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THIS IS BULLSHIT! IT SHOULD BE THE 22 ENIGMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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The '''23 enigma''' refers to the belief that most incidents and events are directly connected to the number [[23 (number)|23]], some modification of the number 23, or a number related to the number 23. |
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==Origins== |
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[[Robert Anton Wilson]] cites [[William S. Burroughs]] as being the first person to believe in the 23 enigma.<ref>[http://www.boingboing.net/2007/05/09/robert-anton-wilson-.html boingboing.net article on Wilson and Burroughs]</ref><ref>[http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/tm_objectid=13136269%26method=full%26siteid=94762-name_page.html Article in the British newspaper ''The Mirror'' regarding the power of the number 23]</ref><ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/editor/story/0,12900,990935,00.html "Going loco over 'El Becko'"]</ref> Wilson, in an article in ''[[Fortean Times]]'', related the following story: |
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{{quote|I first heard of the 23 enigma from William S Burroughs, author of ''[[Naked Lunch]]'', ''[[Nova Express]]'', etc. According to Burroughs, he had known a certain Captain Clark, around 1960 in [[Tangier]], who once bragged that he had been sailing 23 years without an accident. That very day, Clark’s ship had an accident that killed him and everybody else aboard. Furthermore, while Burroughs was thinking about this crude example of the irony of the gods that evening, a bulletin on the radio announced the crash of an airliner in Florida, USA. The pilot was another captain Clark and the flight was Flight 23.<ref>[http://forteantimes.com/features/commentary/396/the_23_phenomenon.html Robert Anton Wilson on the "23 Phenomena"]</ref>}} |
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==Discordianism== |
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The ''[[Principia Discordia]]'' states that "All things happen in fives, or are divisible by or are multiples of five, or are somehow directly or indirectly appropriate to 5"<ref>''[[Principia Discordia]]'', pg. 23</ref>—this is referred to as the [[Discordianism#Law of Fives|Law of Fives]]. The 23 Enigma is regarded as a [[corollary]] of this law. It can be seen in [[Robert Anton Wilson]] and [[Robert Shea]]'s ''[[The Illuminatus! Trilogy]]'' (therein called the "23/17 phenomenon"), Wilson's ''[[Cosmic Trigger I: The Final Secret of the Illuminati]]'' (therein called "The Law of fives" and "The 23 Enigma"), [[Arthur Koestler]]'s ''Challenge of Chance'', as well as the ''Principia Discordia''. In these works, 23 is considered lucky, unlucky, sinister, strange, or sacred to the goddess [[Eris (mythology)|Eris]] or to the unholy gods of the [[Cthulhu Mythos]]. |
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As with most [[numerology|numerological]] claims, the enigma can be{{Weasel-inline|date=June 2010}} viewed as an example of [[apophenia]], [[selection bias]], and [[confirmation bias]].{{Or|date=June 2010}} In interviews, Wilson acknowledged the self-fulfilling nature of the enigma, implying that the real value of the Laws of Fives and Twenty-threes lies in their demonstration of the mind's power to perceive "truth" in nearly anything. |
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{{quote|When you start looking for something you tend to find it. This wouldn't be like [[Simon Newcomb]], the great astronomer, who wrote a mathematical proof that heavier than air flight was impossible and published it a day before the Wright brothers took off. I'm talking about people who found a pattern in nature and wrote several scientific articles and got it accepted by a large part of the scientific community before it was generally agreed that there was no such pattern, it was all just selective perception."<ref>Robert Anton Wilson sees the [[clustering illusion]] everywhere, not just 23, ''Robert Anton Wilson Explains Everything'' (audiobook), December 2001.</ref>}} |
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In the ''Illuminatus!'' Trilogy, he expresses the same view: that one can find a numerological significance to anything, provided "sufficient cleverness."<ref>{{cite book | last = Wilson | first = Robert Anton | coauthors = [[Robert Shea]] | authorlink = Robert Anton Wilson | title = [[The Illuminatus! Trilogy]] | year = 1984 | isbn = }}</ref> |
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==Cultural references== |
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*The [[1998 in film|1998]] German film ''[[23 (film)|23]]'', starring [[August Diehl]], tells the real-life story of computer [[Black hat|hackers]] inspired by Wilson's ''Illuminatus!'' Trilogy. |
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*The [[2007 in film|2007]] film ''[[The Number 23]]'', starring [[Jim Carrey]], is the story of a man who becomes obsessed with the number 23 while reading a book of the same title that seems to be about his life. |
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*[[Industrial music]] group [[Throbbing Gristle]] recounted in great detail the meeting of Burroughs and Clark and the significance of the number 23 in the ballad "The Old Man Smiled." |
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==Notes== |
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{{Reflist|2}} |
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[[Category:Numerology]] |
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[[ja:23エニグマ]] |
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[[sv:23 (tal)]] |
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[[scn:Enigma 23]] |
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Revision as of 19:24, 3 June 2010
THIS IS BULLSHIT! IT SHOULD BE THE 22 ENIGMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!