Editing 23 enigma

{{Short description|Belief that most incidents and events are directly connected to the number 23}}
The '''23 enigma''' is a belief in the significance of the [[23 (number)|number 23]].<ref name=indy>{{cite news |last1=Cahal|first1= Milmo|last2=Willetts|first2=Tom |date=23 February 2007 |title=23 fascinating facts about the number twenty-three|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/23-fascinating-facts-about-number-twenty-three-6262624.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101014458/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/23-fascinating-facts-about-number-twenty-three-6262624.html |archive-date=2020-11-01 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|work=[[The Independent]] |access-date=27 November 2020}}</ref> The concept of the 23 enigma has been popularized by various books, movies, and conspiracy theories, which suggest that the number 23 appears with unusual frequency in various contexts and may be a symbol of some larger, hidden significance.

==Origins==
[[Robert Anton Wilson]] cites [[William S. Burroughs]] as the first person to believe in the 23 enigma.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/editor/story/0,12900,990935,00.html "Going loco over 'El Becko'"]</ref> Wilson, in a 1977 article in ''[[Fortean Times]]'', related the following anecdote:

{{Quotation|I first heard of the 23 enigma from William S Burroughs, author of ''[[Naked Lunch]]'', ''[[Nova Express]]'', etc. According to Burroughs, he had known a certain Captain Clark, around 1960 in [[Tangier]], who once bragged that he had been sailing 23 years without an accident. That very day, Clark’s ship had an accident that killed him and everybody else aboard. Furthermore, while Burroughs was thinking about this crude example of the irony of the gods that evening, a bulletin on the radio announced the crash of an airliner in [[Florida]], USA. The pilot was another Captain Clark and the flight was Flight 23.<ref>[http://forteantimes.com/features/commentary/396/the_23_phenomenon.html Robert Anton Wilson on the "23 Phenomena"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080928122012/http://forteantimes.com/features/commentary/396/the_23_phenomenon.html |date=September 28, 2008 }}</ref>}}

==In literature==
The 23 enigma can be seen in:

* [[Robert Anton Wilson]] and [[Robert Shea]]'s 1975 book ''[[The Illuminatus! Trilogy]]'' (therein called the "23/17 Phenomenon")
* Wilson's 1977 book ''[[Cosmic Trigger I: The Final Secret of the Illuminati]]'' (therein called "the Law of Fives" or "the 23 Enigma")
* [[Arthur Koestler#Writings as a contributor|Arthur Koestler]]'s contribution to ''The Challenge of Chance: A Mass Experiment in Telepathy and Its Unexpected Outcome'' (1973)
* ''[[Principia Discordia]]''

The text titled ''Principia Discordia'' claims that  "All things happen in fives, or are divisible by or are multiples of five, or are somehow directly or indirectly appropriate to 5"<ref>''[[Principia Discordia]]'', pg. 23</ref>&mdash;this is referred to as the Law of Fives. The 23 enigma is regarded as a [[corollary]] of the Law of Fives because 2 + 3 = 5.

In these works, 23 is considered lucky, unlucky, sinister, strange, sacred to the goddess [[Eris (mythology)|Eris]], or sacred to the unholy gods of the [[Cthulhu Mythos]].

The 23 enigma can be viewed as an example of [[apophenia]], [[selection bias]] and [[confirmation bias]]. In interviews, Wilson acknowledged the self-fulfilling nature of the 23 enigma, implying that the real value of the Law of Fives and the 23 enigma is in their demonstration of the mind's ability to perceive "truth" in nearly anything.

{{Quotation|When you start looking for something you tend to find it. This wouldn't be like [[Simon Newcomb]], the great astronomer, who wrote a mathematical proof that heavier than air flight was impossible and published it a day before the Wright brothers took off. I'm talking about people who found a pattern in nature and wrote several scientific articles and got it accepted by a large part of the scientific community before it was generally agreed that there was no such pattern, it was all just selective perception."<ref>Robert Anton Wilson sees the [[clustering illusion]] everywhere, not just 23, ''Robert Anton Wilson Explains Everything'' (audiobook), December 2001.</ref>}}

In the ''Illuminatus! Trilogy'', Wilson expresses the same view, saying that one can find numerological significance in anything, provided that one has "sufficient cleverness".

