Comments on: 08 08 08 = luck x3

08 08 08 = luck x3

baphomet — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:19:42 -0800

08-08-08 is not only the start of the Olympic games in China. It's also an extremely lucky date, given that the number 8 is considered fortuitous in Chinese culture, being associated with wealth and prosperity. Due to this unlikely (but very lucky) confluence of events, upwards of 9,000 Chinese couples will be getting hitched on 08-08-08. Note that not everybody agrees with the astrological implications of this particular date, but that just sounds like mumbo-jumbo to me.

By way of coincidence, one of our own (American) MeFites is tying the knot tomorrow- congrats to voltairemodern and his bride-to-be!

By: metaboy

metaboy — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:25:06 -0800

888 seems useful, in that, it allows you remember your anniversary more easily. Hard to forget 8-8-8.

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:25:42 -0800

I'm anticipating the grande feast of July 8, 2009.

By: Lentrohamsanin

Lentrohamsanin — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:28:37 -0800

A new Avalanches album was rumored to drop tomorrow at one point. That happens less often than the Olympics.

By: teabag

teabag — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:28:47 -0800

Sitting next to my boss, I mention the 9000 weddings thing... "That's the best they can do? A country of 1.3 Billion on the luckiest day of the century, and the best they can do is 9000? Weak"

By: orthogonality

orthogonality — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:29:30 -0800

8 8 8, is that pronounced "nom nom nom"?

By: anazgnos

anazgnos — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:30:13 -0800

I'll be spending my 8/8/08, in part, here.

By: amyms

amyms — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:40:47 -0800

By: fixedgear

fixedgear — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:40:51 -0800

Jennifer 8. Lee!

By: Rhaomi

Rhaomi — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:46:05 -0800

Ah, I see this post has eight comments. How fortuitous! wait... damn

By: rocket88

rocket88 — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:54:18 -0800

Too many 8's.

By: nowonmai

nowonmai — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:03:37 -0800

Jennifer 8. Lee's NYT article on the topic.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:04:15 -0800

Is it being broadcast live? No. Stay away from the internet if you don't want to be spoiled.

By: abulafa

abulafa — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:04:34 -0800

Um, are there any numbers, especially single-digits in decimal, not rumored to be considered "lucky" by the Chinese?^

By: metastability

metastability — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:06:09 -0800

While the year 2008 includes an eight, it's not purely an eight vibration: 2+0+0+8 = 10; 1+0 = 1. Thus, the date is really 8-8-1 on the most important, fundamental, numerological level. Someone's bitter.

By: orange swan

orange swan — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:06:12 -0800

I 8 you.

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:08:13 -0800

And that's the day my daughter turns 8! We're going to spend the day buying lottery tickets.

By: netbros

netbros — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:09:15 -0800

After lo these many years, is 8-8-8 finally the day he wakes up and comments?

By: chunking express

chunking express — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:17:02 -0800

Can you imagine how much abalone, shark, lobster is going to be served tomorrow?

By: Mr_Zero

Mr_Zero — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:19:18 -0800

And that's the day my daughter turns 8! We're going to spend the day buying lottery tickets. Eight is a great age to learn that lottery tickets are simply a tax on people that can't do math. Kudos for teaching her such a valuable lesson at such a young age.

By: kalessin

kalessin — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:20:08 -0800

8 is also the number of permutations of 3 sticks (broken or unbroken - i.e. 2^3 possibilities) in the I Ching, which is another reason why 8 is considered lucky.

By: Mr_Zero

Mr_Zero — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:21:02 -0800

Can you imagine how much abalone, shark, lobster is going to be served tomorrow? You forgot Tiger penis.

By: mkb

mkb — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:21:12 -0800

Eight is a great age to learn that lottery tickets are simply a tax on people that can't do math. Kudos for teaching her such a valuable lesson at such a young age. I have this fiendish idea of creating a mutual fund that solely invests in lottery tickets in order to drive home this point. I'd give it a nice high expense ratio too.

By: ilsa

ilsa — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:25:56 -0800

And here in Vegas the Stratosphere is running an $8.88 mass wedding special.

By: jeffburdges

jeffburdges — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:29:15 -0800

Also, if the olympics helps China realize it's economic ambitions, then surely the couples wed on this date may eventually beat all previous dates in divorce rate. :)

By: Leon

Leon — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:33:04 -0800

And it's my birthday. Maybe I'll buy a lottery ticket. There's a British Royal family minor child that was born on 8/8/88, too.

By: weapons-grade pandemonium

weapons-grade pandemonium — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:37:59 -0800

Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I've tasted of cognition, I hold with those who favor superstition.

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:42:11 -0800

And here in Vegas the Stratosphere is running an $8.88 mass wedding special. I was ambivalent until I saw the $8.88 included admission to the thrill rides. It's probably cheaper than an actual ticket.

By: inigo2

inigo2 — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:44:21 -0800

It's probably cheaper than an actual ticket. If you don't include the cost of the divorce 3 days later, sure.

