Talk:7 (number)

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[edit] Hiduism

I think the 7 Chakras should be added to the hinduism section. 7 chakras in hinduism being the same as the 7 "seals" talked about in revelations.

[edit] Fixed shape

The largest number of sticks (or other cylindrical objects) that can be tied into a bundle such that the shape of the bundle remains fixed.

Can someone give a reference to the correctness of this claim?

[edit] Successor?

Seven is not the seventh successor of one. That privilege goes to eight. Sigfpe 01:11, 23 January 2007 (UTC)

In U.S. Marine Corps folklore, the rank E-7, Gunnery Sergeant, is considered lucky. A "gunny" can't get in trouble with his superiors for anything. That changes as soon as he's promoted. 141.217.41.206 17:06, 22 Jan 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Digital display

Also 6 (number) has two representations in digital displays, with a top bar or not.

This claim was briefly on the 7 (number) page, but was reverted. If it is a fact (I don't know for sure), it should be on the 6 (number) page too, and the 7 (number) page should not claim that 7 is the only number with two glyphs.--Niels Ø 21:16, Mar 15, 2005 (UTC)
I'm sorry, I tried to post to this page immediately after I reverted the article, but Wikipedia suffered a glitch.
Anyway, I wouldn't mind being proven wrong on this. Tell me which brands of products with LCD displays use the variant 6, or show me pictures. I have never seen the variant 6. As far as I know today, 6 has only one LCD glyph, crudely shown below. PrimeFan 22:10, 15 Mar 2005 (UTC)
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I guess you are right.--Niels Ø 22:56, Mar 15, 2005 (UTC)
I can't remember where I have seen such a thing, but I found Calculator Memories from Argentina:
About mid 1972, I read an article in Popular Mechanics magazine, featuring several four function pocket calculators. I recall a Canon unit, and the Casio Mini 6, which had a six-digits green display and a "right arrow" key that shifted the contents of the display to show six more digits. LED and Fluorescent displays were usual (no LCD yet), and NiCd batteries were almost mandatory. Some models sported modified seven–segment patterns to make the digits recognizable, even when a segment fails. The picture
Versions of 0 , 6 and 7 used to make the patterns for all 10 digits to differ on more than a single segment.
I can imagine an alternate 1 on the left vertical, but am not sure if it is real.
So I'd remove the claim and put the alternate forms in the article for seven-segment display if we have one.
I stand corrected. I will edit the articles on 0, 6 and 7 accordingly. PrimeFan 17:35, 17 Mar 2005 (UTC)
There is a reason why the alternate 0 and 6 haven't caught on. Alt 0 looks like a lowercase O, and alternate 6 looks like a lowercase B. Anton Mravcek 19:44, 17 Mar 2005 (UTC)

<3:

In the South West, there are six sevens in a standard pack of playing cards.

[edit] Coven

I have deleted the following as it appears inaccurate:

As far as I can make out the usual number for a coven is considered to be 13.

MikeRM 02:10, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

In white magic, 7 is the coven number. 13 is black magic.

[edit] Seven of Nine

How come no one thought to mention Seven of Nine?

^^No ones as much of a Trekie :P (good humor meant)

(RuSTy1989 23:08, 4 August 2006 (UTC))

[edit] Other uses

I have just removed a half-dozen instances of seven things showing up in video games, movies, what-have-you, because seven is such an common number that the list could be extended almost indefinitely. Obviously this is a judgement call, but such instances need to be limited to *very* widely known and/or long-held collections, and not include every time a fantasy book writes about seven shimmering crystals, or every time a horror movie has seven tasks before the teenagers die, or the like. - DavidWBrooks 15:32, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Usage of Seven in Bungie

Why is there no comments or links(See also) for the usage of Seven in Bungie's games and stories? Guest Skullfire

Thank you for noticing. I have corrected this, but DavidWBrooks keeps reverted it back, and thus deleting my edit. Daniel (talk)
Because it's so vague as to be meaningless: "the number seven appears numerous times, having significant meanings." - holy cow, you could say that about half the works in the Western canon - except for 3, 7 is the most common "significant" number in literature; it shows up all over the place. If you can't think of anything more interesting to say than that, it's not going to survive in an article that's already groaning from overload. - DavidWBrooks 16:32, 20 September 2006 (UTC)
Well, I'll admit that my entry needs to be more fleshed out. But you cannot deny that Marathon, along with corresponding Bungie games, do use the number seven numerous times giving a meaning to the game stories. However, your attitude towards this is the possibly most important thing that needs improving.. hmm? Daniel (talk)
Come on - the number seven appears "numerous times" and "gives meaning" in a TON of games, a TON of movies, a TON of books, a TON of folk stories, a TON of mythologies. Find seven crystals, slay seven dragons, talk to seven wizards, marry seven wives, visit seven islands, perform seven tasks - it's all over the place in Western culture. I'm not saying 7 isn't significant in Marathon, I'm saying that fact isn't significant in this article: nobody is going to come to an article about the number 7 to find out more about game play in one computer game. Please don't load down this overloaded article with that again; work on the article itself, or related articles, instead of something as peripheral as this, please. - DavidWBrooks 14:51, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
Then you wouldnt object to me removing the "peripheral" and pointless entry about Final Fantasy 7? Surely, that a mere mention of a characters bar and that title being the most popular in the series is MORE important then a game where the number seven is linked so much into the storyline that it does have meaning? Daniel (talk)

No, I think you're right: the Final Fantasy mention was peripheral, too. Well done. - DavidWBrooks 17:25, 21 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 7 Varients

I've always "drawn" my sevens like this....


