Quick! Pick a number between 1 and 10 in your mind. Let’s try to estimate which number you had in mind now. Possibly seven? And not simply because this article’s subject matter made you think of the number seven, we’re ready to wager that many of you did.
According to research, a sizable portion of people will pick the number seven when asked to think of a number between one and ten.
When a sizable sample of people is asked what their favorite number is, the replies are comparable. Typically, the overwhelming preference is the number seven. How come?
Even those who don’t consider themselves “numbers people” may have a sweet place for the number 7. Many of us find it fascinating, even enchanting, for a variety of reasons.
The truth is that the number 7 has historically had a big impact on society, culture, religion, and even psychology.
We are drawn to the number for the following seven reasons:
7 Reasons We Single Out The Number 7
1. Since ancient times, it has been important.
It was widely used in several ancient cultures. The Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria are the seven wonders of the world that are most well-known and should be on every traveler’s bucket list.
2. It has been important to practically all major religions.
The Old Testament describes how God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh, laying the groundwork for the current seven-day workweek. The Holy Trinity and the four corners of the Earth are united in the New Testament by the number seven.
The Book of Revelation also makes use of the number seven (seven churches, seven angels, seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven stars). The Kaaba in Mecca, the holiest monument in Islam, is circled seven times by Muslim pilgrims. The Koran mentions seven heavenly realms. Hinduism recognizes seven higher worlds and seven lower worlds, while Buddhism recognizes the newborn Buddha rising and moving in seven directions.
3. It has magical qualities and is connected to good fortune.
Numerous myths and pieces of folklore center around the number seven, which also serves as the symbol for the slot machine jackpot. For instance, traditions concerning the seventh son of a seventh son existed in many cultures, endowing him with both good and bad magical abilities (e.g., the child was believed to have healing powers according to Irish folklore).
4. It corresponds to our memory capacity.
George Miller of Harvard University established that the average person can hold seven pieces of knowledge in their short-term memory in 1956 in what is now regarded as one of the classic works in psychology. Due to the fact that seven digits is the maximum number of digits that the majority of people can remember (although cell phones have eliminated the need to remember anyone’s phone number, even our own), phone numbers in the U.S. and many other countries typically have seven digits (area code excepted).
5. It is appropriate for our attention spans.
Seven is also an excellent fit for our attention spans because our brain capacity favors seven items, provided that the information is given in seven groups of three. While bloggers and authors frequently exploit this reality, some appear to do so more so than others. the book 7 Pages to Success: The Ultimate Short-Attention-Span Guide to Unlock Your Full Potential, as an example! is only 7 pages long, which is okay, but it costs $7 (!), so we assume the only actual potential being unlocked is that of the author’s bank account.
6. It is a prime number.
Both mathematicians and non-mathematicians have long regarded prime numbers, which are divisible only by one and themselves, as remarkable. Given that you cannot multiply seven by any other number in the first ten, it is sometimes referred to be the most “prime” number among those (not to be confused with Optimus Prime, who is a Transformer).
7. It is the most common number.
Over 4,000 people named the number 7 when mathematician Alex Bellos asked 44,000 people to name their favorite number — far more than any other number. As many magicians are aware, when asked to name a number between one and 10, many individuals will respond with the number seven.
This confluence of cultural, historical, theological, numerological, and psychological elements is what makes the number 7 so alluring and influential in our decisions.