Talk:3137: Cursed Number - Revision history

TheusafBOT: Reverted edit 406527 by Headphones the stickman to 390327

2026-02-18T19:50:48Z

Reverted edit 406527 by Headphones the stickman to 390327

Headphones the stickman: the fog is coming

2026-02-18T19:50:38Z

the fog is coming

216.171.48.25 at 13:14, 6 November 2025

2025-11-06T13:14:41Z

216.171.48.25 at 13:09, 6 November 2025

2025-11-06T13:09:24Z

2.98.65.8: 'un'signed and properly chronologicised.

2025-10-10T20:22:18Z

'un'signed and properly chronologicised.

37.40.140.119: The forbidden number

2025-10-10T15:43:43Z

The forbidden number

216.206.51.106: Added a comment referencing the youtube channel Stand-Up Maths by Matt Parker.

2025-09-15T14:38:27Z

Added a comment referencing the youtube channel Stand-Up Maths by Matt Parker.

35.143.89.131 at 01:01, 10 September 2025

2025-09-10T01:01:25Z

Aqua-chestnut: added my interpretation

2025-09-08T13:13:42Z

added my interpretation

82.13.184.33 at 11:49, 8 September 2025

2025-09-08T11:49:04Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:50, 18 February 2026
Line 68:		Line 68:

	Reminds me of the "ten billion human second century" number Matt Parker came up with. [[Special:Contributions/216.206.51.106\|216.206.51.106]] 14:38, 15 September 2025 (UTC)		Reminds me of the "ten billion human second century" number Matt Parker came up with. [[Special:Contributions/216.206.51.106\|216.206.51.106]] 14:38, 15 September 2025 (UTC)
−
−	hey guys I think it might be AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHSTHEFAKOFK$O$K$#K)#$T)GAZCFC@$QG%JUI>LIKUJYHTGRGHJ>L:?L>K<JMHYTGRL>:PLK<UMYJNHTBGRVEFYUIOL:LI<KUMYJNHTBGREFWTYHUJKIL:>LI<KMJNHBGVFETHYJUKILI><UKMYJNTHBRGEVF [[User:Headphones the stickman\|Headphones the stickman]] ([[User talk:Headphones the stickman\|talk]]) 19:50, 18 February 2026 (UTC)

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:50, 18 February 2026
Line 68:		Line 68:

	Reminds me of the "ten billion human second century" number Matt Parker came up with. [[Special:Contributions/216.206.51.106\|216.206.51.106]] 14:38, 15 September 2025 (UTC)		Reminds me of the "ten billion human second century" number Matt Parker came up with. [[Special:Contributions/216.206.51.106\|216.206.51.106]] 14:38, 15 September 2025 (UTC)
		+
		+	hey guys I think it might be AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHSTHEFAKOFK$O$K$#K)#$T)GAZCFC@$QG%JUI>LIKUJYHTGRGHJ>L:?L>K<JMHYTGRL>:PLK<UMYJNHTBGRVEFYUIOL:LI<KUMYJNHTBGREFWTYHUJKIL:>LI<KMJNHBGVFETHYJUKILI><UKMYJNTHBRGEVF [[User:Headphones the stickman\|Headphones the stickman]] ([[User talk:Headphones the stickman\|talk]]) 19:50, 18 February 2026 (UTC)

@@ Line 31: / Line 31: @@
 If one supposes that reading the cursed number inside another number is also bad, then for you to have at most a 1/2 chance of reading it in a string of numbers with the bounds given in the comic, you would have to read 1.8*10^21 digits strung together [[User:TheTrainsKid|TheTrainsKid]] ([[User talk:TheTrainsKid|talk]]) 05:15, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
-:I got a lower bound of 3.12E15 digits, assuming the number is aperiodic.
+:I got a lower bound of 3.12E15 digits, assuming the number is aperiodic. [[Special:Contributions/216.171.48.25|216.171.48.25]] 13:14, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
 :Taking an average reading speed of 40 digits per second, that would take the reader a trillion years. [[Special:Contributions/46.144.8.194|46.144.8.194]] 07:25, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
 ::Good. Trillion years divided by 9 billion people still gives 111.(1) years of non-stop reading. [[Special:Contributions/81.89.66.133|81.89.66.133]] 08:55, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

