No. 13

Unknown said:

If it is solely down to religious significance, then it is one of the most pervasive and sustained observances that is still going strong? Why so?

Well... maybe it kind of is, and kind of isn't... 

I suspect, rather than it being an ancient and unbroken association, the connotations of 13 are a modern reinvention - relatively, at least...

Let's find out!

It is an interesting question. I guess it is superstition that means it persists. I have often had dentist appointments on 13 th. I guess others rejected the date. However I don't like having the TV volume at 13. To me it is a prime number but not sure why it seems worse than other prime numbers. However numbers that are divisible by lots of other numbers feel much more pleasant and give me a good feeling.

There's a lot that haven't though. Black cats, walking under ladders, broken mirrors, touching wood after saying something potentially bad out loud etc.

I guess 13 is kind of the perfect number for it too, since it's high enough to be slightly uncommon (if you saw it every hour it would be hard to keep seeing it as bad) but low enough that it still pops up. Outside of cricket 87 is so rare that it would wash out of our memory through lack of use if it was unlucky. Although IIRC some Asian cultures consider 4 to be bad luck because it sounds like death so the first half of my random whatever gets torpedoed. 

https://www.history.com/news/whats-so-unlucky-about-the-number-13

It's such a commonly held belief that nowadays it is more about avoiding financial loss. Developers know they are going to struggle to sell or rent a house with number 13 or an office on the 13th floor. The above article suggests huge losses as people avoid events on Friday 13th.

There is a house number 13 on my estate. I used to dismiss the idea of 13 being unlucky. Then the neighbours from hell moved into number 13 and starting causing lots of problems during 2013 

Yes, I agree with all your points........ and thank you for the info about upside down cycling numbers - I didn't know that.

But WHY has No13 endured as a "thing" that people (and officialdom) still actively act upon when  the plethora of other similar superstitions and "beliefs" from bygone times have been consigned to the "nonsense" bin?

People like quirky stuff and it's something that doesn't really matter. 

Like I follow professional cycling and it's traditional in that for riders who are given the number 13 to pin it upside down on their jersey to ward off bad mojo. The number of riders who actually believe it's meaningful is probably tiny, but they do it anyway because it's a funny dumb tradition to take part in. 

Thank you for taking the time.

I can't answer your original question, but I live in a complex of flats which have symmetry, but the highest number is 37.  There is no number 13, so we have only 36 flats.

Yes indeed.  The whole Judas thing......but surely that can't explain the continued impact of the No. 13 in today's behaviours (and the beliefs of many wholly non-religious folk)?

Almost all other matters described or intimated in the Bible as either sacrosanct or sacrilegious have been dumped by the majority of societies that developed within Christian parameters?

If it is solely down to religious significance, then it is one of the most pervasive and sustained observances that is still going strong? Why so?

That's it! They often don't have a room 13 in hotels.

Judas was the thirteenth disciple. I live at no.11 next door is no.15. 

Religious - 13th disciple at the Last Supper, I think. The number 23 is far more significant to me. It's the Discordian Number, and it turns up everywhere. Also 42, of course.