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| Digital clock's display changing numbers (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
The 13th Comment
A couple of years ago I mentioned a concept about what I referred to as The 13th Comment Phenomena. This was in reference to an observation that I had made that I had often seen blog comments stall at the twelfth one--they might stop there period or they might merely pause until someone came along to leave the 13th comment and then they would start coming in again until the comments on that particular post had played out.
Nearly everyone who left a comment on that post said they had not noticed this 13th Comment Phenomena. But still the phenomena continues to catch my eye. Repeatedly I see comments stopped at 12. I have no problem stepping in to break through that 12th comment barrier to post the 13th comment, but in my observations it often seems that I am leaving my 13th comment many hours or even days beyond the most previous comment. Why do many comment sections appear to stall at number twelve? Or is it mostly a matter of something that stands out to me making the occurrence seem more prevalent than it really is?
11:11
This numerology observation has a relationship to another idea that I posted about early in 2013 in the post What Is the Scariest Time of Day? based on another theory about why certain times of day seem to stand out more than others. At the time I wrote that post I was often looking at the digital clocks around our house to see three of the same digits (1:11, 2:22, and so on). The frequency at which I was seeing this seemed to stand out to me though the seemingly obvious explanation would be that I was merely noticing the anomaly of the three digits more than I would a combination of randomly different digits.
This occurrence of happening to catch numbers at just the right moment is explained by some in the term synchronicity which is a meaningful recurrence of events or observations that are not causally related. Another way of describing these events would be "meaningful coincidences". A number of explanations for the observing by multitudes of certain number sequences have been offered and I would imagine we could think of many more. Apparently the 11:11 observation has become noticed throughout the world. Google "11:11" and you can see what I mean.
Coincidences? 11:11, the stalling at the twelfth comment, or examples that might come to your own mind can be explained, but can those explanations be verified? Maybe we can try an experiment right now. Open your blog in another tab and see how many comments you have at this moment. Let us know in my comment section where your comments have stopped for now. If we get a preponderance of 12 comment answers, then maybe there is something to this phenomena.
As for me, I'll likely continue to manipulate my comment section to where I make sure I don't stall out at 12 comments. It doesn't bother me to add the 13th comment.
Happy Friday the 13th!
How many comments do you have at this moment? What do you think of synchronicity? Do you believe that numbers have significant meaning besides the usual purpose of counting and calculating?
Don't forget Battle of the Bands on Sunday March 15th!
I will be joining you (Monday) for Battle of the Bands!
ReplyDeleteI just checked my comments. They stalled at 146 and there was no lag time between number twelve and thirteen. Guess I've never noticed that phenomena either.
There are exceptions.
DeleteLee
I don't take any notice of Friday the 13th, to me it's just another day of either being very positive or the opposite. all depends what new problems arises in my life..
ReplyDeleteHave a good day.
I don't pay much attention to it.
DeleteLee
Out of the last hundred posts, I have four that stopped commenting on the 12th comment. I think it's like you never realize how many cars or trucks are just like yours until after you get yours. Then you see the same make and color everywhere! And I think you notice that more because you are most familiar with your own vehicle's traits. Except for my 1979 Mustang Cobra I had. I've never seen another exactly like it.
ReplyDeleteLife & Faith in Caneyhead
I did notice the car ownership thing when we bought our most recent van. Prior to the purchase I'd never noticed that make before.
DeleteLee
I don't have any that stop at 12. Most are 40-60 comments.
ReplyDeleteI remember my first digital clock. I used to watch for 11:11 and 12:34 all the time.
I don't watch for any particular numbers, but I often happen to see them.
DeleteLee
My comments stall at about 5 and most of them are mine. . . :(.
ReplyDelete13 is a very lucky number in china (I think)
Someday we all might be very lucky to be a part of China. Just think--Chinese food everyday.
DeleteLee
I don't get that many comments so don't know - but I believe you! It surprises me that people would even pay attention.
ReplyDeleteWell off to work - computer not working, supervisor didn't sleep cuz of sick kid, presentation happening and all sorts of people dropping out - it is a suicide prevention presentation ...hmmmm. More Innu style doughnuts for us!
You need some luckiness on this Friday the 13th from the sound of things.
Delete13
ReplyDeleteYou saved me the trouble. I never have a problem leaving comment number 13.
DeleteLee
Oh man, I got cheated. I wanted to be number 13. I was born on the 13th and I consider it my lucky number.
ReplyDeleteIn all seriousness, I have had certain number combinations seem to pop up my entire life. Fate of chance, who knows.
I don't know why it's stood out for me, but it is just something that's caught me eye since my early blogging days. I can remember the days when I would wish I had 12 comments.
