11/11/11

[Saifullah Sani]

What's so special about 11/11/11?
Nothing unusual, meaningful, ominous or auspicious? Depends on who you ask ​

By Natalie Wolchover
updated 11/7/2011 3:56:02 PM ET

In medieval times, numerologists — those who searched for the mystical significance of numbers — believed all numbers had both positive and negative aspects … except for 11. In the words of the 16th century scholar Petrus Bungus, 11 "has no connection with divine things, no ladder reaching up to things above, nor any merit." Stuck between the divine numbers 10 and 12, 11 was pure evil, and represented sinners.

That doesn't bode well for Nov. 11, 2011, the date when three 11s will align for the first time in a century. A new horror film, "11/11/11," has even been made for the occasion, and it plays on (or perhaps plays up) people's fear of coincidences surrounding the number. Film characters experience the so-called " 11:11 phenomenon," a tendency to look at the clock more often at 11:11 than at other times of the day. In the film, this is a warning of what's to come: "On the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the eleventh year, a gateway will open … and on this day, innocent blood will spill," says a voiceover in the trailer.

Indeed, the 11:11 phenomenon is widely reported in real life, with entire online discussion forums dedicated to figuring out what the number means. People say they feel haunted by 11s, which appear to them eerily often. To them, the impending date is bound to seem ominous.

On the flip side, some modern-day numerologists have deemed 11/11/11 auspicious, and according to local news sources around the country, an unusual number of couples have planned to marry on the day. The number 11 is also a favorite of gamblers — particularly blackjack and Keno players. So, amid all these alternative perspectives, what's the real deal about repeating 11s? Is there anything special about the numbers lining up?

No. With regards to the 11:11 phenomenon, rather than being a supernatural warning sign, psychologists say it is a classic case of "apophenia," or the human tendency to find meaning or patterns in randomly occurring data. This condition feeds on itself, because the more conscious you are of something — such as repeating 11s — the more often you'll notice it in the world around you, and thus the more certain you'll become that the pattern is real.

In online forums about the 11:11 phenomenon, people often say they didn't notice how many 11s appeared to them until hearing about the phenomenon from someone else. This is a tell-tale sign of apophenia: When they found out about the phenomenon, they subconsciously started keeping track of all the 11s they saw, with each new sighting seeming more significant than the last.

Just as there is nothing to fear about 11/11/11, there is no reason to be optimistic about the date, either.

According to Alan Lenzi, professor of religious studies at University of the Pacific who studies biblical numerology, seeking meaning in numbers is a natural human tendency. "Cognitive scientists have demonstrated that the human brain is hard-wired to look for meaningful patterns in the sensory data it collects from the world," Lenzi told Life's Little Mysteries.

In most situations, this cognitive wiring helps us: It enables us to pick important information out of a background of random noise. But sometimes we overdo it by finding patterns where they aren't — from faces seen in the clouds to numerical coincidences. Once found, these patterns "are easily imbued with imaginative meaning," he said.

There is nothing unusual about the time 11:11 or the date 11/11/11, but our brains can't help noticing the repeating digits, and seeing them as meaningful. "Numbers that are already significant to us, such as calendar dates that also coincidentally fall into an obvious pattern, become doubly significant," Lenzi said. "11/11/11 is another example of people doing what people are cognitively prone to do: find significance."
What's so special about 11/11/11? - TODAY Tech - TODAY.com

 

[Indian Army]

No cosmic connection, 11.11.11 is just a fancy number

KOCHI: Cosmic compatibility may be absent on Friday which marks the 11th day of the 11th month of the 11th year of this millennium, but 11.11.11 has found many takers in Kerala. From weddings to shop openings to births and purchases of vehicles, this 'good look' date is the most expected one after January 1, 2000.

The fact that 11.11.11 would appear again only after 100 years has added to the attraction of this date. No wonder many couples selected Friday to tie the knot and parents felt their baby should be born on this special day, preferably at 11 am or 11 pm.

Actor and singer Mamta Mohandas is getting engaged to her childhood friend in Bahrain on Friday, adding a glam element to the whole hype surrounding the unique date.

But astrologers feel that there is nothing significant about the date as far as Indian astrological beliefs are concerned. "Friday is not auspicious for wedding and other such ceremonies. The star is Karthika and it is good for wars and power games and not auspicious events. Many people have come to inquire about its possibilities, but they have been advised not to conduct any ceremony on this day," says astrologer K Divakaran.

Numerologists too feel that the date has no special meaning as the number 8, the total of all numbers in the date, is called 'mortuary number' that does not offer any prosperity to the person concerned.

"While 9 is the magical number, 8 does not have any special qualities and does not promise anything good. But since it is a rare date, its numerical vibrations will have an effect on people's thoughts," says Thiruvananthapuram-based numerologist Adarsh Kumar.

But it has not deterred many parents who want to gift a fancy birthday to their babies. A good number of women whose delivery date is due in the next couple of days have set their eyes on Friday to become mothers through C-section, not waiting for a natural birth.

"Since the star on Friday is a good one, many parents would be ready to go for it as there has been much publicity about it. And normally we oblige if the woman and her relatives want a C-section," says Dr Rajkumari Unnithan, gynaecologist of Sunrise Hospital.

If November 11 marked the end of the First World War in 1918, this year it will have an extra dose of hype, glamour and wishes granted.