The end of the world

[Zenith]

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I'm not sure why but religions really seem to like the numbers 7 and 3 and numbers that are divisible by 3. The Trinity, 12 disciples, 12 tribes of Judah (actually there's a lot of 12s), Jesus died at 3 pm, thus the witching hour is 3am, deism is the triangle (3 points), Wicca is the rule of three, there's actually far too many to list. Anyway, that makes 21 a real bonus because it incorporates both the desired divisibility factor plus the glorious number 7. The holiest of numbers. *insert eye-roll here*

Even free-thinkers and the like get attributed the value of pi (3.14) because why? maybe they deserve to share in this man-made "existential significance" of the #3.

Beats me. I have no idea why - nor do I care. I think it's just interesting because so many assign numbers important significance where there is none.

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If the religions adore those numbers... well, they're not the only ones that adore numbers. ancient greeks also adored specific numbers.
and... there were 12 tribes of Israel, not of Judah... as about Jesus' death, I don't know if it was 3 pm. 2000 years ago people didn't have clocks and watches to count the hours as we do today (and it would have been probably impossible to say "it's 3 pm!"). Forgot what the "watches" (3rd watch, 4th watch, etc.) meant by then, but whatever...

also we can see these numbers in non-religious things too:
12 - 12 hours a day, 12 months a year; 60 (12 * 5) seconds = 1 minute, 60 (12*5) minutes = 1 hour.
Also, in paganism:

In Antiquity there are numerous magical/religious uses of twelves.[2] Ancient Greek religion, the Twelve Olympians were the principal gods of the pantheon. The chief Norse god, Odin, had 12 sons. Several sets of twelve cities are identified in history as a dodecapolis, the most familiar being the Etruscan League. In the King Arthur Legend, Arthur is said to have subdued 12 rebel princes and to have won 12 great battles against Saxon invaders.

3 - 3 states of water (solid, liquid, gas), many months have 30 days (others 31), in a time in the babylonian empire all months had 30 days; 3 times (past, present, future); (I don't know how it's called) positive/negative/neuter - also 3, 3 abrahamic religions, 3 islamic holy sites. And there are a lot others with 3.
7 - days a week, also Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Seven Sages of Greece, Seven kings of Rome when it was a kingdom, Seven hills of Constantinople/Istanbul, Seven hills of Rome, The number of stellar objects in the solar system visible to the naked eye from Earth = 7, and the list does not end here.

By the way, you should read what I've found about 666:

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Six hundred [and] sixty six is the sum of the first 36 natural numbers (i.e. 1 + 2 + 3 + ... + 34 + 35 + 36 = 666), and thus a triangular number.

Since 36 is both square and triangular, 666 is the sixth number of the form n2(n2 + 1) / 2 (sequence A037270 in OEIS) and the eighth number of the form n(n + 1)(n2 + n + 2) / 8 (doubly triangular numbers) (A002817).

666 is an abundant number.

The number of prime numbers up to 666 is 121, the square of the number of prime numbers up to 36.

666 is the sum of the squares of the first 7 prime numbers: 4+9+25+49+121+169+289=666.

666 is the 60th 12-factored number; 60 is the first 12-factored number.

The harmonic mean of the decimal digits of 666 is (trivially — all repdigit natural numbers have this property) an integer: 3/(1/6 + 1/6 + 1/6) = 6, making 666 the 54th number with this property.

In base 10, 666 is a repdigit (and therefore a palindromic number) and a Smith number. A prime reciprocal magic square based on 1/149 in base 10 has a magic total of 666.

The Roman numeral for 666, DCLXVI, has exactly one occurrence of all symbols whose value is less than 1000 (D=500, C=100, L=50, X=10, V=5, I=1).

666 is a member of the indices of prime Pandovan numbers: 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 14, 19, 30, 37, 84, 128, 469, 666, 1262, 1573, 2003, 2210, ... (sequence A112882 in OEIS).

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[Cinjin]

@ Zenith.

The point in my post was that humans assign significance is to numbers where there is none.

I missed the point you were trying to make with your follow up. Are you agreeing with me or disagreeing??????

