!), but the point remains that the highest "pope number" I know is John XXIII.

[Maksutov]

<<Hmmm...
Well, the universal product code barcode numbers are made from 7 lines, while the start and stop indicators are 3 lines and the middle indicator is 5, IIRC. Also, all number codes on the right side of the middle indicator must be inverted in relation to the ones on the left side, the stop indicator is not. six is indicated by 1 black, 1 white, 1 black, and 4 white widths, or 1 white, 1 black, 1 white and 4 black... So no "6" in the start, middle and stop... Of course, people still see them...>>

That last bit, "...of course, people still see them..." -THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT! The barcode scanner does not read them as 6's, I know that. However, they are 6's to people, and that is the important thing. It's SYMBOLIC.

The CERN logo or symbol. If you can't see it, well what can I say. MY heart was in my mouth when I first realised.

"www" - I couldn't remember the exact details on this, but I've done a bit of quick surfing. The translation letter for the Hebrew character "waw", or "vav", is "w" in English. Every Hebrew character has a number, and this was well known in Biblical times. You know where I'm heading now -"waw" or "vav" has the number 6.

Of course it's possible it's all been done on purpose for ironic or humorous reasons, and several people on here are obviously highly amused by it all. I admit I'm a little skeptical about the words adding up to 666 myself meaning anything, except perhaps in the case of names.

Lustiger (=666) was a candidate for Pope. Perhaps that was a bit too obvious for them, so they chose Ratzinger (does not =666). He then chose the name Benedict XVI. Now I've not checked this myself, but apparently if you add up all the numbers after the names of all the Popes throughout history, this makes him Pope 666 !And your conclusion is?

[Maksutov]

Nothing wrong with the name Damian.
There are two Saint Damians (and probably soon a Saint Damien).That was one of the things I found hilarious about the original The Omen movie. Such subtlety, naming your kid Damien, why that sounds almost like "demon"! I'm sure the same thing applies to the new flick, since it appears to be a shot-by-shot remake. Hollywood originality, these days that's an oxymoron.

:evil:

[Van Rijn]

Right. Pancakes, pancakes, hasenpfeffer, SPAM, hasenpfeffer, pancakes, SPAM, hasenpfeffer, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, no syrup on Tuesdays.


Uh, yeah. Well, I think I've reached my non sequitur quota for the thread.


Strange, I thought you were located in Europe somewhere. But California will do as a semi-equivalent non-US location. :)


I'm shocked - shocked I say! - that you didn't pick up on my American accent.


So, did he say what was the right day?
:think:

Actually, the local preacher dude didn't give a specific date - he just said that while there would certainly be a day of reckoning eventually, 06/06/2006 was "just another day." How can you argue with that logic?

[yuzuha]

I know that in China, some number less than 6 (I think its one of those) is superstitiously associated with death, and so hospitals don't have that number floor. (Ahh, I wrote 6! ;) ) I'll have to double check this with one of my Taiwanese friends today, now that I realize that I have no clue which integer it really is. :)

In Japan it is 4. Shi is 4 and shi is also a suffix meaning death. Shinigami 死神 is a death god so there is a legend that the Shirogane tunnel in Tokyo is a doorway for such grim reapers and best avoided. They often appear as innocent little girls in spook movies, like the one of the cover of this one http://www.sarudama.com/japanese_movies/kadokawahorror2.shtml (3rd story).

[TrAI]

...
That last bit, "...of course, people still see them..." -THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT! The barcode scanner does not read them as 6's, I know that. However, they are 6's to people, and that is the important thing. It's SYMBOLIC.

...


Well, that people see it as a six does not make it a symbol for six... People often tend to mistake similarity for symbology, it seems. Of course, the difference is in who supplies the hidden meaning, the beholder or the creator.

As I said, the UPC symbol for 6 is 1+1+1+4, the start/stop symbol(or guard bars, if you wish) is always dark+light+dark, and the middle is light+dark+light+dark+light. Why choose these as start,middle and end? Well, My guess is that it is useful for syncronization, it can be used to detect the code, set gain levels, compute perspective correction and so on, it makes sense to use the highest frequency pulse train for this.

The 6 symbol, varies dependant on if it is in the right or left side of the middle, the left side of the middle it is light+dark+light+4 width dark, on the right it is dark+light+dark+4 width light. All UPC number symbols are complemental like this, it helps with reading, since orientation is easy to detect. All number symbols consists of two light and two dark bars of varying widths, and add up to 7 widths of the thinnest bar. The start and stop guard has 3 bars, two dark and one light, while the center indicator have 5, three of them light and two dark, so both the total width and number of bars are wrong for them to be numerical symbols.

Of course, if you find an item with a 0 or a 9 as the first number, the left guard bar may look a little like a six to the eye(though it is still one light line wrong, and on the wrong side of the middle guard to have this code and mean 6), and the quiet zone on the right may be construed as forming a 6 with the end guard. But this is just an example of people seeing patterns that are not there. bbb or GGG could be mistaken for 666 in certain hands, but that does not make them symbols for 666, i would say it is integral that a symbol is intended to carry a meaning by the user, or else it is not really a symbol.

Of course, the choice of the bar symbols was done to make the reading as reliable as possible, and to minimize the chance of a missread.

Even if it was a 6, however, it wouldn't make the code 666, since you have all the other numbers between. Its kind of like saying that any string of numbers with three sixes in it is a sign of the beast, no matter how far separated they are. Of course, it doesnt matter anyway, since, apperantly, the number of the beast is 616, and 666 was a mistranslation(Though some people would probably say the Fallen caused this, so that people would be chasing the wrong trail).

On another point, adding numbers from letters and words to get some value is not indicative of anything, as any combination of symbols can be interpreted as anything, if you apply a suitable key...

The truth of the matter is most likely that people can see patterns and symbols in almost anything, and tend to notice and remember similarities, but not notice or remember the times there is none.

[Tobin Dax]

In Japan it is 4. Shi is 4 and shi is also a suffix meaning death. Shinigami 死神 is a death god so there is a legend that the Shirogane tunnel in Tokyo is a doorway for such grim reapers and best avoided. They often appear as innocent little girls in spook movies, like the one of the cover of this one http://www.sarudama.com/japanese_movies/kadokawahorror2.shtml (3rd story).

