Is Lucky Number 7 Your Favorite Digit? Here Are Some Reasons Why You’re Not Alone
Ask anyone to pick a number between 1 and 10, and many will choose the lucky number 7. Why? It could be that you are larger than five but not quite ten. It could be that seven people ate nine. There are many reasons that seven is considered lucky, like the four leaf clover. None of these have anything to do of the number’s appetite. It’s actually more mathematical than superstition.
What makes number 7 so lucky?
The Seven Wonders of the World are here. The seven dwarfs. Seven days in one week. There are seven colors in the rainbow. Seven swans are a-swimming. Seven notes are on a musical scale. Seven deadly sins. The list is endless, just like possibilities in casino online lt portal where you can find out how lucky you really are.
Scientists and mathematicians believe there are certain properties to the number seven that make it attractive. Alex Bellos is a mathematician who writes for The Guardian. He set out to determine the number that people love most. His website received over 44,000 votes from numberphiles all around the globe.
Voters had many reasons to vote for the number they chose. Many times, a number is used to signify a significant date or an age that will be remembered. Bellos explains that when we refer to 100, we don’t mean exactly 100. Why would you choose something that is so vague?
Number eight came in third for its beautiful symmetry and association with the Chinese character of prosperity. Number three came in second for its numerous appearances in culture, nature, and art (as they say: everything is better when there are three of you). With nearly 10% of the vote, seven is the world’s favorite number, according to Bellos.
Are you shocked? Most likely not. The triumph of seven only confirms human fascination with the game that dates back thousands of centuries. Bellos points to the fact that ancient Babylonian tablets were stuffed with sevens. This is an observation future historians may make when they look at footage from our Las Vegas craps and slot machines.
Seven isn’t the only reason people love it. It is also the reason that we love James Dean, Prince or KFC Double-Down sandwiches. Seven is a rebellious, stone-cold girl who doesn’t follow any rules.
Bellos says that seven is the number we can count among the ones (1-10) and cannot be divided or multiplied within a group. To reach two, three, four and five, one, two, three and four can be multiplied by six and eight to get ten. Nine can be divided by three. Seven is therefore the only number between ten and two that is not a multiple or a factor of any other. This is how “lucky number seven”, which we implicitly grasp, stands out.
It’s unique, it’s a loner, it’s the outsider. Bellos explains that humans interpret this arithmetical property culturally. Associating seven to a group of items makes them unique. This is because we are always aware of arithmetical patterns, and it influences our behavior, even if we don’t know it.
The significance of 7 in other cultures
Numerous religions have a strong link to the number 7. The lucky number seven is the foundation of many folklore and myths. According to ancient beliefs, the seventh child of the seventh would have magical powers (good and bad). According to the Bible, God created the universe in six days and then rested on the seventh day. The Bible uses the number seven to represent completeness.
Both Islam and Judaism have seven heavens. During the pilgrimage to Mecca, Muslims walk seven times around the Kaaba. Seven is harmony, which includes yin and yang as well as the five elements of Confucianism. In Hinduism, there are seven higher realms and seven lower worlds. The seven-step process of becoming a Buddha in Buddhism is called the Seven Steps.
There you have it. If seven is your favorite number, then you love the rebels, individuals, and loose cannons in math and culture. And so does everyone else. You now know the history of Lucky Number 7.
