Monday 18 January 2010

Unsophisticated Taste in Numbers

I noticed the other night that I had managed to get over two weeks into the new year without getting confused about what the date was. Not only had I written "2010" or "/10" correctly several times, but I hadn't even noticed myself doing it. Indeed I can't quite remember or imagine it ever being 2009, as 2009 just seems a bit wrong. This is partly because of the new decade and all that, making the number of the year quite memorable. But it's also cos 10 is just a better number than 9. Ten is right. Nine is wrong.

This is because I prefer even numbers to odd numbers. The best numbers of all are those which have many factors, like 36 or 1024.

My mum, on the other hand, prefers prime numbers. She sewed an extra pocket onto her new coat so that the total number of pockets would be a prime number. I've always felt that my mum was more sophisticated than me because she prefers prime numbers, which are quite clever cool things, rather than even numbers, which are the white bread, the processed sugar, the ITV of the numbers. I am a populist unsophisticated fool in my numbers taste.

I suggested this to Him Indoors the other night and he said I was wrong. He said that it wasn't so much a question of comparing processed sugar with organic home made apple pie, but more like comparing posh caviar with cheap caviar. Most people just don't have favourite types of number in the first place.

The question is, was he right?? Do you have a favourite type of number?

11 comments:

Salvadore Vincent said...

I like the number 9. I like to look at digital clock displays and car numberplates and keep adding all the digits up until I get a single digit. I always prefer it when this number is 9.

Queenie said...

Do little black numbers count?

(yes of course that pun was intentional)

Anonymous said...

How about the number two? It's both even and prime.

Beleaguered Squirrel said...

I like the number two.

Jen said...

What sort of person has a favourite number?! You are all a bit peculiar. I can understand a love of semi colons, however. Also, I now have a nagging desire to write a story about a lady who organises her life around prime numbers? Oh. Good. Lord. See what you've done now?

Anonymous said...

I just love numbers of all kinds and looking at them and seeing patterns and so on. I do keep getting the date wrong though....

Megan said...

6. Always and forever 6. No idea why, but when I was 9 or so 6 was so utterly and completely the perfect number that I've never looked back. Mind you, I have a back up: 2. But it is inferior and I feel sorry for it.

Beleaguered Squirrel said...

I always used to feel sorry for my left hand, because it wasn't as good as my right. I used to try and give it nice things to do, to make up for it.

Lazy Perfectionista said...

I like number patterns or sequences (I love it when I check the time and it's 12.34 or something). But mainly I like numbers that are divisible by 4. I don't know why, but they feel kind of neat and organised.

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

I like odd numbers and especially like to have an odd amount of larger plants in flower beds. I'm especially fond of the number 9.

JoeinVegas said...

3