By: inigo2

inigo2 — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:44:57 -0800

What did 0 say to 8? Nice belt!

By: euphorb

euphorb — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:51:52 -0800

Um, are there any numbers, especially single-digits in decimal, not rumored to be considered "lucky" by the Chinese? I did a post about unlucky number 4 ages ago.

By: Joey Michaels

Joey Michaels — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:03:47 -0800

My brother's wife is schedule to have a c-section on 8/8/08. She is giving birth to twins.

By: chunking express

chunking express — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:04:13 -0800

Some of the older Cityplace condos in Toronto don't have any floors with the number 4 on them, since they are marketed heavily to people from Hong Kong. So there is no 4, 13, 14, 24, 34, 40-49, 54, etc. I think they don't let you do that anymore because it makes life difficult for firemen and emergency workers. (Since the 24th floor is actually not the 24th floor.)

By: Dee Xtrovert

Dee Xtrovert — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:08:56 -0800

The math is off, or the premise is off, about this "auspicious" day. If one assumes that the average Chinese person will marry another Chinese person once in his or her life (some will marry more than once, some won't marry, a few will mary someone who isn't Chinese), that means that - of the living Chinese, there will be 650,000,000 wedding pairings. If one assumes that the average Chinese person lives 27,000 days (which is higher than the average life expectancy by a little), that means there should be roughly 24,000 weddings each day. So those 9,000 Chinese weddings on this day actually represent a drop of more than 60% of the average number of weddings one would expect. These are rough numbers, but close enough to give one some idea of how unamazing the number of 9,000 weddings truly is. Unless I did the math wrong.

By: Dee Xtrovert

Dee Xtrovert — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:09:50 -0800

Or unless you read the post to specifically mean Beijing weddings.

By: Dee Xtrovert

Dee Xtrovert — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:11:33 -0800

In which case, one would expect 333 or so weddings. So 9,000 would be a lot. Never mind.

By: sapere aude

sapere aude — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:18:35 -0800

Ach, this makes me feel old. I still remember 8/8/88, when the Crazy 8's played 8 concerts around Portland, OR. Anyone else see them?

By: argh

argh — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:20:32 -0800

When I scored 888 as my race number last year, my ABC girlfriend told me that it was a very lucky number. She was wrong.

By: Zambrano

Zambrano — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:03:33 -0800

888.com

By: Araucaria

Araucaria — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:17:14 -0800

Two days later, 08/10/08, is Tisha B'Av, a very unlucky date. It's also my son's solar and hebrew birthday, but as a birthday, it is considered more fortunate.

By: never used baby shoes

never used baby shoes — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:19:27 -0800

The opening ceremony is being broadcast at 7:30 p.m. EST (in the US). Is it being broadcast live? No. In Canada, we are getting the live broadcast, beginning at 7:00 am Eastern, or 7:00pm Beijing.

By: prodigalsun

prodigalsun — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:03:51 -0800

I will be turning 42 tomorrow, 08/08/08 totally rules! I'll be turning 42, which as we know is the meaning of life. Maybe I'll start a religion.

By: subgear

subgear — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:36:04 -0800

Metafilter: Stay away from the internet if you don't want to be spoiled.

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:49:27 -0800

Eight may be lucky, but four is unlucky in China. 4+4=8 That's pretty messed up right there. Then again, here in the states, the fourteenth floor is really the thirteenth, or at least that's what we tell ourselves. Bad things would happen on the thirteenth floor, so we just pretend there isn't one. That's pretty messed up right there. Of course, numbers are pretty arbitrary. Our society has evolved with a general tendency to calculate using a base ten, but we could have just as easily gone with base eight or base twelve. We call ten a "nice round number" but that's subjective. Objectively, it's just another number. So whatever significance these numbers have? Human beings place that significance themselves. The universe has nothing to do with it, and there's no way to prove mathematically that one number is more or less lucky than any other. In other words, we are lying to ourselves when we believe these things. But hey. Who am I to rain on Beijing's parade?

By: fixedgear

fixedgear — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:55:14 -0800

Our society has evolved with a general tendency to calculate using a base ten, but we could have just as easily gone with base eight or base twelve. We call ten a "nice round number" but that's subjective Yah, it wouldn't have anything to do with our ten fingers or anything.

By: reformedjerk

reformedjerk — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:21:29 -0800

Since we're talking about numerology, let's not forget that earlier this year, the Chinese were starting to worry that the number 8 was not particularly lucky this year, leading some to fear that having three 8s for the Olympics might be pretty disastrous.