That is probably it then. I was pretty sure it was four or five, and I like four better (especially since it would become the fifth floor). Alas, I was too busy today to double-check, but it probably is four. Thanks. :)

[kzb]

<<Well, that people see it as a six does not make it a symbol for six... People often tend to mistake similarity for symbology, it seems. Of course, the difference is in who supplies the hidden meaning, the beholder or the creator.>>

That last part is the difficult bit I admit. All I'm trying to do is give an alternative view to a bunch of scientific types who probably automatically laugh at this kind of thing. I'm a skeptical scientist myself.

However, it's becoming more and more clear to me that things are not as they seem. Governments are middle-management at best. Some organisation is controlling things, and it does not consist of elected representatives.

Some people have noticed numbers seem to be important to them as symbols.

As for the barcodes, you can argue all you like about the technicalities. The point remains that symbolically there are three sixes which are emphasised by being longer than the other lines on the barcode. That is what is seen by the human eye and brain. There are other numbers in between, but so what, the three sixes are emphasised by being longer. Perhaps it's an unfortunate coincidence or perhaps not. Coming very soon, PEOPLE will be barcoded, not just consumer goods.

The pope number, I got that a bit mixed up. The total of the numbers after the names of all the popes, up until the present incumbent, was 665. By the current pope choosing the name Benedict XVI, 666 has been skipped over. Make of it what you will, I'm just communicating these facts.

[farmerjumperdon]

Wow take a look at this:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006260268,00.html



I mean, it's cool that she's a horror film fan and all, but that's kind of a selfish thing to put on a kid.

On the other hand, maybe it'll make him a celebrity when he grows up.

On the other other hand, maybe he will be so enthralled with this imaginary character that he's named after, that he will turn into a little sociopath - something of a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Either way, it doesn't strike me as responsible parenting.

An immature and/or small minded person seeking attention. It's at the root of most idiocy.

[Damburger]

An immature and/or small minded person seeking attention. It's at the root of most idiocy.

You've just described the Sun newspaper :lol:

[TrAI]

...

As for the barcodes, you can argue all you like about the technicalities. The point remains that symbolically there are three sixes which are emphasised by being longer than the other lines on the barcode. That is what is seen by the human eye and brain. There are other numbers in between, but so what, the three sixes are emphasised by being longer. Perhaps it's an unfortunate coincidence or perhaps not. Coming very soon, PEOPLE will be barcoded, not just consumer goods.

...


I was wondering, how did you first discover the similarity of the sixes and the guard bars?

As for barcoding people, well, it seems much more likely that one would use injected RF-id tags. And even if you were to use a barcode, you would probably not use the UPC(or EAN), it is quite old fashioned and limited in the available symbols and code length, and the 666 thing would not apply to other codes.

[Gillianren]

I don't perceive 666 at all in barcodes. What are we talking about?

[TrAI]

I don't perceive 666 at all in barcodes. What are we talking about?

The similarity of the guard bars and the first part of the right side symbol for 6 in UPC based barcodes that are used on most products in shops have made some people think that each of the guard bars are actualy the number "6", and since the bars are usualy made a little longer than the symbol bars, they see this as the sixes being accentuated, kind of like writing "6123456678906"

[dvb]

I've also lived in an apartment building that didn't have a 13th floor. Another silly thing that comes to mind, is when Intel released their 667Mhz CPU. Why not 666Mhz hmm? :lol:

[Maksutov]

I've also lived in an apartment building that didn't have a 13th floor. Another silly thing that comes to mind, is when Intel released their 667Mhz CPU. Why not 666Mhz hmm? :lol:Maybe it tested on average to 2/3Ghz (or that was their target speed), which, when rounded to whole numbers, is 667.

That reminds me, a competition between three Mazda 6s would be one hell of a race! :)

[ASEI]

I wonder, if the year 2000 caused hysteria, what about the year 1000? I wonder what kind of insanity was afoot on the day 6/6/666? or 6/6/1666?

[Maksutov]

I wonder, if the year 2000 caused hysteria, what about the year 1000? I wonder what kind of insanity was afoot on the day 6/6/666? or 6/6/1666?If there had been insanity in 1666, it didn't happen in the Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, etc., nations.

If I recall correctly there was a big fire in London during 1666, and Newton published some important papers.

[Gillianren]

If I recall correctly there was a big fire in London during 1666, and Newton published some important papers.

The Great Fire of London, to be precise. Burned down quite a lot of the city, including the original St. Paul's, and both Charles II and Samuel Pepys helped fight it, at least according to Pepys's diary.

Actually, what's interesting is that Newton was able to publish those papers because of what the fire prevented from happening again--an outbreak of plague. Newton went home and, you know, discovered gravity and whatnot, and the fire burned down the warehouse district, killing the rats therein.

[Dave Mitsky]

Edit

The internet was "invented" at CERN. Have a look at the CERN logo

Edit



It's true that CERN played a role in developing the World Wide Web, which is merely a part of the Internet. As to the actual "inventor", it was Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wide_Web

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Berners-Lee

Dave Mitsky

[Monique]

Is good reason for insanity... world ended 06.06.06 no one have tell you yet?? :shifty:

;)

[Maksutov]

Is good reason for insanity... world ended 06.06.06 no one have tell you yet?? :shifty:

;)This post-world world looks and behaves a lot like the previous one!

http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/traurig/k045.gif

[Monique]

This post-world world looks and behaves a lot like the previous one!

http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/traurig/k045.gif
does not make proof is same world :neutral:

some matters I cannot discuss... is not safe... :shifty:

Is very early I go back to bed now... :p

[Damburger]

Maybe it tested on average to 2/3Ghz (or that was their target speed), which, when rounded to whole numbers, is 667.

But they didn't do that for any other speeds - for example 66Mhz should also have been rounded up to 67Mhz but wasn't.

[Maksutov]

But they didn't do that for any other speeds - for example 66Mhz should also have been rounded up to 67Mhz but wasn't.Good point. I wonder if AMD did the same thing when they got to 666Mhz. Of course unless they were first, they would round up to 667Mhz just to stay competitive with Intel.

