Why Does the Number 23 Captivate So Many?

What links basketball legend Michael Jordan, Beat Generation author William Burroughs, comic genius Harpo Marx, and mathematician John Forbes Nash, Jr.? The enigmatic number 23.

The intrigue doesn't end there. In the Bible, Numbers 23:23 includes the phrase "What hath God wrought," which was the first coded message transmitted by Samuel Morse via telegraph in 1843. Adding the digits of 1967, the birth year of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, results in 23—the same sum as the digits of 1994, the year of his passing. Humans possess 23 pairs of chromosomes in their DNA. Additionally, the medieval Knights Templar had 23 grand masters throughout their history.

While skeptics might dismiss these occurrences as coincidental, others believe there's a deeper meaning. A quick online search reveals thousands of websites dedicated to the "23 Enigma," a concept suggesting that this number holds a special, almost supernatural significance due to its frequent appearances in various contexts.

Enthusiasts of the number, known as "23rdians," even have a dedicated Facebook page. It features numerous posts highlighting the number, from a photo of a restaurant receipt numbered 23 for table 23 to the music video for Mike WiLL Made-It's 2013 hip-hop track "23."

Did It Start With William Burroughs?

The origins of this fascination trace back to William Burroughs, as detailed in Barnaby Rogerson's 2013 book "Rogerson's Book of Numbers: The Culture of Numbers – from 1,001 Nights to the Seven Wonders of the World." Burroughs, known for his surreal and hallucinatory works like "Naked Lunch," claimed to have met a sea captain named Clark in Tangier in 1960. The captain boasted of 23 accident-free years, only for his ship to sink that very day. Later, Burroughs allegedly heard a radio report about a Flight 23 crash in Florida, also involving a Captain Clark. (Historical records from 1960 show no such crash, though a Flight 23 was bombed in 1933.) This incident led Burroughs to document occurrences of the number 23, culminating in his short story "23 Skidoo."

Burroughs shared his obsession with Robert Anton Wilson, who incorporated it into the Illuminatus! trilogy, co-written with Robert Shea. The novels are filled with references to 23, such as James Ussher's calculation that the world began on October 23, 4004 BCE, and Harpo Marx's birthdate of November 23, 1888. The books also mention the I Ching's hexagram 23 and the infamous outlaws Bonnie and Clyde, who died on May 23, 1934.

The fascination with 23 extended beyond a few individuals. John Forbes Nash, Jr., the Nobel Prize-winning mathematician whose life story is chronicled in Sylvia Nasar's 2001 biography "A Beautiful Mind," once revealed to a student at MIT that 23 was his preferred prime number. He even claimed to have appeared on the cover of Life magazine disguised as Pope John XXIII. Intriguingly, Nash passed away in a car accident on May 23, 2015, as noted on the Nobel website.

The 23 Enigma inspired a 2007 film titled "The Number 23," starring Jim Carrey as Walter Sparrow, a man who becomes consumed by a book named "The Number 23: A Novel of Obsession." Sparrow believes the book holds the secrets to his own mysterious past.

Michael Jordan also played a role in the 23 phenomenon. He began wearing the number 23 in high school as it was the closest he could get to half of his brother Larry's number, 45. Later, LeBron James adopted the number 23 as a tribute to Jordan.

Is It All Just Coincidence?

What does all this signify? It's difficult to determine, though 3.29 percent of the days in a year include the number 23 in their date, providing ample opportunities for significant events like births, deaths, or accidents to occur on those days. As Daniel Gilbert pointed out in a 2010 New York Times article, there are numerous other numbers that seem to carry similar mystical significance. It might all just be a series of random coincidences.

Perhaps there’s more to it than mere chance. Some coincidences, as research suggests, can carry deeper significance. Dr. Bernard Beitman, a psychiatrist and pioneer in the field of Coincidence Studies, explores this in his book "Connecting With Coincidence: The New Science for Using Synchronicity and Serendipity in Your Life." He explains that people often perceive coincidences as cues to uncover hidden connections.

"When a baby cries and the mother responds, it’s a coincidence that suggests a connection," Beitman wrote in an email. "The baby learns that crying attracts her mother. Some individuals overanalyze coincidences, while others ignore them. I believe it’s better to overanalyze first and then evaluate, as there might be a valuable insight hidden among the noise."

However, he admitted, "When it comes to numbers like 23, I’m not entirely sure."

Interestingly, Dr. Beitman himself has a personal link to the number 23. "It was my football jersey number, and it seemed to follow me for years, offering comfort and support. Eventually, it faded from my life."