[Godscreated]

The thing is, though, if they weren't jumping out windows or cutting their own throats with box cutters at what Camping said, then they'd just find a reason in what some other nutjob says. Camping is just giving them the excuse.

Now I agree that those that sell their houses (perhaps being suggested to do this or something) are idiots and feeble minded, but still, they are human beings, and if there is a way to prevent such things from happening, I think it would be a good thing to prevent them.

I think that DT is right in what he says, these people are looking to fulfill something in their lives, something that they do not understand and will latch onto anything that appeals to them and then respond to almost anything that is said to them. As for Camping he used the Bible to gain the attention he desired so in reality he is the same as those who follow him. Now I'm not saying that the Bible is wrong or at fault in any way, it's what he chose to bring people to his level. Unfortunately the type he appeals to will follow without looking into what has been said, all they had to do is read the Bible and they would have seen how wrong he was and will be. This could very well be an argument for teaching scripture in our school systems and I'm not talking about trying to convert little children, just give them the basics of what the Bible teaches such as no one will know the day or hour in which Christ will return, nothing has to be taught as fact that He will return.

[Cinjin]

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I think that DT is right in what he says, these people are looking to fulfill something in their lives, something that they do not understand and will latch onto anything that appeals to them and then respond to almost anything that is said to them. As for Camping he used the Bible to gain the attention he desired so in reality he is the same as those who follow him. Now I'm not saying that the Bible is wrong or at fault in any way, it's what he chose to bring people to his level. Unfortunately the type he appeals to will follow without looking into what has been said, all they had to do is read the Bible and they would have seen how wrong he was and will be. This could very well be an argument for teaching scripture in our school systems and I'm not talking about trying to convert little children, just give them the basics of what the Bible teaches such as no one will know the day or hour in which Christ will return, nothing has to be taught as fact that He will return.

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hmmm, let me get this straight GC ...

You think we could safeguard people from following misled, deluded scripture interpreters like Camping by teaching certain specified scriptures in our school system?!?

You do see the massive, glaring flaws in that idea right???

Without tearing that idea to shreds on so many levels I'll just say this:

Rather than waste time on teaching which parts of the Bible are approved, and which are not ... it would be far more helpful overall to the human race just to teach that the Bible is a vile book full of contradictions, responsible for many of the largest atrocities ever committed on this planet, and should never ever be consulted for ANY serious personal direction in life.

Yes, I think that would be a much more efficient way of helping to safeguard people from following buffoons and making gurus out of arrogant fucktards.

[Godscreated]

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I think that DT is right in what he says, these people are looking to fulfill something in their lives, something that they do not understand and will latch onto anything that appeals to them and then respond to almost anything that is said to them. As for Camping he used the Bible to gain the attention he desired so in reality he is the same as those who follow him. Now I'm not saying that the Bible is wrong or at fault in any way, it's what he chose to bring people to his level. Unfortunately the type he appeals to will follow without looking into what has been said, all they had to do is read the Bible and they would have seen how wrong he was and will be. This could very well be an argument for teaching scripture in our school systems and I'm not talking about trying to convert little children, just give them the basics of what the Bible teaches such as no one will know the day or hour in which Christ will return, nothing has to be taught as fact that He will return.

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hmmm, let me get this straight GC ...

You think we could safeguard people from following misled, deluded scripture interpreters like Camping by teaching certain specified scriptures in our school system?!?

You do see the massive, glaring flaws in that idea right???

Without tearing that idea to shreds on so many levels I'll just say this:

Rather than waste time on teaching which parts of the Bible are approved, and which are not ... it would be far more helpful overall to the human race just to teach that the Bible is a vile book full of contradictions, responsible for many of the largest atrocities ever committed on this planet, and should never ever be consulted for ANY serious personal direction in life.

Yes, I think that would be a much more efficient way of helping to safeguard people from following buffoons and making gurus out of arrogant fucktards.