@@ Line 31: / Line 31: @@
 If one supposes that reading the cursed number inside another number is also bad, then for you to have at most a 1/2 chance of reading it in a string of numbers with the bounds given in the comic, you would have to read 1.8*10^21 digits strung together [[User:TheTrainsKid|TheTrainsKid]] ([[User talk:TheTrainsKid|talk]]) 05:15, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
 :Taking an average reading speed of 40 digits per second, that would take the reader a trillion years. [[Special:Contributions/46.144.8.194|46.144.8.194]] 07:25, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
 ::Good. Trillion years divided by 9 billion people still gives 111.(1) years of non-stop reading. [[Special:Contributions/81.89.66.133|81.89.66.133]] 08:55, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 <!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. -->
 Warning! Do not read! 421827639108237885847650045004 --[[User:Darth Vader|Darth Vader]] ([[User talk:Darth Vader|talk]]) 22:00, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
 :Oh no, too late! bdbdbalasdfsdfoiubtasdf [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:35, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
 ::Well, at least you knew that reading the string "bdbdbalasdfsdfoiubtasdf" was the only antidote! [[Special:Contributions/92.17.62.87|92.17.62.87]] 23:35, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
 :::Maybe it's safe if you read it scientifically? ~4.218276391088547650045x10<sup>29</sup>?--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|<span style="color:#023020">DollarStoreBa'al</span>]]<sup>[[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|<span style="color:#000080">'''''converse'''''</span>]]</sup> 23:43, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
 :::Edit: NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|<span style="color:#023020">DollarStoreBa'al</span>]]<sup>[[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|<span style="color:#000080">'''''converse'''''</span>]]</sup> 23:44, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
 Not pictured - an MTF team breaking into the compound and abducting the original authors while clean-up arrives with amnestics. {{unsigned|Xurkitree10|10:25, 4 September 2025}}

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:38, 15 September 2025
Line 64:		Line 64:

	This is a similar concept to the short story Different Kinds of Darkness, by David Langford. --[[Special:Contributions/35.143.89.131\|35.143.89.131]] 01:01, 10 September 2025 (UTC)		This is a similar concept to the short story Different Kinds of Darkness, by David Langford. --[[Special:Contributions/35.143.89.131\|35.143.89.131]] 01:01, 10 September 2025 (UTC)
		+
		+	Reminds me of the "ten billion human second century" number Matt Parker came up with. [[Special:Contributions/216.206.51.106\|216.206.51.106]] 14:38, 15 September 2025 (UTC)

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:01, 10 September 2025
Line 62:		Line 62:
	I think part of the humor/joke is that mathematics had so few PSA in real life compared to other scientific fields. The only one I can think of was about what probabilities mean during covid. [[Special:Contributions/2607:FB91:BC0:8481:AC39:BD12:6AEC:364C\|2607:FB91:BC0:8481:AC39:BD12:6AEC:364C]] 22:06, 5 September 2025 (UTC)		I think part of the humor/joke is that mathematics had so few PSA in real life compared to other scientific fields. The only one I can think of was about what probabilities mean during covid. [[Special:Contributions/2607:FB91:BC0:8481:AC39:BD12:6AEC:364C\|2607:FB91:BC0:8481:AC39:BD12:6AEC:364C]] 22:06, 5 September 2025 (UTC)
	: I agree. I think the idea is similar to XKCD 208 ("Everybody Stand Back. I know Regular Expressions."). Here the mathematicians' efforts to put bounderies on seemingly pointless numbers has some real world importance.[[User:Aqua-chestnut\|Aqua-chestnut]] ([[User talk:Aqua-chestnut\|talk]]) 13:13, 8 September 2025 (UTC)		: I agree. I think the idea is similar to XKCD 208 ("Everybody Stand Back. I know Regular Expressions."). Here the mathematicians' efforts to put bounderies on seemingly pointless numbers has some real world importance.[[User:Aqua-chestnut\|Aqua-chestnut]] ([[User talk:Aqua-chestnut\|talk]]) 13:13, 8 September 2025 (UTC)
		+
		+	This is a similar concept to the short story Different Kinds of Darkness, by David Langford. --[[Special:Contributions/35.143.89.131\|35.143.89.131]] 01:01, 10 September 2025 (UTC)

