The Interesting Number Paradox

by | Feb 2, 2017

What numbers are interesting?  Zero is interesting.  It didn’t exist until centuries after the other integers.  The catholic church banned it.  Entire books have been written about it.  It is interesting.

How about 1?  The first positive interger.  The first prime number. And so on.  It is interesting.

2? First even interger.  Only even prime.  Interesting.

3?  Prime number.  Also, it is the number of sides and corners in a triangle. Interesting.

4? A perfect square (2^2 is 4). Number of sides and corners in square and rectangle.

5? Prime.  Pentagon.

And so on.  Anyway, what is the first uninteresting number?  Let’s suppose it is 38.  Well, the fact that it is the first uninteresting number makes 38 interesting.

So, what about the next.uninteresting number? Say it is 62.  Now it is the lowest uninteresting number – which now makes it interesting.

This, under this reasoning all integers are interesting. This is the uninteresting number paradox.

But does it make logical sense?  Maybe not.  What is interesting or not is subjective.  What if you don’t find even zero interesting?  Then the paradox doesn’t exist.

What if you look at all the uninteresting numbers as a set?  Being the first uninteresting number may be interesting – but being the fifth or tenth is not as interesting.  So, if you don’t go strictly in order maybe being uninteresting isn’t by itself interesting.

 

 

 

3 Comments

  1. Ditto- have missed the IFOD and it’s return is awesome…and interesting. Thanks!

  2. I just want to be the only EVEN PRIME comment as number 2.
    I really like theifod and I feel minimally more interesting already. 😊

  3. Love this and love that IFOD is back! I really enjoy them!

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