Vahe H. Apelian
Today, May 13, 2022, happens to be a Friday the 13th. I do not know why we hold the Friday the 13th as ominous. I understand that many elevators in buildings do not have a 13th floor marked.
Number 13 is based on decimal numbering system.
According to Varoujan Bedrossian, a mathematician, the decimal system, that is the quantifying system based on 10, was very likely used way before the common era, probably because we have ten fingers. The decimal system was formalized in the late 18th century in France as the “Système Internationale”. This International System of Units is the modern form of the metric system and is the most widely used system of measurement. The notable exceptions are England and the U.S. Thankfully the foot is not the measure of the king’s foot anymore.
Numbers are numbers, they, form the basis for counting and measuring and thus give us a quantifying difference between objects. But they also seem to have a hold on our imagination and have bearing on our social perceptions. Most do not abide by the implication of such social perceptions but note to paint a lighter side of our social norms.
Let us consider Let us consider the number 1, the basic unit. One is in a class of its own as it is the fundamental unit. Is not for that reason we revere number 1 and allude to something or someone as one of a kind?
Other prominent numbers that come to my mind are 3, 7, 9 and 10.
I can surmise for the social prominence of some of these numbers. For example, the line that joins 2 points form the straight line and is the shortest distance between two points. It also is the basis of Euclidian geometry. Add another point and the lines that join 3 points onto each other form the most stable plane and constitute the basic space geometry. Add another point to the 3 points and have lines join those four points together de-stabilizes the plane and the plane will be compromised. Therein may be a reason for revering the magical power of number 3. It expands the reach of 2 numbers altogether and forms the fundamental unit of stable structure. It also seems to be the minimal number to ascertain the probability of something.
Number 7 has a magical hold on our imagination. From a sunrise to the next constitutes a day. Seven of these consecutive events have come to form a week. The seventh day is the sabbath, driven from Arabic word seventh and is a sacred day in the monotheistic culture. It does need to be the same day of the week. In the book of Revelation, the dragon has seven heads, as the ultimate beast. The seventh letter in the Armenian alphabet is the revered letter "Է" which is thought to mean the Being and is seen hung high on the altar of the Armenian Apostolic Church. God created the world in seven days, including the day God rested after six days of toil.
There is of course the infamous 8th ball. I think it means being in tight spot. But I read that it also has different connotations.
Number 9 also captures our imagination. Going from 9 to 10 is another count but a huge leap forward. That is why the prices of prepackaged items in grocery stores overwhelmingly end in 9, such as 9.99 but not 10. A gallon of gas we purchase never seems to round up. Nowadays, it may be $4.499/10 per gallon but never $4.50. The latter does seem way too expensive than the former. Does it not?
Number 10 is the crowning number of our decimal counting system. It also has religious significance. Way before our decimal countdown system was officiated, God revealed to Moses ten commandments. Centuries later, it is said that David Letterman’s greatest late-night show legacy was his nightly “Top 10” list. Being in the top 10 is being in a separate, mostly, in an enviable league. But we cannot discount number 12. Would we not rather gift a dozen of roses on a Valentine's Day?
Well before the decimal system, the ancient Babylonians, Greeks had their measuring system based on the number 60. Varoujan Bedrossian thinks that the ancient world picked 60 because it has the highest number of divisors. 60 is divisible by 2,3,4,5,6,10 yielding whole numbers not fractions. Measurement based on 60 is still carried to this day, as noted earlier. An hour is 60 minutes, a minute is 60 seconds. A circle is 6x60=360 degrees, and the sum total of the angles of a triangle is 3x60=180 degrees.
During the last few decades, number 6 has sneaked in and has been asserting itself. For example,……
“Six degrees of separation”, I have often heard of the expression but I do know what it really means. There was a play named the same. It might have come about after the play. According to Wikipedia, it “is the theory that any person on the planet can be connected to any other person on the planet through a chain of acquaintances that has no more than five intermediaries.”
Another expression is “Six feet under”. The message there is pretty evident and has come about rather recently. Wikipedia notes: “Although this expression alludes to what has long been the traditional depth of a grave, that is, approximately the same as the length of the coffin, it dates only from the mid-1900s.” The length of a coffin being six feet makes sense because the average height of an adult male in the U.S. is 5 feet 9 inches. Women on average tend to be shorter. Such a coffin would not have held President Lincoln’s body. Surely, there are exceptions to general norms.
As to the depth of a grave. Wikipedia states: “To meet regulations the average single depth grave is about 3-4 feet deep. Already we see that two out of the three grave depths are deeper than 6 feet (or 1.8 meters). Triple depth is significantly deeper and double depth is noticeably deeper, being almost 7 feet”. Six feet under seems to be only a figment of our imagination.
And very recently its “Six Feet Apart", which is poised to dominate our social interactions henceforth. It is the distance between two individuals to keep a socially accepted distance. The process of staying apart is termed "social distancing". But this distance apparently has not come about arbitrarily. According to Wikipedia “The "6 feet of distance" rule comes from studies of respiratory physiology, said Dr. William Schaffner, infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University.”
We have come about expressions that allude to a number and have accepted them more as a social thing than something to abide by. But I hope that the six feet apart “social distancing” will have a short life and we will do away with it sooner rather than later.
But we never found out. Six feet apart, much like six degrees of separation, may sway the public’s imagination for the coming many generations.
As to Friday the 13th, those interest may read the attached: https://www.ibtimes.com/friday-13th-history-origins-myths-superstitions-unlucky-day-395108?fbclid=IwAR2pott_mpoJJmE8hPIXNS8G_fV9sdA_QASQnZZIu-s2u_HcLU7dEFrtoYs#:~:text=The%20origin%20of%20fears%20surrounding%20Friday%20the%2013,13%20is%20omitted%20in%20the%20list%20of%20laws
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