One company where I was quality manager there was a customer rep who came to visit about three days out of the week. He was also an xian fundamentalist. One day I started discussing our quality plan for an new Pratt & Whitney engine component whose part number happened to be 107666. He got kind of shook up when he noticed the number. I asked him what was wrong. He said, "I don't like that number." :lol:

[kzb]

[1666] <<The Great Fire of London, to be precise. Burned down quite a lot of the city, including the original St. Paul's, and both Charles II and Samuel Pepys helped fight it, at least according to Pepys's diary.>>

It's worth noting this enabled the complete redesign and rebuilding of the central area. Complete with masonic and satanic symbolism throughout.

<<Actually, what's interesting is that Newton was able to publish those papers because of what the fire prevented from happening again--an outbreak of plague. Newton went home and, you know, discovered gravity and whatnot, and the fire burned down the warehouse district, killing the rats therein.
>>

Let's also remind ourselves Newton's calculus was merely a side-effect of his seaching for Bible codes (as was Napier's logarithms BTW).

I think it's well documented Newton spent most of his effort on Alchemy and what would now be thought of as esoteric studies. What are now considered his great works were only in his spare time.

The great fire of 1666, started by someone accidently knocking over a lamp? I wonder.

[kzb]

Gillianren wrote: <<I don't perceive 666 at all in barcodes. What are we talking about?>>

I think TRAI answered this well. But just to reiterate, don't get bogged down in the technical detail. Just get some products and look at the barcodes.

In front of me now, just at random, I have a milk carton. The last two digits before the final guard bar are sixes. The end of the barcode looks exactly like 3 identical sets of twin parallel lines. To the human eye and brain "6" is exactly like one of the guard bars.

The wording of the book of revelation has it that no man will be able to trade without the mark of the beast. So that seems to have come true. The difficult bit is thinking why -is it a signal of the real world rulers, or is it simply the inventors of the system having a bit of fun?

[Tog_]

Gillianren wrote: <<I don't perceive 666 at all in barcodes. What are we talking about?>>

I think TRAI answered this well. But just to reiterate, don't get bogged down in the technical detail. Just get some products and look at the barcodes.

In front of me now, just at random, I have a milk carton. The last two digits before the final guard bar are sixes. The end of the barcode looks exactly like 3 identical sets of twin parallel lines. To the human eye and brain "6" is exactly like one of the guard bars.

The wording of the book of revelation has it that no man will be able to trade without the mark of the beast. So that seems to have come true. The difficult bit is thinking why -is it a signal of the real world rulers, or is it simply the inventors of the system having a bit of fun?

I used to work in a grocery store where I somtime had a great deal of time on my hands. I had at one time memorized the UPC for all energizer batteries, M&M Mars, and Hershy candy bars, and many kodak films. I didn't have a scaner and had to 10 key them into the registers.

The UPc codes used in the US have three widths. Thin thick, Medium and Thin. These are used in connection with the non colored space between them to make a number. At the start and end of each code are two thin lines. There is also a pair of thin lines that run down the middle of the code. The digits 0 to 9 are expressed two different ways. If the number 1 is a THICK thick THIN on the left side of the center line it will be Thick THICK thin on the right side. The colored and non colored parts are reversed. This tells the computer scanning the item which way to read the number. Without this, 12345 67890 would look just like 09876 54321 to the scanner. There are also two other digits before and after the main 10 digits. These can be anything. On my throat spray they are 5 and 3. This is part of the code but has nothing to do with the longer Guard Lines, which do not represent any digit. They are there to funtion as a checksum digit to confirm a valid barcode. In addition to the 10 digit code, there is a 6 digit code as well. Pepsi uses the code 120123 for a single can This is a truncated code and can either be modified with a special key, or entered as 31200 00012 (if I recall). The lines on these short codes are different than the 10 digit ones. Most medicines also have a different pattern of lines for each digit. For these the first small number is either a 3 or 7 ad they must be entered in another different way. One think these all have in common are the THIN think THIN pattern at each end which is basically the blank space in the margin of a printed page. They mean nothing.

[Swift]

Is good reason for insanity... world ended 06.06.06 no one have tell you yet?? :shifty:

;)
Well, if it takes the world to end for you to come back for a visit Monique, I hope it ends more frequently.

[HenrikOlsen]

A digit is coded as a sequence of two bars and two spaces within a space 7 modules wide. Bar and space widths may be 1, 2, 3, or 4 modules wide. This results in 20 possible bar-space combinations. Ten of these patterns are used for the left digits and ten are used for the right digits. The left digits always start with a space, while the right digits always start with a bar, apart from that they are identical.
Left Digits Right Digit
N | S B S B | B S B S
0 | 3 2 1 1 | 3 2 1 1
1 | 2 2 2 1 | 2 2 2 1
2 | 2 1 2 2 | 2 1 2 2
3 | 1 4 1 1 | 1 4 1 1
4 | 1 1 3 2 | 1 1 3 2
5 | 1 2 3 1 | 1 2 3 1
6 | 1 1 1 4 | 1 1 1 4
7 | 1 3 1 2 | 1 3 1 2
8 | 1 2 1 3 | 1 2 1 3
9 | 3 1 1 2 | 3 1 1 2

As you can see, the right hand 6 is encoded as thin bar, thin space, thin bar, very thick space.
Since the start, middle and end markers are encoded as thin bar, thin space, thin bar, with space around them, it's easy to see how people who don't understand that the very wide space is part of what makes it a 6, and who are inclined to see conspiracies everywhere, could think that there are three additional sixes in a barcode.

[Captain Kidd]

We have recorded river heights at various stages, normal, drought, winter drawdown, flood, etc. All but one is set to an even foot (703.0 ft for example). However one level always makes me chuckle: 665.5 ft.

[Weird Dave]

[1666] <<The Great Fire of London, to be precise. Burned down quite a lot of the city, including the original St. Paul's, and both Charles II and Samuel Pepys helped fight it, at least according to Pepys's diary.>>

It's worth noting this enabled the complete redesign and rebuilding of the central area. Complete with masonic and satanic symbolism throughout.

...

The great fire of 1666, started by someone accidently knocking over a lamp? I wonder.
No, it started in a bakery, probably when an oven was left burning over night.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_fire_of_london
I've been to parts of London that were rebuilt, and all I saw was St Paul's Cathedral. Would you like to point me to the satanic symbols?

