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Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Eleventh of the Eleventh Eleven

How to Interpret 11/11/11 aka 11-11-11; Friday, November 11, 2011.

Mathematics

The number eleven is the fifth prime number (contrary to popular belief, the number one ( 1 ) is not a prime number). The base numeric number system lends itself to some interesting peculiarities as relates to the number eleven.


Base 10 for example:
(2 digits) 11 x 11 = 121
(6 digits) 111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
(9 digits) 111111111 x 111111111 = 12345678987654321

Base 16 (hexadecimal) for example:
(2 digits) 11 x 11 = 121
(6 digits) 111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
(9 digits) 111111111 x 111111111 = 12345678987654321

The sunspot cycle is approximately eleven years.

Gambling

Blackjack players love the number eleven. It usually means time to double down, but not always.
  • Dice players love the number eleven. On the come-out roll, it’s as good as the number seven. Do not ask the crap dealers how to bet 11 the hardway.
  • The number eleven is a popular lottery number. This results in the per-person payouts being a little below average when eleven is one of the winning numbers.
  • The number eleven is a popular keno number. One wonders if the casinos and slot machine manufacturers make use of that fact 
Veterans Day (formerly known as Armistice Day) in the US and known as Remembrance Day in Australia


World War I – known at the time as “The Great War” - officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.”

It is very likely that Veterans Day will be remembered/observed/celebrated much more than usual on November 11th, 2011.

The Great Blue Norther of 11/11/(19)11

"One-hundred years ago, November 11th, 1911: The Great Blue Norther descended upon America. The day started fine; there were even record highs for that time of year. Then it all changed; temperatures began to drop. Within the space of ten minute: the temperature dropped 40 to 50 degrees; by midnight a 66 degree temperature drop was recorded. There were dust storms, thunderstorms, tornados, and blizzards. Over 300 deaths were reported."

In the interests of full disclosure: NOAA.gov reports that sudden 50 degree temperature drops, though unusual, are not that rare. See chart below.


  
Friday, November 11, 2011: Historical


Even when taking into account the differences between the Gregorian and Julian calendars:

• Nothing significant appears to have happened nine-hundred years ago during the year 1111.

• Nothing significant appears to have happened a thousand years ago during the year 1011.

• Nothing significant appears to have happened two thousand years ago during the year 11.

The Dark Ages spanned the 5th to 15th centuries (approximately 450 -1450).

Friday, November 11, 2011: Singularity Summary
 
Most predictions and opinions concerning 11/11/11 are based on or rooted in its mathematical uniqueness as a number.
 
11*11*11: There are three possible scenarios:
 
1. Something good happens— There is absolutely no scientific basis for this belief. There are no known logical premises for this belief. The belief that something good will happen is based solely on spiritualism, faith, and/or innate optimism. This belief is not necessarily a bad thing; we don’t know everything; the probability is not zero.
 
2. Nothing happens— This is the most likely scenario. Just because an unusual date number sequence occurs doesn’t mean that something extraordinary will happen. Usually it’s a non-event.
 
3. Something bad happens— There is absolutely no scientific basis for this belief. There are no known logical premises for this belief. The belief that something bad will happen is based solely on pessimism of reality. This belief is not necessarily false; after all, things are generally/usually a mess. The probability is not zero.
 
What do you believe will happen on 11/11/11?

• 47% Something good will happen on a global scale.

• 40% Nothing will happen (just another day in the Land of Nod).

• 13% Something bad will happen on a global scale.
 
For the question, “Do you feel lucky today”, the cumulative results to-date (as of the end of October, year 2011) were as follows:

• 71% felt lucky on the day they filled out the poll.

• 29% said they felt unlucky that particular day.

• 5811 people have voted in this poll to date.

3 comments:

John Going Gently said...

eh?

Al said...

I agree with John.

Sharon said...

Interesting, John, I hadn't even thought about it as being anything more than another day. :-)