  _ _ _
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With a dash through the middle. This doesnt get a mention. I do belive it is something european? Anyone know anything about it? (If its there just ignore this)

(RuSTy1989 23:12, 4 August 2006 (UTC))

I was about to make a comment on this very subject. I think it does deserve a mention that 7 can often be written that way. I think it is mostly common when addressing letters, so that the postal service can easily differentiate between 1 and 7. Davez621 16:40, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

It is a European thing, Germany, Scandinavia, Iceland and even large parts of England (especially the North) write seven with a stroke through it.

It goes hand-in-hand with writing 1 with an elongated serif (this makes it look like a 7 written without the crossbar). Mooncow 22:36, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] other numerations.

¿why are equivalences on hebrew and not the transcription of number 7 on arab numeration or chinesse or japanesse?

Please add them! - DavidWBrooks 11:17, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Horizontal stroke

This is analogous to the horizontal stroke through the middle that is sometimes used in handwriting in the Western world This needs more information. I used to see this form a lot in Germany, but almost never in the U.S. It would be interesting to find where this variation came from. -Rolypolyman 17:15, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

I'm not sure how the cross-stroke variation derived, but I believe it's only really common in continental Europe and throughout Latin America. Among North Americans, the horizontal stroke is rare and seems to be used by those who became familiar with it in the aforementioned locales. Its purpose is definitely to differentiate 7s from 1s; in Europe and Latin America, 1s tend to be written with longer diagonal strokes attached to the main stem than the shorter nearly-horizontal ones North Americans are accustomed to, so 7s without cross-strokes will be easily mistaken in Europe and Latin America for 1s. For the same reason, Zs are also written with cross-strokes to differentiate them from 2s. Smallfixer 01:23, 3 January 2007 (UTC)
That is perfectly described and completely correct. Nice one Smallfixer. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 84.71.200.229 (talk) 16:31, 14 February 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Radix 7

Is there a reason why the Radix 7 table switches to Radix 8 one-eighth the way through? 70.43.51.228 21:10, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Religion part

I strongly object that Hindusim is included in mythology instead of religion. Like Judaism, Christianity and Islam, references from Hinduism should also be included under religion instead of mythology.

[edit] Not quite right

In the Astronomy section, an entry states that seven is "the number of stars in the constellation of Ursa major." This is not really accurate. Ursa major has several more stars than just seven. I'm sure this is a reference to the number of stars in the asterism known in North America as the Big Dipper, which is only a relatively small part of Ursa major (the Big Bear). Smallfixer 03:31, 1 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Dice

I removed the following entry under "In other fields":

On a pair of dice, while all combinations of numbers (2 through 12) are equally probable, any one die can combine with the figure of a second die to produce the number 7. For example, if you roll a 1, you can still roll a 6 with the other die to make a total of 7, and so on for each number. This is the only number capable of doing this. (go me for adding this!)

My understanding is that all combinations of numbers are not equally probable, and that 7 is the most likely result. This is mentioned in another entry under the "Seven is also" heading. Also, what's the difference between the "In other fields" and "Sevin is also" headings? Trolleytimes 09:53, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Use in "random" numbers

I'm not sure where you'd go for evidence to support this theory, but it seems to be a common trend that whenever a writer (of a song, screenplay, novel, whatever) needs to use a number whose actual value is irrelevant to the plot (e.g. a phone number, a model number for a spaceship or other vessel, a random number thrown off the top of somebody's head, etc.), the digit '7' appears far more often than any other digit. My guess is it has something to do with the fact that it's the only 2-syllable digit in English, and it sounds more "numbery" than other numbers. Notable examples:

  • James Bond's agent number is 007. Flemming could just as easily have chosen 006 or 008, and it would have had no bearing on the character, but 007 is what he chose.
  • The Starship Enterprise on Star Trek has always had NCC-1701 (followed by a generation letter) as its ship number.
  • Weird Al Yankovic frequently uses the number 27 in random locations in his songs, videos, and album covers.
  • The Beagle Boys from Disney's Scrooge McDuck universe all have prisoner number-tags containing 7's. (And 1's and 6's, and no other digits.)

Other examples are mostly isolated, but the number does seem to turn up far more frequently as a "doesn't matter" number than any other digit. Anybody know a way to document this that doesn't look like it's just original research? Lurlock 05:22, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Perfect according to...?