[kzb]

Barcodes: *don't get bogged down in the technical detail* !

Someone raised the question of 616 being the real number intended in the book of revelations. Yes I saw a TV program on that a few months ago.

The thing is though, the accepted scholarly view on 666, for several centuries, is quite prosaic. The explanation for 666 being the number of the beast is that in the numerology of the period, the word for "Roman" summed to 666 in BOTH Hebrew and Greek languages. A word happening to have the same numerology total in two different languages is probably almost unique. Hence the writer of revelations used the number as a secret code for "Roman".

If the number of the beast is actually 616, then that widely accepted explanation would fall down.

Perhaps "616" is a bit of disinformation ?

[TrAI]

Barcodes: *don't get bogged down in the technical detail* !

Someone raised the question of 616 being the real number intended in the book of revelations. Yes I saw a TV program on that a few months ago.

The thing is though, the accepted scholarly view on 666, for several centuries, is quite prosaic. The explanation for 666 being the number of the beast is that in the numerology of the period, the word for "Roman" summed to 666 in BOTH Hebrew and Greek languages. A word happening to have the same numerology total in two different languages is probably almost unique. Hence the writer of revelations used the number as a secret code for "Roman".

If the number of the beast is actually 616, then that widely accepted explanation would fall down.

Perhaps "616" is a bit of disinformation ?

Well, as I remember it, the 616 as the number of the beast was based on a study of a piece of a document dated to an earlier time than the sources for it to be 666, and so one would believe that the earlier version would be closer to the original, of course, the number may have changed several times to reflect the current political environment, this would be quite possible. I do not really think that it is of any importance what the number value of some combination of letters are, just about any collection of characters or similar glyphs will be 666 in some system or other.

666 have become a symbol for the beast in our world, that is true, however, one would think that if the Antichrist were to rise up and claim the world under its symbol, it would use what ever was the real symbol, not some corruption that has grown up due to some millenia long game of pass on the message. For the interpretation that the number is in fact used by the Antichrist to control the beast, I expect accuracy is of vital importance.

The passage may be a warning against some fear of the author, someone several thousand years back could easily forsee a system whereby some authority could control who have the right to trade, and the technology would be available, probably some sort of carried token would be proposed, but as this would be unreliable, perhaps some intricate and hard to forge tattoo or other permanent mark might be suggested. It may be a warning against letting one entity have full control over transactions. It may be just a fragment of some larger story, or just some clever wordplay that lost something in later retellings. What ever it was supposed to mean, we will probably never know.

[Gillianren]

The thing is though, the accepted scholarly view on 666, for several centuries, is quite prosaic. The explanation for 666 being the number of the beast is that in the numerology of the period, the word for "Roman" summed to 666 in BOTH Hebrew and Greek languages. A word happening to have the same numerology total in two different languages is probably almost unique. Hence the writer of revelations used the number as a secret code for "Roman".

No, in fact. I've never heard that explanation, generally because it's wrong.

Now, I admit right now that I can't remember which is which, but either 666 encodes the name of Nero and 616 Tiberius or the other way 'round. While they happened to be Romans, the numbers were much more specific than merely "Roman."

[Sammy]

No, in fact. I've never heard that explanation, generally because it's wrong.

Now, I admit right now that I can't remember which is which, but either 666 encodes the name of Nero and 616 Tiberius or the other way 'round. While they happened to be Romans, the numbers were much more specific than merely "Roman."

My understanding also. I don't have the link, but I read it in an article on 666 by a Professor of Religous Studies (yeah, yeah, I know -- Just what they would say...")

[kzb]

The Hebrew/Greek numerology "Roman = 666" hypothesis apparently dates back to at least 1750. PobablyI should have said "an" accepted scholarly view, rather than "the", it's just the one that stuck in my mind.

Anyway it doesn't matter for the purposes of my argument. 666 has long been accepted rather than 616, and it's 666 that's been adopted as one of their symbols. That's the point to keep hold of. I was just wondering if it's a bit curious that all this about 616 has just surfaced, and been given just the right amount of publicity, after thousands of years of 666.

As to the date 6/6/6, let's remember 666 is the number of a man, not a date, so perhaps we shouldn't expect anything to have happened. (Incidently, despite all I've said above, this stops barcodes from being the mark of the beast, at any rate until humans are barcoded.)

The only things I can think of are:

(1) Financial market indicators (FTSE etc), also commodity prices, are in a state of real volatility. It may be in the years to come, when analysing the economic collapse, the turning point was 6/6/6.

(2) In the UK, we were treated to pictures on the TV news of a live heart beating in a perspex box. It was about a new way of keeping hearts alive for transplants. However, it transpired the actual operation was 2 weeks previous. Hmmm, beating heart torn from the living victim, how satanic is that? Then they chose to save the report, complete with gory pictures, until 6/6/6.

A bit thin I know, but perhaps other people have seen things?

[mid]

I've been to parts of London that were rebuilt, and all I saw was St Paul's Cathedral. Would you like to point me to the satanic symbols?

I mainly know of this through Alan Moore using it as a cornerstone of his Ripper retelling, From Hell. In his notes, he credits the information about Nicholas Hawksmoor's use of Masonic imagery to Iain Sinclair. I'm not aware of a decent tome on the subject that doesn't claim to be fiction, however.

[TrAI]

The Hebrew/Greek numerology "Roman = 666" hypothesis apparently dates back to at least 1750. PobablyI should have said "an" accepted scholarly view, rather than "the", it's just the one that stuck in my mind.

Anyway it doesn't matter for the purposes of my argument. 666 has long been accepted rather than 616, and it's 666 that's been adopted as one of their symbols. That's the point to keep hold of. I was just wondering if it's a bit curious that all this about 616 has just surfaced, and been given just the right amount of publicity, after thousands of years of 666.

As to the date 6/6/6, let's remember 666 is the number of a man, not a date, so perhaps we shouldn't expect anything to have happened. (Incidently, despite all I've said above, this stops barcodes from being the mark of the beast, at any rate until humans are barcoded.)