ReplyDeleteLee
It's synchronicity so they say. I don't know who they are though.
ReplyDeleteLee
I have never noticed the time at 11:11, but I bet now I notice it all the time. My favorite number to see on the clock is 12:34; makes me smile all the time.
ReplyDelete48 comments on my last blog and there was a 5 minute gap between comment 12 and comment 13. But that is interesting, now I'm going to look at blogs I comment on.
betty
You can pretty well guarantee that the comments will flow as long as you are leaving comments on other sites. The real experiment comes when you don't leave any comments anywhere. I don't advise it, but I'm just saying.
DeleteLee
Can't say I've noticed it, as they just flow in. I've had some that are afraid if I post 666 or something like that though lol numbers were created by man, time was created by man, numbers are the same as luck, a figment of man's mind. 13, 666, etc. are no more going to give you bad luck than walking under a ladder or smashing a mirror or a bird crapping on your head. All in a person's head. Synchronicity is another word people throw around and don't really know the meaning too. Oh I saw 11:11, that is synchronicity. Nope, that is just odds. Odds are you will see every single time in your lifetime multiple times, you just notice the ones you want to notice more. Now if you were dreaming of 11:11 and then you woke up and the clock said 11:11, that would be synchronicity.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. Sometimes things just stick in our minds to where we become more aware of them.
DeleteLee
I forgot it was Friday the 13th today until someone mentioned it. Wonder if that's why the plans hubby and I made for today have stalled. (It's freezing rain right now. bleeeeh!)
ReplyDeleteIf I didn't blog I might never know what the day or date is.
DeleteLee
I don't pay that much attention to numbers and Friday the 13th superstitions seem like hogwash, to me, along with all the other ones. Where I come from, 13 is supposed to be a lucky number. LOL My latest post, (which is fairly new) currently has 10 comments, but I'll see what happens.☺
ReplyDeleteI guess I have somehow been culturally ingrained to notice the numbers like 13. I don't make a big deal out of it, but I do notice. Oh wait--I guess I did do a blog post about it. Kind of a deal, but then again it was something to post about.
DeleteLee
Everything is fodder for a good blog post! ☺
DeleteI agree with that! Now if we can only teach this to all those "I don't have anything to blog about" folks. There's always something to blog about and the writer's challenge is to make it as interesting as they possibly can.
DeleteLee
I've never noticed that. And I probably wouldn't think much of seeing 11:11 on the clock either. I think we all have superstitions and they make us notice things.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe superstitions are the result of seeing things and noting occurrences that we begin to relate to our observations.
DeleteLee
I never really look at the number of comments on someone else's blog, although I do pay attention to my own. I remember when I was younger people would say you're supposed to make a wish when the numbers on the clock sync up. I still do on occasion, actually, but I don't think they've ever come true, so I'm not sure why...
ReplyDeleteNo comments on today's blog post yet, but my last one has 10.
When I scroll down a page to make a comment. the first thing I usually see is the number of comments to date so I notice that number. I don't recall hearing the wish thing, but I'm always wishing synced numbers or not.
DeleteLee
I would have left a comment if I could have been number 13...now what's the point?
ReplyDeleteYeah, huh...if you can't rebel against superstition then what's left?
DeleteLee
Comments do seem to stop around 12, and only b/c I am responding to them too, otherwise I'd only have 6. My exhusband was convinced that 2 and 22 kept showing up everywhere and he made me so aware of it that I do see them used a lot. Like on TV shows, apartment numbers or cab numbers will contain 2 or 22. My current husband swears that 1-4-7-11 keep showing up for him.
ReplyDeleteOnce you get to noticing something it seems to be more recurrent. I think it's an illusion of the mind.
DeleteLee
I have four comments, currently.
ReplyDeleteThere is one explanation about the noticing the time at 1:11, 2:22 and so forth. (And I'm not looking back to see if anyone else said this.) Your internal time sense will prompt you to look if that's what you're looking for. There has been some research about this, but it's pretty difficult to verify intangibles like this, at present.
I've heard that explanation and in some cases I'd say it's true, but I don't know if it can really be verified. And there could be a number of reasons for the phenomena depending on the person and on each ones circumstances.
DeleteIt is kind of peculiar sometimes.
Lee
Ha! I haven't (yet) had twelve comments on a post, but definitely notice the car ownership thing. Eight seems to be our number as our entire family - including the family dogs - have birthdays on the eighth.
ReplyDeleteOur daughter was also born in 1988! Seems like the more I live through, the less paranoid I am about Friday the 13th ;-)
So far I can't recall a Friday the 13th where I had bad luck. I'd better be careful saying that though.
