Lucky and unlucky numbers
In the past months, as I was cycling past ‘Parkview’, the new student housing building on our TU/e-Science Park, I’ve seen the building rise at the high speed of one floor a week. The weeks passed by until the 13th week when much to my surprise construction suddenly stopped. I counted and recounted the numbers of levels, indeed thirteen (13), no more and no less. I immediately wondered who would like to live on the 13th floor of a housing building here in the Netherlands.
We all have a thing about numbers all over the world, both lucky and unlucky, and I don’t mean the mathematical ones (sorry!), but rather those we consider using to win the lottery. In the past, we had Babylonian and Egyptian mythology where certain numbers were considered sacred, particularly 2, 3, 4, 7, and their multiples and sums. In Judaism, 3 and 7 are both considered perfect numbers; for the Christians, 7 is a holy number because of the Genesis, and also 3 for the trinity. For Muslims, 786 is sacred because the Arabic letters of the opening phrase of the Quran add up to the numerical value of 786.
Asians also go by Chinese or Indian astrology and numerology. For the Chinese, even numbers are considered lucky, since it is believed that good luck comes in pairs. But 4 is unlucky (because it is a homophone with the word for death or suffering), whereas 8 stands for sudden fortune and prosperity (remember the Olympic Games in Beijing started on Aug. 8, 2008 at 8 min past 8). And this can snowball up to 888 - three times prosperity, means ‘wealthy, wealthy, wealthy!’.
In India, numerology relies on deriving the single digit number from the alphabets of the names or from adding the numbers of the full birth date or by only the birth year. So the person is central. Interested to learn more? See: www.indianastrologyhoroscope.com/Numerology.html
Back to our number 13. It’s considered unlucky in many cultures. The fear of it has led to a specifically recognized phobia: Triskaidekaphobia. As a result, companies and manufacturers often use other ways to number or label their products. It’s also considered unlucky to have 13 guests at a table and, of course, Friday the 13th is an unlucky day. So what about Parkview 13th floor? Will anyone want to live on that floor? Maybe only those not superstitious or those who ignore this phobia, perhaps creating a ghetto of super rationalists up there. Any volunteers?
No. The solution is first mathematical: start numbering the floors with 1 (not zero or ground floor), the US American way, and you’ll end up with the… 15th floor, this way easily skipping floor 13. This is where science and culture unite, exactly what our community is all about!
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