Remember though, even if people were barcoded, this does not mean that the code used would be an UPC derivative code, the issue is spesific to UPC based codes, codes based on other systems does not use the same type of guardbar structure. Of course, the UPC is very popular, however many applications demand more versitile codes, code 39 and code 128 are quite popular, and can encode letters in addition to the numbers and is not restricted to a few fixed lengths, this would mean that you could encode more than just a number. You even have two dimentional codes, PDF 417 and Data Matrix are common types of these.

The only things I can think of are:

(1) Financial market indicators (FTSE etc), also commodity prices, are in a state of real volatility. It may be in the years to come, when analysing the economic collapse, the turning point was 6/6/6.

(2) In the UK, we were treated to pictures on the TV news of a live heart beating in a perspex box. It was about a new way of keeping hearts alive for transplants. However, it transpired the actual operation was 2 weeks previous. Hmmm, beating heart torn from the living victim, how satanic is that? Then they chose to save the report, complete with gory pictures, until 6/6/6.

A bit thin I know, but perhaps other people have seen things?

Hmm, I would think they waited to report it so that there would be time to check that everything went well. I do not believe that saying the beating heart was torn from the victim is correct. Since it was a heart transplant, I expect the donor was a person that was already brain dead, and that the body was kept on life support, someone that died in an accident or something similar, its not as though they tore the heart out of a still living person, the organs, however, do not die instantly, even if the person is no longer alive. I expect that the heart was not beating either, when they cut it out, after all it would be important to be accurate and one can not affort any mistakes when cutting, its probably hard enough to do this, even without having to cope with the heart beating... Also, the story was out the fifth at the latest...

[kzb]

All I'm saying is, to someone versed in satanic ritual, the sight of a live beating heart, out of the body, might have significance. I suppose you're right about the date, I've asked around and many people remember seeing it on the news on 5/6/6 rather than 6/6/6. I personally seem to remember seeing it on News24 late at night, so my guess is it started being reported during the day on 5/6/6 but carried on past midnight into 6/6/6.

Another potential 666 happening: when did Tony Blair visit the Pope? Was that 6/6/6 ? It was certainly around that time.

Another point on numerology. Look up the significance of 786.

[Maksutov]

All I'm saying is, to someone versed in satanic ritual, the sight of a live beating heart, out of the body, might have significance. I suppose you're right about the date, I've asked around and many people remember seeing it on the news on 5/6/6 rather than 6/6/6. I personally seem to remember seeing it on News24 late at night, so my guess is it started being reported during the day on 5/6/6 but carried on past midnight into 6/6/6.

Another potential 666 happening: when did Tony Blair visit the Pope? Was that 6/6/6 ? It was certainly around that time.

Another point on numerology. Look up the significance of 786.What's with the apparent obsession to find something significant (mostly bad) that happened on 20060606? What's your motivation?

The Daily Show and The Cobert Repor had a field day with this whole ridiculous thing. I'll have to dig out the digital recording and quote Jon and Steve.

Let's see, last Tuesday I noticed a bunch of demons creeping around in the backyard. They were casting long shadows from the neighbor's security light. You could the gleam in one of their eyes, like it was illuminated from within.

Then I loudly said, "Hey!" and one of them replied "Sorry! We're just taking a shortcut" and they promptly left for their various homes in the neighborhood. One of them was wearing glasses.

[Tog_]

As long as we're on the subject of harmless coinsidenses... We are, right?

I counted out my cash drawer one night and had...
$65 in fives
$13 on ones
$3.25 in quarters
$2.60 in dimes
$0.65 in nickels
$0.39 in pennies
:eek:

Thats 9 13's. 9+13 is 22, which is 2*11. 2+11 is 13!!! 9*13 is 117. 1+1+7 is 9 which was how many 13's I had!!! 11-7 is 4 which is how many items I had that were just 13, not a multiple. The total in the drawer was $84.89 which written backwards is 9848 which when divided by 13 is 757.538. 53.8 is really close to 53.1 (which is one of the angles ina 3-4-5 triangle), but when multiplied by 5 for the 5 sides of the Pentagon (757) comes to 269, which is almost 270, or 3/4 of a circle... like the 3 of the 4 planes that were used on 9-11 both num,ber that keep popping up here so far. If only I'd known how to interpret the signs.:dance:

It was sort of cool having the whole till come out 13's though. But I was something like 23 cents off. Not a another 13 though. That would have really stuck out.

[Gillianren]

The thing is, Mr. Coincidence is your friend. Since there's only 10 digits, having any combination of three will show up a lot. It just works out that way.

Now, to be fair, I don't know any Satanists, but I do think the whole Satanism thing's a bit silly. And, in its creepier aspects, pretty well discredited. As in, there's no evidence the creepier aspects really exist. Or, as Moby put it, if there really is a Satan, don't you think he has something better to do than show up to four goth kids in a basement?

[Peter Wilson]

The internet was "invented" at CERN. Have a look at the CERN logo

http://public.web.cern.ch/Public/Welcome.html

and tell me what you see !


Route 66. What of it?

[Damburger]

The thing is, Mr. Coincidence is your friend. Since there's only 10 digits, having any combination of three will show up a lot. It just works out that way.

To be exact - 666, like any combination, can be expected to show up 1 time every 1000.

Given how many numbers we deal with these days, and the fact you can group them together fairly arbitarily, it isn't surprising you can find a lot of instances of this number if you're looking.

[kzb]

<<To be exact - 666, like any combination, can be expected to show up 1 time every 1000>>

Well, yes, if you limited it to 3 digits. But if it's entirely random why would you do that? Actually the number of numbers is infinite.

Another interesting number is 11. On 9/11, flight 11 hit the WTC, which had been constructed to look like a giant number 11 on the skyline. 911 is also the emergency phone number in the USA.

912 days later there were the Madrid train bombings. There was a leap year in between, discounting that there are 911 days from 9/11.

In the UK we remember the fallen of WW1 on the 11th hour of 11/11.

[HenrikOlsen]

So?

[Māori]

11
175
77
93

[kzb]

Another interesting thing was the previous BT logo, the "piper".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Telecom

Most people see exactly that, a piper. I certainly did.

However, I've noticed when you tell people it's A SNAKE, people behave differently. After looking at you strangely, then a few seconds of looking at it, most go "oh yes of course I see it now !"

A significant minority, however, just don't see the snake at all. It must depend on your pattern recognition psychology.