DeleteLee
Two comments, but then, this is the first day I'm really back online since last year. :-)
ReplyDeleteIt's an interesting thought, though. Lately, I've had strange repetitions of random numbers like 555 or 133 come up in a day or two.
I've noticed that when bloggers step away from their sites for a while it can take some time to regain comment momentum. You're leaving a lot of comments it appears so you should recover pretty quickly if you continue to do this.
DeleteLee
I have seen more than 12 comments on my blog...I think, right now, I have 7 but on the former post I have 24 (from my memory banks) not including my responses. My hubby always sees the #57. He was born may 25, 1957. When he used to live on his own and where he worked, the exit was 57....for both! He will look at the time and it will often say 1:57 or 3:57 etc... License plates, TV shows...you name it and often 57 is there. Once, we watched a documentary on a brutal crime and the #57, 5,and 25 kept popping up. It freaked us both out. Oh and since meeting him I often see 57. I'm not looking for it either. I try to see 64(my birth year)...nope only 57
ReplyDelete57? That's an interesting one. And now that your husband brought it to your attention you'll notice it more often like he does.
DeleteLee
Now is that counting your own replies, or not?
ReplyDeleteBTW, Friday was the ONLY decent day of my week at work! I had been calling it "the weeklong Friday the 13th celebration".
Hooray for Friday the 13th! It deserves a week of celebration.
DeleteLee
Oh, and yes, I count my own replies. Just so no one has to be the 13th commenter, but then some people don't seem to care.
DeleteLee
I've never noticed the 13th Comment Phenomena. For my blog, once I get past comment #4, which is where it stalls for a bit, more comments pour in.
ReplyDeleteStrange to stop at #4 since that's so few. Now you'll have to keep an eye out for the 12th comment and see how quickly the 13th comes.
DeleteLee
I don't get enough comments (even with half of them being my responses) to get to twelve. So, I cannot prove or disprove your observation... sorry.
ReplyDeleteOur minds are hard-wired to see patterns. I suppose pattern-recognition assists us in our struggle for survival. (If this happened before dangerous Thing A last time, it could mean danger now.)
We don't need it for such drastic messages as frequently as before we made societies but, it's still vital. And cumbersome at times.
There might be a bit of OCD or something involved, but I would agree that we are somehow conditioned to look for patterns or meaning or something.
DeleteLee
Interesting. Numbers have never bothered me. Half of the day was over when I realized it was the 13th.
ReplyDeleteThree blogs - one has a blog-hop going on, so maybe 37 comments. I haven't paid much attention; mostly visiting others.
For some reason, every day 6:25 p.m. is when I look at the clock - dinner time, maybe? Ha!
6:25 must be ingrained as a habit by now.
DeleteLee
I don't think I've ever had 12 comments, let alone 13. LOL I actually forgot it was Friday the 13th. probably a good thing as I have bad luck .
ReplyDeleteThen you might say everyday is Friday the 13th for you? Might be just as bad as everyday being Christmas or something like that.
DeleteLee
I notice the 11.11 and 3.33 and various of this sort. Not really on comments though I will keep alert to this. Numbers pop up in my dreams sometimes .. and when they're repeated I take note. Yet to win the lottery though. Perhaps I should buy the odd ticket.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure numbers have played a part in some of my dreams, but off hand I can't think of an instance.
DeleteLee
I believe that the triple digit numbers is one way that our angels try to get our attention. Whenever I see triple numbers (1:11, 2:22, 4:44, 5:55, etc) on the clock, first I always greet and acknowledge my angels and then I stop to concentrate on what I am thinking about at right that minute. Sometimes I think the angels try to communicate with the numbers and get us to focus on our specific thoughts at the time, ie: validating or affirming. That's just my take on it anyway...
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting way to look at this and it may well be true.
DeleteLee
I've got 10 comments currently, though I think a few more people may be coming through over Monday to comment on the Sunday post. Number patterns are a fascinating thing, though I'm not sure what kind of reception I'd get if I tried to bring that up on one of my skeptical, science-based groups! One doesn't have to be skeptical about everything to prove some kind of point.
ReplyDeleteMy observation is probably coincidental nonsense but still it has caught my attention.
DeleteLee
How do you notice these things? You are quite observant. Have not heard about this 13th comment phenomenon. But now that you made me aware, I'm should it's going to stick out like a purple cow. Never really worried about Friday the 13th. It does add some excitement to a normally regular day.
ReplyDeleteI think when we notice something we start looking for it more often and see it more often. Overall I'm probably not very correct about this observation, still it's fun to think about.
DeleteLee