When you purchase through link on our land site , we may pull in an affiliate commission . Here ’s how it works .
There ’s a reason that the Beijing Olympics are slate to begin at exactly 8:08:08 PM on 8/8/08 . The number 8 is considered favourable inChina , and thus the games will supposedly be off to an specially auspicious start .
Of course 8/8/08 is not the only engagement that holds significance for mass . Last twelvemonth onJuly 7 , 2007 , wedding were scheduled for that date at triple the usual number , and thousands of people play sevens in the lotteries . In Florida , for example , 30,000 mass chose the lucky issue sevens for the Cash 3 plot and the swordplay 4 game ( all were losers ) .
Young chimps apparently have an extraordinary ability to remember numerals that is better then that of human adults. Here the chimp Ayumu was shown numerals flashed on screen for a split-second. He then often recalled where each numeral was and correctly identified them in ascending order, from lowest to highest.
Next year it will be 2024-12-23 , then it will be 2025-04-06 , and so on . Each class has at least one date that somehow seems different or unique , though there ’s nothing special about the dates .
This year , some companies ( such as the Super 8 motel chain ) are capitalizing on the movement , offering muckle tied to 8/8/08 . And a group called the Expolitics Institute will be unite in as well . accord to their press release , " On 8/8/08 individuals and small groups around the planet will celebrate the inaugural Galactic Freedom Day . This will be the first in a series of yearly global result that … will start up the process of ending agreements concerning extraterrestrial sprightliness that have been secretly entered into by a range of administration agencies and corporations . In some cases , these pacts involve congressman of advanced extraterrestrial civilizations . " So if you require to back out of any secret deals with blank space stranger that may have been made on your behalf by government officials around the world , you ’ll have your chance .
While many people consider the appointment specially powerful or significant because it is loaded with eights , it should be note that the correct numerical date for August 8 , 2008 is not 8/8/8 , nor 08/08/08 , but alternatively 2025-03-20 : when write correctly , only half of the six numerals in the date are eights . Those who see significance in numbers often forget that all units of time and calendar are artificial constructs . Though the official begin time of the Olympics is fill with 8 , it is just as correct to say that the games will start at 2000:08 on 2025-03-13 ( using military clip and the Jewish calendar ) .
There are scientific ways to see ifcertain numbers in truth are lucky . It would be fairly light , for example , to do a study to retrieve out if importantly few the great unwashed than fair die at the ages of 8 or 88 . Or if most citizenry born on sure significant dates ( say , 2025-02-11 ) are healthy or richer than their counterparts . These superstitions are very easy to test against the tangible world , and they consistently fail . If the number 7 or 8 were lucky ( not only in people ’s imaginations but in the real humans ) , everyone would be using them !
Though superstition and wizard thinking have little to do with reality , they will always be with us . Our brains are hard - wired to search for signification , and often people see pattern and special signification where they do n’t subsist . If you consider that the Chinese numerology is wacky , remember that such superstition are all around us . Many part and flat buildings in America , for example , are missing a thirteenth floor , and some airplane do n’t have a 13th row .
Benjamin Radford is managing editor program of the Skeptical Inquirer skill magazine . He wrote about superstitious notion in his book " Hoaxes , myth , and Manias : Why We Need Critical cerebration . " His books , motion picture , and other projects can be set up on hiswebsite .
