23 enigma

The 23 enigma is a belief that the number 23 is of particular significance.

It is first mentioned by writer William S. Burroughs. In Tangiers, Burroughs met a ferry captain who told him that he had sailed the same route without accident for 23 years. The captain's name was Clark. Later that day, his ferry sank. In the evening of the same day, as Burroughs was thinking about the conversation, he heard that a Flight 23 on the New York-Miami route had crashed, piloted by a different Captain Clark. Afterwards, Burroughs started a scrapbook of other significant occurrences of the number 23.

The 23 enigma has gained a cult status, partly due to the popularity of The Illuminatus Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson.

Adherents of the 23 Enigma look out for occurrences of the number in nature, media and in their daily lives.

Critics say that there is no enigma and that the number 23, being a relatively low number is bound to occur quite often. They claim that the 23 enigma is an example of Apophenia.

A 23 enigma list

Below is a sample of things claimed to reveal the enigmatic nature of the number 23. Some entries of this list are of dubious accuracy (e.g., about blood circulation) or of overstretched applicability (e.g., "23.5 degrees"). This list is much shorter than similar lists for other "mysterious" numbers, such as 3, 5, 7 or 13.

• The human biorhythm is generally 23 days long. (Though Hermann Swoboda and Wilhelm Fliess, the two doctors who first posited biorhythm, both decided from their observations that a human's 'physical cycle' was 23 days long, biorhythmics is still, at best, a highly speculative and subjective area of study.)
• It takes 23 seconds for blood to circulate throughout the entire body. (Dubious: there is no single path or single time period blood takes when it circulates.)
• Each parent contributes 23 chromosomes to a child's DNA. (True.)
• The number of joints in the human arm is 23. (Unconfirmed.)
• On average, every 23rd wave on a beach is twice the size of an average wave. (Unconfirmed.)
• The axis of our planet is 23.5 degrees. (Of dubious significance even if true for two reasons: first, it extends the range of 'meaningful' numbers from just 23 itself to any number between 22.0 and 24.0; second, the figure will not necessarily work out anywhere close to 23 if not using the arbitrary figure of 360 degrees for dividing a circle.)
• Moon Landings : The first landing on the Moon was in the Sea of Tranquility, 23.63 degrees East. Second landing was the Ocean of Storms, 23.42 degrees West. The first two landings were Apollo 11 and Apollo 12, the sum of whose numbers is 23. (Of dubious significance even if true, for reasons already mentioned, and because this now expands the range of 'significant' numbers to pairs that make up 23, of which there are at least 11 even without allowing negative integers or zero.)
• December 23, 2012 is the date the Mayans believed would mark an apocalyptic event. (Unconfirmed.)
• The ancient Egyptian and Sumerian New Year's were on July 23rd. (Unconfirmed.)
• William Shakespeare was born on April 23rd, and died on April 23rd. His first portfolio was published in 1623. (The second and third are true; while his birthday is said to have also been April 23rd, this is unconfirmed folklore.)
• Julius Caesar was stabbed 23 times during his assassination. (True.)
• The prophet Mohammad taught and received the wisdom of the Most High, for 23 years. (Unconfirmed.)
• The templars had 23 Grandmasters, the last being Jacques de Molay. (Confirmed.)
• The first song on the first side of the first Beatles' album took 23 takes. (Unconfirmed.)
• If you add up all the digits in 9/11/2001, you get 23.

See also

• Apophenia
• Pareidolia
• Synchronicity