Science explains fixation on famous number sequences

4, 8,15,16, 23, 42… If you're looking at this sequence of numbers and finding it familiar, you're not wrong. These are the numbers that appear in Lost. This shows that it is not difficult to find someone who remembers famous sequences of numbers. And there's more: most of these sequences leave us intrigued, looking for a logical explanation among the numbers.

It seems like a fixation on strings of numbers that are seemingly random. It is interesting to remember the bizarre Number 23, a 2007 thriller film that was not so well received by the public. In it, the main character (played by Jim Carrey) becomes obsessed with the number 23 after winning a book about it. After watching it, many people were probably intrigued by the number or looked for relationships in another one that appears constantly in their lives.

Creating fixation by number sequences

It's not hard to be intrigued by some special numbers or sequences of numbers. When they appear on television shows, then, it seems that our fixation only increases. After all, we want to know why such numbers are so special and even if whoever chose them had ulterior motives.

If you think that the list of number sequences that have already appeared on the small screen is small and that you can't get too fixated on them, here's an update: Lottoland did a survey that lists 14 sequences that appeared in series and movies.

On the Serie Lost, for example, Hugo Reyes, the Hurley, finds a sequence of numbers (4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42) in some notes. Having received a prize for betting on the same numbers and seeing bad things happen to people around him, he believes the numbers are cursed. This is currently the second most popular sequence wagered on the lottoland.

Our Simpsons, the streaks appear three times: when Kent Brockman discovers he won during his own show (3, 17, 25, 38, 41, and 49), when Marge would have won if she had played her usual numbers (3, 6, 17, 18, 22). and 29) and when Homer hits the numbers and wins a prize of 1 million (1, 6, 17, 22, 24 and 35).

To get a little “gaudy” by them, just start playing with the numbers. Try to find some logic between them or find out why they were chosen. We can also start looking for the numbers that appear most often in our lives, which can be to bring us “lucky” or “unlucky”.

Statistically speaking about famous number sequences

The problem with the fame of these sequences of numbers is that everyone knows about them. For example, a few years ago, about 2.500 people split a prize because they bet on the sequence of Lost. Lucky or not, the truth is that, for the statistic, these numbers have the same chance of being drawn as the others. Although some studies in the field show that some groups may appear more frequently than others, this does not mean that especially sequences of numbers that appeared in some series or movie will be drawn more frequently in the results.

Also, speaking of statistics, the draws of numbers are a full plate for those who like probabilities. It is possible, for example, to apply Law of Large Numbers – a theory of statistics that states that the more times an experiment is repeated, the more the mean tends to approach the expected value. In addition, it is worth highlighting the notion of independent events: the fact that a number has come out a few times does not indicate that it can be drawn next time or that it will not be drawn.

Science explains our fixation

As rational human beings, we tend to look for patterns (and we can get pretty upset when we don't find them). Since the dawn of humanity, the search and understanding of standards helps us understand the environment around us so that we can react to it by trying to predict what will happen. After all, the unknown is interpreted as a threat.

This is very likely one of the reasons why we become fixated on digits that we think are “our lucky number”, unexplained sequences of numbers, shapes that appear in various places and, of course, numbers that appear in movies, series or books. It only takes a sequence to appear in an episode that it is very likely that someone will use it as a password, to place bets or as lucky numbers.

Yet, in a universe where disorder reigns (entropy), we hope to find a cause and effect relationship in the patterns, thus being able to explain the phenomena that surround us. However, it is worth remembering that it is not always possible to find patterns (especially in sequences of apparently random numbers) and that the existence of one does not mean that the cause is really significant. In fact, getting too fixated on something can easily drive you crazy.

A bias that should be noted is that it is likely to find some order in a very large number of random trials, but that does not mean that this order actually exists there. For example, the famous Pi is an irrational number, that is, an infinite, non-repeating decimal number. This means that, in the infinite decimal places of Pi, there is no pattern.

In contrast, as Pi is infinite, it is very likely that you will find part of your cell phone number, your date of birth or the sequence of Lost somewhere in it. It's not on purpose or has any correlation: if Pi is infinite, you can find any sequence of numbers in it – you just need to find enough decimal places for that, of course. (https://whatthefab.com/)

Technology is on our side

Currently, we have technology on our side in the quest to recognize patterns. We create computer programs that aim to find a logical relationship between large data sets and help us predict the future. For example, programs that analyze various weather data to try to predict the weather, or brain data to try to predict any disorder in the pattern and identify which changes are indicative of disease. Still, it is possible to cite a gigantic list of other applications.

In addition, it is a way of survival: predicting severe weather events allows us to try to mitigate their consequences ahead of time and predicting the onset of a disease allows us to start treatment as soon as possible. THE tech it only facilitated – and a lot – this process.

You can use technology to find patterns in sequences of famous numbers. Just use a ready-made program or create one and run it in search of a correlation between the numbers. For small sequences this is very simple and highlights how technological resources make the search easier.

In any case, it is necessary to know how to discern about the search for patterns. There are searches that lead us to fruitful results, like something that can be used to save a life. However, it costs little for our brain to seek fixation on something unimportant.

In the case of famous number sequences, it's possible that even if you spend your life looking for a pattern, it just doesn't exist. If you believe in luck and misfortune, you can carry them with you to use when you need some numbers, or you can opt for them simply because they don't have a more attractive option. Deep down, they'll always be around, appearing in bets, in passwords, in phone numbers, and in the Pi's decimal places.