==In popular culture==
Music and art duo [[The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu]] (later known as The KLF and the [[K Foundation]]) named themselves after the fictional conspiratorial group "The Justified Ancients of Mummu" from ''Illuminatus!'';<ref>{{LibraryOfMu|mu-id=479|first=Ian|last=Cranna|title=1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?) review|work=[[Q (magazine)|Q]]|date=1987|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161004150537/http://www.libraryofmu.net/display-resource.php?id=479|archive-date=4 October 2016}}</ref> the number 23 is a recurring theme in the duo's work.<ref name="drownedinsound">{{Cite web|url=http://drownedinsound.com/news/4151283-the-ice-kream-van-kometh--the-justified-ancients-of-mu-mu-return|title=The Ice Kream Van Kometh: The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu Return|date=24 August 2017|access-date=26 February 2020|first=Max|last=Pilley|work=[[Drowned in Sound]]|archive-date=26 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226003707/http://drownedinsound.com/news/4151283-the-ice-kream-van-kometh--the-justified-ancients-of-mu-mu-return|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/aug/23/klf-bill-drummond-jimmy-cauty-2023-book|title=The return of the KLF: pop's greatest provocateurs take on a post-truth world|access-date=October 23, 2017|date=23 August 2017|first=Hannah|last=Ellis-Petersen|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> Perhaps most infamously, as the K Foundation they performed a performance art piece, ''[[K Foundation Burn a Million Quid]]'' on 23 August 1994<ref>{{LibraryOfMu|tl=news|mu-id=387|last=Reid, Jim|title=Money to burn|work=[[The Observer]]|date=25 September 1994|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916120338/http://www.libraryofmu.net/display-resource.php?id=387 |archive-date=16 September 2016 }}</ref> and subsequently agreed not to publicly discuss the burning for a period of 23 years.<ref>{{LibraryOfMu|tl=news|mu-id=519 |title=Cape Wrath |author=[[K Foundation]] |date=8 December 1995 |work=[[The Guardian]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916113827/http://www.libraryofmu.net/display-resource.php?id=519 |archive-date=16 September 2016|type=advertisement}}</ref> 23 years to the day after the burning they returned to launch a novel and discuss why they had burnt the money.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41022272|title=The KLF: Pop's saboteurs return after 23 years|date=23 August 2017|work=[[BBC News]]|access-date=26 February 2020}}</ref>

The 2007 film ''[[The Number 23]]'', starring [[Jim Carrey]], is the story of a man who becomes obsessed with the number 23 while reading a book of the same title that seems to be about his life.<ref name="latimes">{{cite news |last1=Ordora |first1=Michael |title=Quite a jazzy little number |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119856979/quite-a-jazzy-little-number/ |access-date=28 February 2023 |work=[[The Los Angeles Times]] |date=14 January 2007 |page=E10}}</ref>

[[Industrial music]] group [[Throbbing Gristle]] recounted in great detail the meeting of Burroughs and Captain Clark and the significance of the number 23 in the ballad "The Old Man Smiled".<ref name="Benecke 2011">{{cite journal |last1=Benecke |first1=Mark |year=2011 |title=The Numerology of 23 |journal=Skeptical Inquirer |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=49–53 |publisher=Committee for Skeptical Inquiry }}</ref> Their 1980 album ''[[Heathen Earth]]'', where this song appears, also features the number 23 on the cover.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ford |first=Simon |title=Wreckers of Civilisation : The Story of COUM Transmissions and Throbbing Gristle |publisher=Black Dog Publishing |year=1999 |isbn=978-1901033601 |pages=10.5}}</ref>

The plot of [[tactical shooter]] [[video game]] ''[[Sniper Ghost Warrior 3]]'' revolves around stopping a shadowy organization called ''The 23 Society'' looking to gain power and influence.

==See also==
* [[Benford's law]]
* [[Ideas of reference and delusions of reference]]
* [[Texas sharpshooter fallacy]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{wikiquote inline}}

{{William S. Burroughs}}
{{Robert Anton Wilson}}

[[Category:Numerology]]
[[Category:Robert Anton Wilson]]
[[Category:Superstitions about numbers]]
[[Category:William S. Burroughs]]