10/10/10 – October 10th 2010 – Trinumeral Superstition
With all of our advancements in technology and knowledge coupled with militant atheists ridiculing religious folk for believing in ‘pink unicorns’, it still strikes me how inherently superstitious we are.
The BBC is reporting that some register offices are specially opening tomorrow in order that couples can tie the knot on this ‘lucky’ day and it’s not just in Britain:
Couples have also planned to have their babies delivered by Caesarean that day, in the hope that some of the day’s luck rubs off on their newborn.
Many Las Vegas hotels are offering special 10.10.10 wedding packages and in China, the most popular ceremony slots, which fall between 10am and 10.10am, were snapped up months ago.
A cursory Internet search reveals fears of a technological virus:
“There’s been a long history of virus scares related to specific dates, and it’s not that surprising to hear people whispering about the possible risks looming on 10 October 2010.
This has been duly debunked.
I’ve even found an article providing a synopsis of the possible implications of the 10/10/10 date singularity.
It would seem that despite our advancements and the many calls for ‘rational’ belief systems, humans are ‘wired’ for belief not based on deducible evidence.
In fact it appears that folk are enthusiastic to invest meaning in:
Shibboleth – a belief, principle, or practice which is commonly adhered to but which is thought by some people to be inappropriate or out of date .
This all rather flies in the face of the militant atheist and undermines some of their criticisms of Christians. I would of course adhere to the notion that humans are ‘hard-wired’ for belief and to see beyond the tenable and that superstition is an attempt to satiate the ‘god shaped hole’.
We are not necessarily supposed to be entirely pragmatic epistemologically methodological naturalistic entities.
October 9th, 2010 at 12:24 pm
“When people stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing — they believe in anything.” – G K Chesterton
October 9th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
@Michael, I love that quote and thanks for the link…wow!
October 9th, 2010 at 4:11 pm
Call me a killjoy, but I have to say although this makes an amusing soundbite, it neither makes sense, nor is correct.
It may reassure believers, but it does not reflect reality for those who do not believe in God.
October 9th, 2010 at 4:12 pm
Oops. I should have said I was referring to Michael’s comment rather than the original post.
October 9th, 2010 at 5:44 pm
Phew…
October 9th, 2010 at 6:09 pm
Fans of Douglas Adams ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide’ series will understand the import of the number forty two, which is the answer to life, the universe and everything.
101010 is, of course, the binary representation of forty two. Need one say more?
October 9th, 2010 at 6:10 pm
@cnocspeireag classic, I’m a huge fan….