ReadersDigestAustraliaNewZealand-March2018

96 | March• 2018

WHO KNEW?

ONE IS THE LONELIEST NUMBER

that you’ll ever do, according to the

consortium of scholars known as

Three Dog Night. But what if there is a

number (or many numbers) even less

popular than one?

For reasons totally unrelated to clas-

sic rock, author Alex Bellos set out to

find the world’s favourite numbers.

His online survey swiftly received

more than 30,000 votes from number-

philes around the world. Voters gave

many reasons for their favourites,

though they usually corresponded

to an important date or age or other

positive association.

Overall, odd numbers outperformed

evens. And Bellos suggests that num-

bers ending in zero were too, well,

round for most tastes. “When we say

100, we don’t usually mean exactly

100; we mean around 100,” Bellos

toldNautilusmagazine. “Why would

you have something as your favourite

that is so vague?”

Numbers that stake a claim to a

higher purpose did well. For instance,

42 – the “Answer to the Ultimate

Question of Life, the Universe, and

Everything” fromThe Hitchhiker’s

Guide to the Galaxy –landed in 11th

place. The lovely, symmetrical num-

ber eight, which is pronouncedba-in

Chinese and rhymes with the Chinese

BY BRANDON SPECKTOR

Here’s Why

SevenIsMost

Likely Your

Favourite

Number

Butifyoufavour42,you

are also in surprisingly

good company