To me, it's now obvious the whole design is based around a snake. But I didn't realise it for myself.

[Tog_]

<<To be exact - 666, like any combination, can be expected to show up 1 time every 1000>>

Well, yes, if you limited it to 3 digits. But if it's entirely random why would you do that? Actually the number of numbers is infinite.

Another interesting number is 11. On 9/11, flight 11 hit the WTC, which had been constructed to look like a giant number 11 on the skyline. 911 is also the emergency phone number in the USA.

912 days later there were the Madrid train bombings. There was a leap year in between, discounting that there are 911 days from 9/11.

In the UK we remember the fallen of WW1 on the 11th hour of 11/11.

Please see my story about my chage drawer tally above. It means nothing other than a few select points were used and a lot of others ignored to make something seem to be.

[Tog_]

eh... My uncle can't see the bat in the Batman logo. All he sees are teeth. Once I knew to look for it I saw what looked like a snake, but even if it were, why would it mean anything?

[Māori]

How do I unsubscribe to a thread? I'm new, please tell me.

[Tog_]

How do I unsubscribe to a thread? I'm new, please tell me.

Go to the quick links thing up at the top. When it opens go to the Suscribed Threads box. When the list comes up, put a check in everything you want unsubscribed. At the bottom will be a box with an arrow in it. open this to see the options and select Unsubscribe. Then select the GO button (whatever it might be called). THe list will update your threads. You can aslo set some options in the USER CP. Like not sending subscribed threads to youe email by default.

[triplebird]

Route 66. What of it?

How about Route 666? :evil:

US Highway 666--starts in SE Utah, goes through Colorado, and ends in NW New Mexico--was changed in 2003 to US 491 (IIRC) because of the same supersition of The Number (and supposedly because USDOT kept having to replace the route signs due to theft by souvenir hunters).

Brent

[kzb]

The A666 in the UK goes from Salford to somewhere near Pendle Hill. It's not now the very nearest road to Pendle Hill, but it would be interesting to see if it used to be in historical times. Pendle Hill is significant as it is where the Lancashire witches lived.

<<Once I knew to look for it I saw what looked like a snake, but even if it were, why would it mean anything?>>

Because someone somewhere thought of hiding a snake symbol within a much used logo. That logo was on public phone booths etc all over the place, it was very well known.

It might mean nothing or it might mean everything. The fact is, it's there.

Carbon-12 is the most abundant isotope of carbon, and is 6 protons 6 neutrons and 6 electrons. It's the 666 isotope, and it also happens to be at the root of all life on earth.

[gwiz]

The A666 ends where it joins the A59 a few miles short of Pendle Hill. The A59 passes some three miles from the hill. Two other roads that join the A59, the A671 and A682, both come closer to Pendle Hill than the A666, but not as close as a couple of unclassified roads.

What does all this mean? Search me.

[Gillianren]

In the UK we remember the fallen of WW1 on the 11th hour of 11/11.

Well, yes. Do you know why? If you don't, go study history for a while instead of being paranoid. You'll find it's very freeing to know why things have happened; you don't have to make up screwy reasons for it.

[Jim]

Carbon-12 is the most abundant isotope of carbon, and is 6 protons 6 neutrons and 6 electrons. It's the 666 isotope, and it also happens to be at the root of all life on earth.

Omigod! We're all Satan's spawn!!

[HenrikOlsen]

Since when's that been news?

[Maksutov]

Omigod! We're all Satan's spawn!!Too bad we weren't satan's prawns; that might lead to a revival of cannibalism! Pass the BBQ sauce, dear. ;)

[Maksutov]

Do you get the feeling that, eventually, kzb is going to find some piece of obscure numerological baloney to hang his hat on?

:doh:

[kzb]

<<Do you get the feeling that, eventually, kzb is going to find some piece of obscure numerological baloney to hang his hat on?>>

You'll be waiting a long time. All I am attempting to do is raise consciousness of these issues. A few years ago I was not aware of all the hidden symbology around us.

The fact is, like it or not, numerology is important. That's obvious from the muslim 786 for example. Not because it REALLY has some supernatural value, just symbolically

As to the BT Piper logo, I mean if it was just a snake, questions would have been asked. Every phone booth having a snake symbol -its like something out of one of those parallel universe or alternate history ScFi shows. Yet in a way THEY DID !

The A666, yes I know there are nearer roads now, the point is I wonder if it USED to go to Pendle Hill. The A59 for example bypasses the villages, so it probably only dates from the time of the motor vehicle. The A666 is obviously an old route since it passes right through the centres of towns such as Bolton etc.

The point about carbon is, this could not have been known in Biblical times. But then you start to think "or was it....?

[HenrikOlsen]

Actually you start thinking "what's the point", "why bother" or "so what"?

[farmerjumperdon]

Too bad we weren't satan's prawns; that might lead to a revival of cannibalism! Pass the BBQ sauce, dear. ;)

BBQ sauce on your shrimp, heh? Is that common?

We use either cocktail sauce or a lemon & butter mix.

[farmerjumperdon]

The fact is, like it or not, numerology is important.

Just from what I've gleaned in casual chats, added to what WIKI has on it, appears to me numerology is psuedoscience at best. Looks closer to astrology and tarot than anything else.

Why is it important, and how is it a FACT that it is important?

[gwiz]

The A666, yes I know there are nearer roads now, the point is I wonder if it USED to go to Pendle Hill. The A59 for example bypasses the villages, so it probably only dates from the time of the motor vehicle. The A666 is obviously an old route since it passes right through the centres of towns such as Bolton etc.
Not the way UK road numbering works - the fewer the digits the more important the road, so the A59 would have been numbered before the less important 3-digit roads that connect to it. Originally it would have gone through the villages, but as by-passes were built they would have been given the A59 number and the bits of the old A59 through the villages would have been given new numbers.

The whole system of numbering roads post-dates the car.

[Weird Dave]

<<To be exact - 666, like any combination, can be expected to show up 1 time every 1000>>

Well, yes, if you limited it to 3 digits. But if it's entirely random why would you do that? Actually the number of numbers is infinite.

Another interesting number is 11. On 9/11, flight 11 hit the WTC, which had been constructed to look like a giant number 11 on the skyline. 911 is also the emergency phone number in the USA.
So what? This suggests two things to me: either it's coincidence, or the terrorists chose an easy-to-remember date and flight number for their attack. Both are possible, and neither possibility has any importance for anything.