I am removing the assumption that 7 is the perfect number according to the Bible. If someone can give a good reason as to why this is stated, feel free to smack my hand. I understand that this is considered the "perfect" number to many people in the Christian faith (including me) but unless I am wrong the Bible never actually says that the number is perfect. Anyone know if it actually does?Delusional 1 10:23, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Names and Titles

I removed the claim that 7 is the number of times a piece of paper can be folded from the Names and Titles section. Even if true, it doesn't belong in Names and Titles. And it is not particularly true: the number of times a piece of paper can be folded depends on the thickness of paper, type of material and type of folds made. Successful foldings of up to twelve times have been accomplished. Seven might be one version of a "folk wisdom" claim about how many times paper can be folded, but I've found references to eight times in the same context, so I don't think this is a useful or reliable comment to make about seven. Mooncow 22:41, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

This claim was recently refuted on an episode of Mythbusters. Of course, they used a piece of paper the size of an aircraft hangar along with a steam-roller and forklift to do the last couple folds, but whatever. It might be worth noting that this popular claim was recently featured on the show, however. Lurlock 16:01, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sequences

1/(1/999+1/999^2+1/999^3+1/999^4+1/999^5+1/999^6+1/999^6+1/999^7+1/999^8+1/999^9+1/999^10..........infinity)=99800000........... since 1/998=0.00100200400801603206412825651302605210420841683366733466933867735470941883768..................................... and the half of 998 equals 499 the square of seven equals 49. ex:

   1/999991=0.00000100000900008100072900656105904953144578301204710842397581578234204107836971.........  multiple of nine
   1/999992=0.00000100000800006400051200409603276826214609716877735021880175041400331202649621.........  multiple of eight
   1/999993=0.00000100000700004900034300240101680711764982354876484135388947722634058438409069.........  multiple of seven
   1/999994=0.00000100000600003600021600129600777604665627993767962607775646653879923279539677.........  multiple of six
   1/999995=0.00000100000500002500012500062500312501562507812539062695313476567382836914184571.........  multiple of five
   1/999996=0.00000100000400001600006400025600102400409601638406553626214504858019432077728311.........  multiple of four
   1/999997=0.00000100000300000900002700008100024300072900218700656101968305904917714753144259.........  multiple of three
   1/999998=0.00000100000200000400000800001600003200006400012800025600051200102400204800409601.........  multiple of two
   1/999999=0.000001000001000001000001000001000001000001000001000001000001000001000001000001...........  multiple of one

Does anyone know the context of "seventh son of a seventh son" and why it appears as some kind of mystical sign in various areas of literature?

[edit] Divisibility Rule

I've been using a different divisibility since I was 11, 14 years ago. I thought it up after I learned about the divisibility by 3 rule. I doubt it's original research, though. Someone must have thought it up before me. Like Manay of the others I used 98's similarity to 100. I broke any size integer into blocks of 2 decimal digits each (100s) instead of the 3 used in SI (1 000s) or 4 used in Han characters (10 000s). Then I removed the first (largest) block to double it and add that product on to the second largest block, often eliminating the first one. It would repeat this process until I ended up with only one block and then compared that to my memorized 2-digit multiples of 7. I didn't have to use this method too often, so I didn't refine it until 6 years ago when it became more important to me. The annoying part of doubling a 2-digit number and adding it too another was that the some was often over 100, necessitating double-work to get each block finished. I also needed to check the final answer against a set of 15 different multiples of 7; I counted the trivial 0. So, I simplified the mental arithmetic by subtracting 50 and adding 1 to a block before the doubling, insteading of just adding 2 for every 100 I subtracted. The advantage at the end was I only had to recognize 00, 07, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, or 49; a much simpler task for me. I find this method much simpler than the other two because doubling is easier than dividing by 7, and no negative numbers are involved. Please, someone back me up here. This is too simple to be original. Thecurran 22:21, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Eternalism??

I'm wondering if the "Eternalism" section under "Religion" is vandalization, or perhaps someone's pet religion that doesn't belong on Wikipedia. The link "Eternalism" leads to a disambiguation page that points to a philosophy of time, a subset of paradoxology, and a sect of buddhism, none of which have anything to do with "Godzimir" or any of the other things listed under "Eternalism" in this article. In fact, searching Wikipedia for "Godzimir" only brings up this article and an article on a Polish lawyer. Does anyone have any further information which justifies its inclusion? I'm going to "fact" tag it for now. Luvcraft 20:25, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

I removed the section as uncited. If anyone can add citations, feel free to put it back. Doctormatt 22:35, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] David

From the article: "David was the eighth son of Jesse."

What does this have to do with the number 7? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.126.132.70 (talk) 08:31, 18 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Indian

The infobox shows how the number 7 looks like in the Indian language. There is no such language. You might mean Devanāgarī, the script that Hindi and some other Indian languages are written in, but that has already been mentioned. akarkera (talk) 14:52, 1 February 2008 (UTC)