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thedeadhaji
39489 Posts
311, 74, 89, 815, 92, 911, 119, 127
What do you think when you see these numbers? Do any of them jump out at you?
Let’s trying presenting them in a different format.
3-11, 7-4, 8-9, 8-15, 9-2, 9-11, 11-9, 12-7
What about now? Do any of these numbers mean something to you?
For me, 3-11, 8-15, and 9-11 evoke memories and emotions. 3-11 reminds me of the gruesome images of the recent earthquake-tsunami disaster in Japan; 8-15 reminds me of the acts of war forever engraved in the consciousness of anyone with Asian heritage; 9-11 reminds me to never forget and to be forever grateful.
These numbers, to me, are dates. They mean something to me. They probably mean something a little bit different to you. If you’re Korean or Chinese, 815 means something quite different from what it does for me. If you’re Middle-Eastern American, 911 probably evokes an incredibly complex set of emotions. Someone from Fukushima is going have a much more intense reaction to 311 than I ever will.
But that’s the nature of numbers. They can be imbued with meaning with personal meaning. They have the potential to carry subjective significance. They’re special.
Numbers are quite different from words in this regard. The meaning of most “words” have been maintained for so long that each one conveys a similar meaning to each of us. Words have predefined meanings. Numbers don’t.
Numbers, on their own, are just a collection of digits. They’re neutral. They’re empty vessels, fully open to interpretation. They don’t have the excess baggage associated with words. Numbers, when connected to personal memories and emotions, can convey more than what their digits alone should rightfully convey.
Numbers are code. And this code carries more information than any word is capable of. Upon seeing a few digits strung together, we can recall our memories, our emotions, and our heritage. We remember who we are, and who we may have been.
But if numbers can supposedly carry stronger meaning than words, why do some of these numbers not mean much to us? Again, I believe this has to do with the heritage of words vs that of numbers. Words are defined concretely. They are, for the most part, static. The human element of numbers, meanwhile, is dynamic. 911 means something to us now, but it was juts an emergency telephone number just 11 years ago. 200 years from now, it might once again just be an emergency telephone number.
Don’t believe me? Do you think future generations will see 911 in the same light that we do now? Well consider this. What do 8-9 and 9-2 mean to you?
8-9 is the end of the Civil War. 9-2 is the end of World War II. Do they mean the same thing as they did to our forefathers? Of course not! And that’s part of the magic of numbers!
Words continue to carry their legacy over many centuries. They are truly remarkable in this regard; but this directly contributes to their stale nature. Words, already packed with meaning, fail to evoke new responses from us. New connotations are not made readily.
Numbers on the other hand, shed their meaning with time. In a way, they are “freed” with time. Perhaps we could say this is tragic; but this erosion of meaning is precisely what allows us to empower numbers with such intense meaning. As time passes, we are free to imbue numbers with new, intense, personal meaning.
In 200 years, none may regard numbers such as 815 or 911 as we do today. But for the time being, many of these numbers mean more to us than any word ever will.
In this way, numbers are special. Their nature is a bit magical.
<hr width = "50%">
3-11: Japan earthquake & tusnami
7-4: American Independance
8-9: End of American Civil War
8-15: End of Pacific War (World War II)
9-2: End of World War II
9-11: Terrorist attacks on America
11-9: Fall of the Berlin Wall
12-7: Attack on Pearl Harbor
Crossposted from main blog
 
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Korea (South)17174 Posts
311: memory of high school cuz of the band
815: the map LOL
911: the emergency number still came to mind b4 sept11
119: reminds me of korea, 119 number on fire stations that i see every day
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0123456789. my online name ^_^
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thedeadhaji
39489 Posts
On November 14 2011 08:45 Rekrul wrote:
815: the map LOL
119: reminds me of korea, 119 number on fire stations that i see every day
LOL same, actually.
It's telling about who we are 
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On November 14 2011 08:45 Rekrul wrote:
311: memory of a high school cuz of the band
815: the map LOL
911: the emergency number still came to mind b4 sept11
119: reminds me of korea, 119 number on fire stations that i see every day
Gold.
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815 map
911 porsche carrera (not even a fan of the car)
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Numbers are numbers to me and as im not american I didnt see any of those dates but i doubt 119 would mean anything to me either. Numbers are numbers and thats why they are great.
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4-16 VT shooting sad day 
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your Country52797 Posts
edit: must stop posting one liners
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On November 14 2011 08:48 0123456789 wrote:
0123456789. my online name ^_^
dammit numbers i was going to make a post about you
like numbers makes me think of this really funny korean emo pro LoL player i know
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Baltimore, USA22258 Posts
On November 14 2011 09:26 StorrZerg wrote:4-16 VT shooting sad day
I can always easily remember Cho's 4-16... it's my birthday.
Edit - Also, when I read 3-11 I think of the Madrid train bombings.
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United States24745 Posts
On November 14 2011 08:45 Rekrul wrote:
311: memory of high school cuz of the band
815: the map LOL
911: the emergency number still came to mind b4 sept11
119: reminds me of korea, 119 number on fire stations that i see every day
I thought of the same things as you.
815 was just so screwed up. Just like some of those other dates Haji mentioned.
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On November 14 2011 08:42 thedeadhaji wrote:
311, 74, 89, 815, 92, 911, 119, 127
What do you think when you see these numbers? Do any of them jump out at you?
Let’s trying presenting them in a different format.
3-11, 7-4, 8-9, 8-15, 9-2, 9-11, 11-9, 12-7
First thoughts: 311 is a band (jumps out), 74 means nothing to me, 89 is prime, 815 makes me think of 8:15 PM for some reason, 92 was the pop FM radio station in my home state, 911 is the emergency phone number (jumps out), 119 looks like it should be prime but isn't, 127 is a Mersenne prime (also jumps out).
In date form I read them as 3 o'clock to 11 o'clock, and so on, up until 8-15, which still sounded like a time to me. Once I read 9-11 I realized they were supposed to be dates, but I didn't recognize any of the others.
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Those numbers are pretty interesting, but
0 118 999 881 999 119 7253
enough said
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127: max. number in 7 bit.
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Numbers in three-four digit sequences are natural units of memorization (that's why phone numbers are dashed). Here's my memorization of pi arranged by the pieces that I use to memorize it, along with their significance to me:
3.14159 (nothing special here)
26535 (math teacher wrote pi to this on the board in 6th grade)
8979 (micosoft calculator goes to here)
323
846
264 (64 is tossed around a lot)
338 (bullet caliber)
327
950
288
419
716
939 (socket for AMD processors circa 2005)
937
510
58209
749445
92307
816 (last three pieces here are special because they all end in 6)
406
286 (old Intel CPU)
I've stopped memorizing pi for a long time, so unfortunately I've lost many of the devices I used to remember the sequence and just remember how I break it up instead.
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911, 92 and 127 are the only numbers that mean anything to me from that list.
911 is emergency number and date and 92 and 127 are highways by me.
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I will never forget that game on 815 with the one base carrier play. Chokeblock with one zealot and two probes. I can't remember which pro game it was though =(
Also, the choke on that map was just a bad joke. Srsly.
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thedeadhaji
39489 Posts
On November 14 2011 12:26 Celial wrote:
I will never forget that game on 815 with the one base carrier play. Chokeblock with one zealot and two probes. I can't remember which pro game it was though =(
Also, the choke on that map was just a bad joke. Srsly.
Boxer vs July!!
OH the memories!
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EPT