Wrong, doing as you suggest would only draw those like Camping to misuse the Bible more than it already is. I've no idea how old you are so I do not know when you attended school, I however was attending school when the Bible was an poen book of learning and prayer was led by teachers. Guess what there were no kids killing kids, kids killing teachers and principles, teachers and principles trying to harm each other ect., this has all come about since God was removed from our schools and the moral decay of American society is alarming. You see, I see no flaw in teaghing the scriptures in school, I never said we should teach only parts of scripture what I said we should not evangelize in schools.

[Minimalist]

Do not ever think that you are that much superior to Camping, G-C.

You both believe in the same stupid shit. He just has the balls - if not the brains - to try to put a date to it.

[Zenith]

@ Zenith.

The point in my post was that humans assign significance is to numbers where there is none.

I missed the point you were trying to make with your follow up. Are you agreeing with me or disagreeing??????

Yeah, you're right (i.e. I agree with you)... I think I got to much into details and forgot the main idea. it's just that... some numbers are really fascinating!

Also, have you heard about the golden ratio?

the golden ratio, a favorite of mystical mathematicians and represented by the Greek letter Phi: φ. This is the proportion of a piece of paper such that if you cut a square-sized piece from one end, the remaining piece is in the same proportions as the original.

The ratio φ = (1+√5)/2 = 1.618...
Another interesting thing about φ is that φ = 1/(φ - 1) (wow!)

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I think that DT is right in what he says, these people are looking to fulfill something in their lives

I didn't read DT saying that...

something that they do not understand and will latch onto anything that appeals to them and then respond to almost anything that is said to them. As for Camping he used the Bible to gain the attention he desired so in reality he is the same as those who follow him. Now I'm not saying that the Bible is wrong or at fault in any way, it's what he chose to bring people to his level. Unfortunately the type he appeals to will follow without looking into what has been said, all they had to do is read the Bible and they would have seen how wrong he was and will be.

Well, most christians are interested in lots of things, but their bible is usually not one of them. They don't want a book, they want a preacher! A preacher to tell them what they want to hear, to make them live in a an atmosphere of supernatural, and stuff like that (and a book itself cannot do that). So even if they had been given the suggestion to read their bibles, 99% sure they wouldn't have done it.

This could very well be an argument for teaching scripture in our school systems and I'm not talking about trying to convert little children, just give them the basics of what the Bible teaches such as no one will know the day or hour in which Christ will return, nothing has to be taught as fact that He will return.

You must enjoy to see lots of atheists & muslims and all other being forced to read the bible at school every week.
The same way I also have an idea, you know: what do you think about Islam being preached at school so that nobody would attempt a terrorist attack by 'misinterpreting' the qur'an or by being deceived by a terrorist muslim?

[Cinjin]

Wrong, doing as you suggest would only draw those like Camping to misuse the Bible more than it already is. I've no idea how old you are so I do not know when you attended school, I however was attending school when the Bible was an poen book of learning and prayer was led by teachers. Guess what there were no kids killing kids, kids killing teachers and principles, teachers and principles trying to harm each other ect., this has all come about since God was removed from our schools and the moral decay of American society is alarming. You see, I see no flaw in teaghing the scriptures in school, I never said we should teach only parts of scripture what I said we should not evangelize in schools.

Your theory of violence in schools has all come about since God was removed doesn't really hold water. You know why? Because far too often the shooters and the abusers and the pedophiles end up having significant ties to Christianity. That's right. The one's that are either pulling the triggers, or pulling down little boys pants are often your sweet worshipers of jesus. If we want to progress, history has shown us - keep religion out of it.

[Minimalist]

[Faith No More]

Also, have you heard about the golden ratio?

the golden ratio, a favorite of mystical mathematicians and represented by the Greek letter Phi: φ. This is the proportion of a piece of paper such that if you cut a square-sized piece from one end, the remaining piece is in the same proportions as the original.

The ratio φ = (1+√5)/2 = 1.618...
Another interesting thing about φ is that φ = 1/(φ - 1) (wow!)

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I read a really great book on the golden ratio and thing I found the most fascinating was that if you look at the Fibonacci sequence - {0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34...} - if you take any value in the sequence n and divide it by the previous value in the sequence or n/(n-1), this value approaches the golden ratio the further down the sequence you go.