23: How weird Is That?
One of the earliest to subscribe to the 23 Enigma was beat poet William S. Burroughs. For him, it was not just the unusual frequency of the number; it was that in any coincidence he would find the number 23. When he was in Tangiers in the 1960s, Burroughs met one Captain Clark, a ferry captain who boasted of not having had an accident for 23 years. That night the boat sank, killing Clark and everyone aboard. Later that evening, Burroughs heard a radio broadcast about a plane crash. The pilot's name was Captain Clark. The flight number was 23. After that day, Burroughs kept a record of similar coincidences. Throughout his journal, 23 recurred over and over, like a footprint of chance, like the signature on the handiwork of fate.
It's intriguing how common 23 is among UFO sighting reports. (Reading Jacques Vallee's landmark "Anatomy of a Phenomenon," I was actually startled by the apparent correspondences, although Vallee seems not to have noticed.) One idea I've played with is that we're seeing a form of "compression artifact" that undermines the informational structure of spacetime. If so, who did the compressing? Do we live in a vast computer simulation?
Maybe unraveling the 23 Enigma is a way to alert -- or even communicate with -- the intelligence responsible for creating the universe; they/it might be interested in our deductive prowess . . . or maybe just looking for company.
9 comments:
number 23 is an important number on a mayan calendar that measures the cycles uf sun's maximun incidence. the name is "el codice porrua" (the porrua codex) and it was studied by Domingo MartÃnez
but well, it could be only a coincidence
So Mac, are you going to see the movie? If so, you'll have to give us a review. :o)
Frankly, I think it looks kinda interesting. It's always fun to watch a comedic actor in a really serious role. Somehow they just sell it better.
James pointed out an oddity to me. In the latest strip at riotfish.com the fridge magnets in the fourth panel read C, B, and W, which are the 3rd, 2nd and 23rd letters of the alphabet. He *claims* it's a fluke.
Maybe the '23 enigma' is less a compression artifact, and more a lesson about the hidden quantum physical nature of the universe. The harder you look at a particular property, the less you know about the other properties. The 23 thing can really take over the mind sometimes.
In which case, we should all stop thinking about it for a while, and see if it goes away.
Unfortunately that new Jim Carey movie is one its way...
Woops! I meant "on its way" of course.
Or did I...
My fiance and I were wrongly arrested on September 23rd at a Bed Bath & Beyond. The charges were later dropped by the judge, and we're filing a lawsuit against them. I've gone over the scenario in my head trying to figure out just what led us into that situation, maybe "23" is part of it.
Katie --
Something tells me I'll cough up $8 for this one.
It's always fun to watch a comedic actor in a really serious role.
I agree!
"My fiance and I were wrongly arrested on September 23rd at a Bed Bath & Beyond."
I know it wasn't, but that's an awesome line. I hope the lawsuit goes well...
I'm into the whole 23 thing. I'm w/the fact that in this quantum universe, numbers are a part of its fabric, its wavelengths, etc. i'll be coughing up more than $8 though (where can you still see a movie for $8?).
the man who ordered me hospitalized against my will was called lets say hu hu. then after two months a professor of law number one in my country , hu is also called hu hu ,was murdered. i like it
have alibi
yesterday I red in the newspaper that there is a threat against my dear priest, that he is on a murder list:
the same day a man with the same name was killed
have alibi
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