What's In A Number?

What does it all mean. Nothing.

If you heart statistics like me, then you believe that the numbers don't lie. The law of large numbers will get you; and it does get you everytime. There is no escaping that.The chance of something happening, I believe, is a very good indicator of what may happen. That is why I heart numerology...oh wait, no I don't, I'm a skeptic.

Numerology is the fakey fake belief that certain numbers have significant meaning. By manipulating the numbers you can make them tell us special thingies. For example, the day and time you were born can tell you about your personal strengths, desires, help you find love, personality characteristics etc...Whenever you see a panacea, something that contends to cure all ills, whether it is a (magic) potion to cure any sickness, mental quirks, whatever, then I hope your skeptic meter goes off. Just look at the company that numerology keeps, ass-trology, biorhythms and, dig this one, rumpology (I dare you to click on the link), tarot, reading tea leaves...you get the point, right(?).


What can a numerologist tell you, well, everything that is super general, something that everyone thinks and feels. Just like with tarot card readings, the divine findings of the numbers can give you such insights as you want to be rich, you want to help people, find love, have better health, be a better person etc...And if the numbers don't come out the way you want, then you either 1. don't even know what you know and the numerologist just did the work of a real, trained and medical psychiatrist (for less money, but it still costs money), or 2. you can just ignore the findings. Nostradamus and other psychos', errrrr, I mean psychics/prophets/profits made hella predictions and when they don't come true, they are just ignored. It's called hits and misses. You need to count the hits (this is really something that you need to pay attention too-now pay me), but not the misses (that is insignificant so don't pay attention to it-now give me money). 

Veeerrryyyy impressive chart. It'd make a great t-shirt.

When peeps see the Virgin Mary in a 28,000 dollar piece of toast, they are choosing to believe that pareidolia is some kind of divine something something. Pulling a tarot card out of a deck, or however it is done, tells you about your personality as much as bible code tells us about prophecies, or Rapture. While methodologies like statistics, or the law of large numbers, can give us insight into the probability that something will happen, notice that those two endeavors do not say anything about your character or predict the future-all numbers are not created equal.

Numerology gives us the prediction that May 21st will be the Rapture, fear and anxiety follows. Statistics gives us the piece of mind that with a high degree of accuracy, that that will not happen.* Numerology is not the only belief in a town full of panacea's. In fact I'll make a prediction right now. I predict that if you go to a numerologist, or subscribe to that belief, you will waste you money. Flushing your money down the toilet is just as effective in wasting you money as the fakey fake practice of numerology.

* In yesterdays post I mentioned that Dr. Avalos has been 100% in predicting that the Rapture will not happen.

** Check out the Pet Number. I was pretty entertained by it.