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:13, 8 September 2025
Line 61:		Line 61:

	I think part of the humor/joke is that mathematics had so few PSA in real life compared to other scientific fields. The only one I can think of was about what probabilities mean during covid. [[Special:Contributions/2607:FB91:BC0:8481:AC39:BD12:6AEC:364C\|2607:FB91:BC0:8481:AC39:BD12:6AEC:364C]] 22:06, 5 September 2025 (UTC)		I think part of the humor/joke is that mathematics had so few PSA in real life compared to other scientific fields. The only one I can think of was about what probabilities mean during covid. [[Special:Contributions/2607:FB91:BC0:8481:AC39:BD12:6AEC:364C\|2607:FB91:BC0:8481:AC39:BD12:6AEC:364C]] 22:06, 5 September 2025 (UTC)
		+	: I agree. I think the idea is similar to XKCD 208 ("Everybody Stand Back. I know Regular Expressions."). Here the mathematicians' efforts to put bounderies on seemingly pointless numbers has some real world importance.[[User:Aqua-chestnut\|Aqua-chestnut]] ([[User talk:Aqua-chestnut\|talk]]) 13:13, 8 September 2025 (UTC)

@@ Line 43: / Line 43: @@
 ::Speaking of bad error handling, one of the first programs I made was a country-building simulator. I had a friend play it. A prompt asked how much of the national budget to put into the navy. My friend misunderstood the prompt COMPLETELY and typed in "boats" and the program proceeded to spam output with "boatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboats" millions of time, took up all the processing time and made the PC unusable until the entire OS crashed. [[User:Fephisto|Fephisto]] ([[User talk:Fephisto|talk]]) 20:36, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
-;Should we include Roko's Basilisk in the list of information hazards?
+Should we include Roko's Basilisk in the list of information hazards? Just feels like it's relevant. {{unsigned ip|216.93.213.106|16:59, 4 September 2025}}
-Just feels like it's relevant. {{unsigned ip|216.93.213.106|16:59, 4 September 2025}}
+: Or manual breathing. [[Special:Contributions/172.58.113.84|172.58.113.84]] 17:19, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
 According to jewish mysticism, there is a name of god of length 216 letters/numbers that let you conjure. Also referred to in the movie Pi {{unsigned|DaveK|18:30, 4 September 2025}}
-;New around here but...
+New around here but... I just added a paragrap explaining that 128-bit numbers (or up to 39 decimal digits) are more common than Randall suggests.  I'd be surprised if he was surprised by this.  Start of a new series...?  Or maybe I'm overthinking it. [[User:Tsgsh|Tsgsh]] ([[User talk:Tsgsh|talk]]) 20:46, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
 Is this comic possibly in reference to the recent developments in the Busy Beaver problem?  (Taken ad absurdum, of course.) --[[Special:Contributions/2600:8800:FF0E:400:1455:42BD:D223:A669|2600:8800:FF0E:400:1455:42BD:D223:A669]] 00:20, 5 September 2025 (UTC)
-;I feel like there's a separate joke here
+I feel like there's a separate joke here. Mathmeticians are going insane, so they form a (questionable) theory that a cursed number is the cause -- when in fact it likely has something to do with the field of mathematics itself. I remember my math professor from college saying something along the lines of "Math isn't a mentally safe profession, quite a number of us loose our minds."
 So the cursed number is a red-herring. The title text alludes to this fact: that mathematicians will intentionally go down paths that lead to insanity because they feel drawn towards it. {{unsigned ip|67.190.17.105|14:16, 5 September 2025}}