But I dispute "which had been constructed to look like a giant number 11 on the skyline." I very much doubt the Mayor of New York sat down one day and said, "Y'know, this city is OK but what it really needs is a giant number on the skyline!"; but even if he did, what number other than 11 could have been built?
912 days later there were the Madrid train bombings. There was a leap year in between, discounting that there are 911 days from 9/11.
It means that terrorists can count but are too stupid to use leap-years - if it means anything at all.
In the UK we remember the fallen of WW1 on the 11th hour of 11/11.
I very much doubt that is relevant to 9/11.

So what exactly is your point? But bear in mind that my first name, middle name and surname all have 5 letters - 555. I'm the beast in disguise, and everything I say is disinformation.:shhh:

[Sammy]

IMO, numerology ranks even above astrology in the stupidity sweepstakes.

You might as well play "connect the dots" on the floor of a chicken coop.

[ASEI]

All this about numbers that are alliterative in a base 10 numerical system: and yet, what sorts of numbers is the universe organized around?

Hmm ...
ratio of circumference to diameter 3.1415926..... (unless you live in Indiana, where it was mandated by the state government to be 3 - abrogate that, natural law!!)
natural exponent 2.71828-something
phi (golden section) 1.61803.... and -0.61803

Every one of them an insult to our desire for neat, easily memorable numbers. Anthropocentrism loses yet another one to the-way-the-world-is-actually-constructed.

[Maksutov]

BBQ sauce on your shrimp, heh? Is that common?

We use either cocktail sauce or a lemon & butter mix.It's homemade per a sauce (marinade, actually) recipe that combines the best characteristics of cocktail sauce and BBQ sauce. Yum!

[Maksutov]

You'll be waiting a long time. All I am attempting to do is raise consciousness of these issues...What issues? Or has occasional coincidence been elevated to the status of "an issue"?

[Frog march]

numerology is nothing more than the act of going into the garden with a spade and looking for worms.

[kzb]

OK I'm beginning to worry myself now. On Saturday I went for a drive, guess where....that's right the A666. I didn't have time to drive the whole A666 route, and anyway it's only the north (Pendle Hill) end of it that interested me. So I just went on the section north of Blackburn Lancs.

If Dan Brown is reading, I will be wanting my cut if you include this concept in any forthcoming novel:

Really quite pleasant suburban area, large houses with trees on either side of the road, Golf club.

However, now I've got my 666 eyes open. Go round a bend in the road, and there dominating the skyline directly ahead is looming bulk of Pendle. At that point you Know You Are Headed For Pendle.

It's true the A666 terminates at the A59. That section of the A59 is called the Whalley Bypass, originally the A59 went through the village centre headed east towards Pendle. That old A59 road is now classed as a B road, and turning right in the village centre takes you up to Pendle.

It gets more complicated. The name of the A666 in that area is Whalley New Road, which implies there's an Old Road. And there is, a little B road called, reasonably enough, Whalley Old Road. I didn't drive it due to lack of time. It seems the current route of the A666 there may not be that old, it superseded an older road.

So basically my trip actually has raised a lot more questions than it answered. But I don't think it's unlikely the A666 was the route from the south to Pendle way back when (before it was called the A666 obviously). I suppose you'd have to find some historical maps of the roads back in medieval times.

[Jim]

Just from what I've gleaned in casual chats, added to what WIKI has on it, appears to me numerology is psuedoscience at best. Looks closer to astrology and tarot than anything else.

Why is it important, and how is it a FACT that it is important?

Good heavens, man! Of course numerology is important!!

You say you want proof? Just ask your local bookie. If people didn't believe in numerology, he wouldn't be able to buy a new car every six months.

[Tog_]

Good heavens, man! Of course numerology is important!!

You say you want proof? Just ask your local bookie. If people didn't believe in numerology, he wouldn't be able to buy a new car every six months.

I went to a casino over the weekend and as I played my $10 in a $0.01 machine called Angels and Devils I thought of this thread. Not once did my coin count ever hit 666. I was 667 once and 671 several times, but never 666. I did have three 911's and a 363. (The number of the store where I used to work. It actuially pops a lot that I notice). The roulette wheel never came up three 6's either while I was there.

After dinner, snacks, and her cigarettes, we both came home with $90 more than we took, so the numbers seemed to be on our side this time. This... time...

BTW I still don't see anything but conicidence.

[kzb]

666 is the sum of the numbers from 1 to 36 inclusive. The babylonians had amulets with these numbers in a 6 x 6 square as some kind of good luck charm. This is another possible source of the biblical number -certainly it seems too much of a coincidence to be entirely unrelated.

If so, this again would be supporting evidence for 666 and not 616.

[kzb]

The Royal Society was formed in 1660. Christopher Wren was the first President, and of course Isaac Newton is one of its most famous members.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Society

It had to move out of London in 1666 because of the great fire. Christopher Wren (freemason) was involved with rebuilding London after the fire.

The Royal Society I think was a turning point in history. That's the beginning of the modern era of experimental science. At this point though, occultism, alchemy and mysticism were studied along with what we now call science.

At the time, people would not have been aware they were living through a critical turning point of history. However looking back, we can now see how important the few years around 1666 actually were.

[Gillianren]

666 is the sum of the numbers from 1 to 36 inclusive. The babylonians had amulets with these numbers in a 6 x 6 square as some kind of good luck charm. This is another possible source of the biblical number -certainly it seems too much of a coincidence to be entirely unrelated.

If so, this again would be supporting evidence for 666 and not 616.

And therefore irrelevant to the Antichrist, really.

Since the subject is what the book in question actually says, not what any given translation says, the 666 hysteria is unfounded--even if numerology worked, which it doesn't. (My numerology chart, as I recall, says I'm a very calm person. Which is largely true, when I'm neither having a panic attack, a manic episode, or a depressive episode.)

[kzb]

<<And therefore irrelevant to the Antichrist, really.>>

Gillianren -well where have I contended that it was ? If I've given that impression, well it wasn't my intention. I don't think there's anything supernatural about 666 -and nor do I contend that numerology "works" in the mystical sense.

