Post by boo on Jan 5, 2008 1:16:40 GMT -5
The Number 23 Enigma
The "23 Enigma" is the Discordian belief that all events are connected to the number 23, given enough ingenuity on the part of the interpreter. It can be seen in Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea's Illuminatus! trilogy (there called the "23/17 phenomenon"), Wilson's Cosmic Trigger I: The Final Secret of the Illuminati (there called "The Law of 23s" and "The 23 Enigma"), Arthur Koestler's Challenge of Chance, as well as the Principia Discordia. In these works, 23 is considered either lucky, unlucky, sacred to the goddess Eris, sinister, sacred to the unholy gods of the Cthulhu Mythos, or strange. Discordians regard this as a corollary of the Law of Fives. As with most numerological claims, the 23 enigma can be viewed as an example of apophenia, selection bias, and confirmation bias. In interviews, Wilson has acknowledged the self-fulfilling nature of the 23 enigma, implying that the real value of the Laws of Fives and Twenty-threes lies in their demonstration of the mind's power to perceive "truth" in nearly anything.
"When you start looking for something you tend to find it. This wouldn't be like Simon Newcombe, the great astronomer, who wrote a mathematical proof that heavier than air flight was impossible and published it a day before the Wright brothers took off. I'm talking about people who found a pattern in nature and wrote several scientific articles and got it accepted by a large part of the scientific community before it was generally agreed that there was no such pattern, it was all just selective perception."
—Robert Anton Wilson sees the clustering illusion everywhere, not just 23, Robert Anton Wilson Explains Everything, Sounds True, December 2001.
In the Illuminatus! Trilogy, he expresses the same view: that one can find a numerological significance to anything, provided "sufficient cleverness."[
Film references
The 1998 German film 23, starring August Diehl, tells the real-life story of computer crackers inspired by Wilson's Illuminatus! Trilogy.
The 2007 film The Number 23, starring Jim Carrey, is the story of a man becoming obsessed with the number 23 while he reads a book of the same title that seems to be about his life. Jim Carrey named his production company JC23.
The film Jeepers Creepers has a villain named the Creeper who has an eating cycle for every 23rd spring for 23 days; during this time he eats humans and possibly animals.
The Architect from the film The Matrix Reloaded asks Neo to "select from the Matrix 23 individuals - 16 females, 7 males - to rebuild Zion."
Interesting facts about the number 23.
· 2/3 = .666
· WTC World Trade Center = W= 23rd letter. T= 20th letter. C=3rd letter. W=23 and T+C=23
· 9-11-01 = 9+11+2+0+0+1=23
· Twin towers were almost brought down in 1976. 1+9+7+6=23
· Bill Clintons Initials are B=2 and C=3…23
· The Titanic sank on 15/4/1912. 4+1+5+1+9+1+2=23 ( depending on who you ask)
· Ceasar was stabbed 23 times
· 23 characters on every American coin
· The letter W is the 23rd letter of the alphabet, it has 2 points down and 3 points up.
· Directly above the W on your keyboard are the number 23
· The Oklahoma City bombing was done on 4/19. 4+19=23
· On January 23rd Adolf Hitler organized the National Socialist Congress and tried to seize power on November 23rd.
· John F. Kennedy was shot on November 22 1963. 2+2+1+9+6+3=23
· The Hiroshima Nuke was dropped at 8:15, August 6, 1945
· 8+15=23
· 6/8/45=23
· Every 23rd wave is roughly twice as large as normal.
· It takes 23 seconds for blood to circualte through the body
· Jesus was believed to be born on July 23rd
· 23 vertebrea in the human body
· 23 chromosome in each sex cell
· The I Ching Hexagram 23 means "Break Apart". Telegrapher's use 23 as the code for 'break the line'.
· AOL Chat Rooms · Only 23 people allowed in a AOL chatroom. Coincidence? Obviously, just an "illuminated" programmer
The "23 Enigma" is the Discordian belief that all events are connected to the number 23, given enough ingenuity on the part of the interpreter. It can be seen in Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea's Illuminatus! trilogy (there called the "23/17 phenomenon"), Wilson's Cosmic Trigger I: The Final Secret of the Illuminati (there called "The Law of 23s" and "The 23 Enigma"), Arthur Koestler's Challenge of Chance, as well as the Principia Discordia. In these works, 23 is considered either lucky, unlucky, sacred to the goddess Eris, sinister, sacred to the unholy gods of the Cthulhu Mythos, or strange. Discordians regard this as a corollary of the Law of Fives. As with most numerological claims, the 23 enigma can be viewed as an example of apophenia, selection bias, and confirmation bias. In interviews, Wilson has acknowledged the self-fulfilling nature of the 23 enigma, implying that the real value of the Laws of Fives and Twenty-threes lies in their demonstration of the mind's power to perceive "truth" in nearly anything.
"When you start looking for something you tend to find it. This wouldn't be like Simon Newcombe, the great astronomer, who wrote a mathematical proof that heavier than air flight was impossible and published it a day before the Wright brothers took off. I'm talking about people who found a pattern in nature and wrote several scientific articles and got it accepted by a large part of the scientific community before it was generally agreed that there was no such pattern, it was all just selective perception."
—Robert Anton Wilson sees the clustering illusion everywhere, not just 23, Robert Anton Wilson Explains Everything, Sounds True, December 2001.
In the Illuminatus! Trilogy, he expresses the same view: that one can find a numerological significance to anything, provided "sufficient cleverness."[
Film references
The 1998 German film 23, starring August Diehl, tells the real-life story of computer crackers inspired by Wilson's Illuminatus! Trilogy.
The 2007 film The Number 23, starring Jim Carrey, is the story of a man becoming obsessed with the number 23 while he reads a book of the same title that seems to be about his life. Jim Carrey named his production company JC23.
The film Jeepers Creepers has a villain named the Creeper who has an eating cycle for every 23rd spring for 23 days; during this time he eats humans and possibly animals.
The Architect from the film The Matrix Reloaded asks Neo to "select from the Matrix 23 individuals - 16 females, 7 males - to rebuild Zion."
Interesting facts about the number 23.
· 2/3 = .666
· WTC World Trade Center = W= 23rd letter. T= 20th letter. C=3rd letter. W=23 and T+C=23
· 9-11-01 = 9+11+2+0+0+1=23
· Twin towers were almost brought down in 1976. 1+9+7+6=23
· Bill Clintons Initials are B=2 and C=3…23
· The Titanic sank on 15/4/1912. 4+1+5+1+9+1+2=23 ( depending on who you ask)
· Ceasar was stabbed 23 times
· 23 characters on every American coin
· The letter W is the 23rd letter of the alphabet, it has 2 points down and 3 points up.
· Directly above the W on your keyboard are the number 23
· The Oklahoma City bombing was done on 4/19. 4+19=23
· On January 23rd Adolf Hitler organized the National Socialist Congress and tried to seize power on November 23rd.
· John F. Kennedy was shot on November 22 1963. 2+2+1+9+6+3=23
· The Hiroshima Nuke was dropped at 8:15, August 6, 1945
· 8+15=23
· 6/8/45=23
· Every 23rd wave is roughly twice as large as normal.
· It takes 23 seconds for blood to circualte through the body
· Jesus was believed to be born on July 23rd
· 23 vertebrea in the human body
· 23 chromosome in each sex cell
· The I Ching Hexagram 23 means "Break Apart". Telegrapher's use 23 as the code for 'break the line'.
· AOL Chat Rooms · Only 23 people allowed in a AOL chatroom. Coincidence? Obviously, just an "illuminated" programmer