Future!

February 26th, 2022| Topic: RaMbLeS | 4

Last week we had an unusual date, February 22. The actual date itself was unusual: 2/22/22. And it was a “Twosday,” that fell on a Tuesday!

About this, Barry Markovsky, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Sociology, University of South Carolina, wrote an article in Conversations.

It’s true the number pattern stands out, impossible to miss. But does it mean anything? Judging by the thousands of commemorative products available for purchase online, it may appear to. ‘Twosday’ carries absolutely no historical significance or any cosmic message. Yet it does speak volumes about our brains and cultures.”

Of course, “Twosday” is not alone in its seeming patterned-ness. There was also 1/1/11 and 11/11/11 and there has been 12/12/12. A “Threesday” is coming on 3/3/33 (which actually falls on a Thursday) and a “Foursday” on 4/4/44 (which does not fall on a Friday as one may have hoped; neither does “Fivesday”; but “Sixesday” falls on a Sunday).

Pattern finding is an intrinsic property of the human brain. Probably had utility in real life. Recognizing paw prints in the soil. Perceiving changes in daylight with seasons. Etc.

But “Twosday,” though striking, means nothing more than the label that that day was given. But it does stimulate interest in “arithmetical shenanigans”—numerology, the attachment of supernatural significance to numbers.

That authoritative body of knowledge and information, Wikipedia, defines numerology thus:

Numerology is the pseudoscientific belief in a divine or mystical relationship between a number and one or more coinciding events. It is also the study of the numerical value of the letters in words, names, and ideas. It is often associated with the paranormal, alongside astrology and similar to divinatory arts.”

It dates back to the ancients in Greece, China, and the Middle East. Even in the Bible, there are all kinds of things numbered in sevens—7 was considered symbolic of perfection. In Revelation, for instance, there are seven angels, churches, seals, trumpets, vials, horns, candlesticks, stars, plagues, spirits, seven eyes, lamps, thunders, heads, crowns, mountains, kings, ….

Are numbers telling us something?

In The Bible Code, author Michael Drosnin, arranged the text of the Old Testament into a grid and employed a computer algorithm to highlight and analyze patterns in the grid, like every fourth character, or characters 2 across, 5 down, etc., and produced a huge database of such patterned strings of letters. Another algorithm then searched for words and phrases in these strings. Drosnin found that even the murder of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabbin in 1999 was foretold by his analyses.

To address skeptics, Drosnin challenged his critics to find Rabin’s assassination foretold in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. Mathematician Brendan McKay did exactly that, along with discoveries of “prophecies” for many other deaths, including those of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy!

Concluded Markovsky:

Which coincidences people pay attention to is largely a social phenomenon. As for ‘Twosday,’ I’ll conclude by plumbing its ‘hidden meaning.’ Take the three roots of 02, 22 and 2022. We arrive at 2 + 4 + 6 = 12, and the destiny number (the sum of 1 + 2) 3. Some numerologists associate this number with optimism and joy. Though I may reject the messenger, I’ll accept that message.”

Optimism and joy, not because of “Twosday” or “3,” but because God knows the future and it is held firmly in divine hands.

“I am God, and there is no one like Me,
declaring the end from the beginning,
and from ancient times things which have not been done,
saying, ‘My purpose will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure.’”
Isaiah 46:9–10

Only God!

SOURCE:
Conversations