h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The rabbit will be along shortly. The good news is that he doesn't wander in and out of random threads quite as much. The bad news is that we don't really know *where* he has gone,

Much of the time, I don't know either. All I do know is that wherever I am is here....

That's better than thinking that you're in Paris when you're actually in the jungles of Peru.

I often dont know where I really am either!

Sometimes I know where I am, but not what I'm supposed to be doing.

You mean we are supposed to be doing stuff??!?!?!?!?

Well, all of us are called researchers, so doing research would be a start....

I recommend researching me but I'm biased.

I'll put that down on my list of things to do, but I would need to ask you questions in order to rsearch you.

It's more important to me that what I've already put in the public domain be appreciated, but if studying me hits the top of your list of things to do, ask away. If you already have the gist of my Entries on 365.25 and the base ten, and you can relate that to me in some way, I am more likely to give complete answers and not feel it a waste of my time.

Hi, Julzes

I've read your PS and tackled your 365.25 article. You sound like a numerologist. That's cool, and I do it myself occasionally, but not with any complicated formulas. The number 3 seems fascinating to me, not least because it's simple. William of Occkham would have liked it (and then again, maybe he had something even simpler in mind. )

I would say I really just stumbled into (a kind of) numerology when I discovered that my cousin Pete's birthday was the anniversary of the Trinity Site test (16 July). Since Lisa (my only first cousin on my mother's side) was born on 6 August and I at least believe* John was born on 9 August, this placed my birth at the center and origin of a phenomenal coincidence. I suppose it's critical that I already had an inkling that I might find something of such a phenomenal nature prior to my actually finding it. I coolly went to my calculator and included myself at the center to get the surprising result on (365+1/4)^4, and it immediately became less just about a birthday coincidence and more a question of Design. I had been a strict atheist virtually all of my life, but in the years leading up to the discovery of the date of the Trinity Site, I had started considering the possibility that a prior advanced intelligence not breaking any physical laws could seem like God to us nevertheless. With long time-scales to consider, and with what we now can see about just how far technology can go, it was not a stretch to imagine this type of God--not a God over the entire Universe, but one which evolved within it (and may be significantly localized) and took creativity to its extreme.

The notion that our history is in some way programmed or semi-programmed goes a bit further than just having several pregnancies end on certain dates. The most disturbing conclusion that one seems to need to draw is that a history with quite a bit of evil in it was not inevitable but in some way desirable. If I take myself as a microcosm, my own mental illness and very numerous suicide attempts seem to have been required in addition to my mathematical ability (which is quite strong). It just wouldn't do to have an ordinary mathematician out there making my discoveries I suppose--it had to be one with a mental illness. In the large, I think that this creative act that shapes human history must have had a prerequisite that we understand what normally happens with no God at all. That's the simplest and best way to look at it, from my perspective.

Well, keep in touch and I'll give you more at a gradual pace.


*At one point 20 odd years ago I made the observation to him about the strangeness of our family's birthday coincidences centered on me, and he claimed his birthday was actually 8 August. His refusal to show me ID--my memory from childhood was quite clear--and his troubled look at Pete when I happened to ask him, implied to me the possibility that the family was aware of the coincidence in its full depth prior to actual calculations but had kept it a secret from me. The person I call my stepfather, with whom I have been living for about 6 years, gave indication that it was known also, but secret and not to be explored for its significance. The alternative, that I'm the first person who became aware of the date of the Trinity Site test, has to be considered a possibility. John may simply not have wanted the association with Nagasaki by itself.

Oh, and do let me know what you think of the number 3 and of traditional numerology. I'm not inclined to think much of them particularly, but I could change my mind. It's not all about me, so if you want to chat,....

I know that people have plumbed the numbers in J.S. Bach's music, and come up with interesting interpretations.

I just plain like three because it's the minimum number of legs that you can put on a table or chair if you want it to stand up. Pyramids are the best-equipped structures if you want something that will resist erosion over long periods, and they are being designed in much of the world as efficient structures for housing up to a million people.

There's something oddly reassuring about three blind mice, three little pigs, three coins in a fountain, etc.

For the smallest numbers, I can't pick and choose. I guess I like seven, eight, and nine for their standout positions in religious things--seven in Christianity, eight for the Chinese, and nine for the Baha'i. Nothing wrong with six as three factorial, the third triangular number, and the first perfect number--and it's relationship to sex. Five is the number of digits on each of my limbs, so I have to like that. Four interests me, as I think that we need fourth person pronouns like some languages have. Your three is good for the reasons you give--it's a major part of children's culture. Everything starts with two being an improvement over one, one starts it all, and zero is an interesting mathematics history subject.

For larger numbers, I liked 81 as a child because it's 3^4--something to awe a third-grader with if you do maths in the first and he hasn't yet. I might try an essay that grows with each succeeding number some time. You can say something interesting up to where you start saying things like "this is an interesting number because it's the first uninteresting one."

I like three because I can almost always count that high.

You can count to 12, can't you. I don't blame you for having trouble with 13.