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:00:29 -0800

"Yah, it wouldn't have anything to do with our ten fingers or anything." Actually, it would! That reinforces my original statement that choosing base ten was a subjective thing on the part of Man. Had we evolved with eight fingers, odds are today we'd count with a base eight to our mathematics approach, instead. Thank you for helping me prove my point, FixedGear. That was mighty kind of you. =)

By: milestogo

milestogo — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:20:00 -0800

So whatever significance these numbers have? Human beings place that significance themselves. The universe has nothing to do with it, and there's no way to prove mathematically that one number is more or less lucky than any other. Not to pick a nit, but although your point is valid that our affection for base 10 contains no real mathematical significance, this does not diminish any luckiness that certain numbers may have. Bases (10, 2, 16) are ways of representing numbers. What we call 8 could (though I subscribe to no such belief) be a lucky number independent what whatever base it is expressed or represented in. If the superstition was along the lines of: "whatever number is represented by the runes '13' is unlucky!" then your point would be valid, since '13' means differnet things in different bases, and thus has no fixed value to be lucky or unlucky. However, the superstition is that the amount of things represented by 13 in the base-10 system is an unlucky amount of things, which could be true. Of course, as you said, there is certainly no mathematical proof of the luckiness of numbers. I can't even imagine what one would look like.

By: milestogo

milestogo — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:20:20 -0800

damn preview. It doesn't work right!

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:29:30 -0800

So... is the preview feature 'unlucky' for you?

By: the cydonian

the cydonian — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 19:09:00 -0800

It's also the 20 year anniversary of one of the bloodiest massacres in recent memory.

By: crossoverman

crossoverman — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 19:11:47 -0800

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it the year 4644/4704-11-23 in the Chinese Calendar?

By: milestogo

milestogo — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:05:34 -0800

So... is the preview feature 'unlucky' for you? No, it isnt the feature, it's the timestamp. Multiples of 4 are unlucky minutes during the summer months.

By: marble

marble — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:06:52 -0800

There's a British Royal family minor child that was born on 8/8/88, too. So in Britain you're considered a minor until at least 20 years old, then?

By: Unicorn on the cob

Unicorn on the cob — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:38:30 -0800

Prodigalsun, please do start one. One of my best friends started the Hot Tub Mystery Religion, of which I am a member, and of course there are tax perks. The, uh, sacraments and get-togethers ain't so bad, either. 42 IS the meaning of life, and I hope your next year is fabulous. 8-8-08 is the beginning of a two-year anniversary weekend for me, so I'm pretty stoked about tomorrow myself. Go USA, and congrats VoltaireModern! I hope your love lasts for infinity... the symbol of which is, of course, ∞.

By: Del Far

Del Far — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:38:40 -0800

8/8/8 is also the date of Flickr's 888: 24 hours of Flickr "Take a photo any time during the twenty-four hour period that’s August 8th where you are and then share it with the group. We’ll accept one (1) contribution per Flickr member into the group from noon PST Friday, August 8th until Tuesday, September 2nd, noon PST, 2008." And this is also the beginning of the 10th Annual Del Close Marathon, which I will be in attendance for, because I honestly don't care about the Olympics. I hope everyone else has fun though.

By: turgid dahlia

turgid dahlia — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:47:29 -0800

Sorry, that's wangernum.

By: Leon

Leon — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 21:55:34 -0800

So in Britain you're considered a minor until at least 20 years old, then? Charles is 59 and they still won't let him have a job.

By: pompomtom

pompomtom — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:26:14 -0800

Then again, here in the states, the fourteenth floor is really the thirteenth Nah.. it's really the 12th. You started counting too early.

By: awfurby

awfurby — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:26:31 -0800

I've been wondering about the 08/08/08 thing. The opening ceremony is being broadcast at 7:30 p.m. EST (in the US). Is it being broadcast live? If so, doesn't that mean it's taking place at 7:30 a.m. on August 9th in China? Doesn't that negate the whole 08/08/08 thing? If I'm completely wrong, please feel free to point and laugh. This has been bugging me for awhile and I'll just be happy to get an answer. No, it's definitely happening on the 8th here. Which suggests to me you aren't going to see it live. 7.30pm EST is 7.30am here, so by the time you get to watch it we'll already be in August 9th. Meanwhile in Hong Kong people aren't getting hitched today, but almost every private hospital maternity ward is booked out by expectant mothers who have booked c-sections for today.

By: Brian B.

Brian B. — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:36:56 -0800

America loves 777 as a lucky omen instead, to a lesser degree perhaps, unless you're Pat Robertson.

By: salishsea

salishsea — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 01:00:17 -0800

Lots of brand new buildings in Vancouver missing floors 4, 13, 14, 24. Eighth floors always sell out first. Also the 2008 thing still works: 8+8+2+0+0+8=26. 2+6=8 so all is good.

By: rmmcclay

rmmcclay — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 03:14:34 -0800

August 8th is also Father's Day here in Taiwan (and I assume China), since the word for 8 is pronounced Ba (Mandarin), as is the word for father (ba-ba).

By: voltairemodern

voltairemodern — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 19:08:56 -0800

Haha, thanks for the shout out...I wouldn't say it was coincidence, though, since we chose the date specifically because it would be easy to remember ;) Here are some pictures from the ceremony: http://blog.aodell.com/2008/sarah-john/ Sorry for the delayed reaction, I didn't notice this post until we got back from our honeymoon!