[Weird Dave]

OK I'm beginning to worry myself now. On Saturday I went for a drive, guess where....that's right the A666. I didn't have time to drive the whole A666 route, and anyway it's only the north (Pendle Hill) end of it that interested me. So I just went on the section north of Blackburn Lancs.

If Dan Brown is reading, I will be wanting my cut if you include this concept in any forthcoming novel:

Really quite pleasant suburban area, large houses with trees on either side of the road, Golf club.

However, now I've got my 666 eyes open. Go round a bend in the road, and there dominating the skyline directly ahead is looming bulk of Pendle. At that point you Know You Are Headed For Pendle.

It's true the A666 terminates at the A59. That section of the A59 is called the Whalley Bypass, originally the A59 went through the village centre headed east towards Pendle. That old A59 road is now classed as a B road, and turning right in the village centre takes you up to Pendle.

It gets more complicated. The name of the A666 in that area is Whalley New Road, which implies there's an Old Road. And there is, a little B road called, reasonably enough, Whalley Old Road. I didn't drive it due to lack of time. It seems the current route of the A666 there may not be that old, it superseded an older road.

So basically my trip actually has raised a lot more questions than it answered. But I don't think it's unlikely the A666 was the route from the south to Pendle way back when (before it was called the A666 obviously). I suppose you'd have to find some historical maps of the roads back in medieval times.
Yeah, so what? The A666 has to go somewhere. And anywhere it goes is likely to have some witchcraft, murder or whatever associated with it. At the very most, it suggests the number was allocated by a civil servant with a sense of humour.
666 is the sum of the numbers from 1 to 36 inclusive. The babylonians had amulets with these numbers in a 6 x 6 square as some kind of good luck charm. This is another possible source of the biblical number -certainly it seems too much of a coincidence to be entirely unrelated.

If so, this again would be supporting evidence for 666 and not 616.
Again, so what? I suppose all the 6s are a coincidence, but interesting properties like this can be found for just about any number.

[HenrikOlsen]

I can't remember who said it, it was mentioned by Martin Gardner "There are no uninteresting numbers"

[kzb]

<<Again, so what? I suppose all the 6s are a coincidence, but interesting properties like this can be found for just about any number.>>

The point was in the next paragraph,

<<If so, this again would be supporting evidence for 666 and not 616>>

There has been some discussion whether the original number was 666 or 616. I'm saying it would be a funny coincidence if some "typo" was made in copying the original and 666 was substituted for 616, given the Babylonian amulets having 666 on them.

[Weird Dave]

I can't remember who said it, it was mentioned by Martin Gardner "There are no uninteresting numbers"
There's a famous proof of that: if there are boring (natural) numbers, there must be a smallest boring number. But that makes it interesting!

Here's a (serious) attempted proof, trying to show that all numbers have a unique property such as:

74 is the only positive integer equal to the sum of the digits in its square plus the sum of the digits in its 4th power
and also equal to
twice the sum of its digits plus the sum of the digits in its 4th power.

http://users.aol.com/s6sj7gt/interest.htm

[Gillianren]

Gillianren -well where have I contended that it was ? If I've given that impression, well it wasn't my intention. I don't think there's anything supernatural about 666 -and nor do I contend that numerology "works" in the mystical sense.

So, what? You just think coincidence is creepy? It isn't. It's very, very common.

[kzb]

<<So, what? You just think coincidence is creepy? It isn't. It's very, very common>>

No, I'm saying it ISN'T a coincidence ! I'm saying it's intentional, and that makes it very creepy indeed.

You've got the book 1984 coming literally true in front of your very eyes. The SAME laws being enacted in different countries all round the world, with no grass roots demand for them. Hardly a week goes by without some right we have taken for granted for centuries being undermined or removed entirely.

It makes no difference which party is in power in your particular "democracy" -the SAME things STILL happen.

[Frog march]

No, I'm saying it ISN'T a coincidence ! I'm saying it's intentional, and that makes it very creepy indeed.

You've got the book 1984 coming literally true in front of your very eyes. The SAME laws being enacted in different countries all round the world, with no grass roots demand for them. Hardly a week goes by without some right we have taken for granted for centuries being undermined or removed entirely.

It makes no difference which party is in power in your particular "democracy" -the SAME things STILL happen.

if you are worried that the world is changing for the worst it would do better to base you arguments on something more sound than the '666' stuff.

[kzb]

OK I'm leaving you alone now, I've said enough.

[Gillianren]

Or is it? (Thoughtful chin stroking.) Oh, no, wait. It is.

[Weird Dave]

Does anyone else think it ironic that this thread was subtitled "The Struggle Against Irrational Thinking"?
:think:

[NEOWatcher]

Does anyone else think it ironic that this thread was subtitled "The Struggle Against Irrational Thinking"?
:think:
I took it as our struggle against people who are irrational. So no, I didn't see irony, just frustration.

[ASEI]

Does anyone else think it ironic that this thread was subtitled "The Struggle Against Irrational Thinking"?
Now that you mention it....

[reidenschneider]

a 1,500-year-old bit of papyrus written in Greek, the original language of the New Testament, contains a key passage from the Book of Revelation that is causing consternation in the determined woo-woo scene concerning the bit about the fabled “Number of the Beast,” or the sign of the anti-Christ whose coming is predicted in the book’s apocalyptic verses. Most versions of this section of the Bible give it as 666, but it is shown in this text – which pre-dates the other texts by at least a century – as 616.

if there is still an interest in the real or imagined significance of the number 666 consider the above bit, taken in part from randi.org. :)

[Noclevername]

Most versions of this section of the Bible give it as 666, but it is shown in this text – which pre-dates the other texts by at least a century – as 616.
Oh, no! That means Marvel Comics is out to get us! ;)

And zombie threads are rising from the dead too! Aaah!

[KaiYeves]

Oh, no! That means Marvel Comics is out to get us!
My thoughts exactly. What a terrible thought!
In my life, the end of the world has occured about five times.

[Noclevername]

My thoughts exactly. What a terrible thought!
In my life, the end of the world has occured about five times.

Wlcome to the latest new world, then.

[KaiYeves]

Welcome to the latest new world, then.
Oh, the end of the world doesn't actually occur, it's always late.
You should see its report card.