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Number of the Beast
In the Bible, the Book of Revelation (13:17-18) cryptically asserts
666 to be "the number of a man", associated with the beast, an
antagonistic creature that appears briefly about two-thirds into the
apocalyptic vision. The author challenges the reader to figure out
the symbolism of this number, a challenge that has inspired mystics
and would-be prophets ever since. The number of people who have been
proposed to be the man whose number is 666 is vast and ever growing;
it usually does not demand much ingenuity to find several ways to
connect one's political or religious opponent with the number 666,
since there is no biblical restriction on how a connection between a
man and the number may be established.
In modern popular culture, 666 has become one of the most widely
recognized symbols for Satan or the Devil. Earnest references to 666
occur both among apocalypticist Christian groups and in explicitly
anti-Christian subcultures such as that surrounding some heavy metal
bands; more humorous allusions to the 666 symbolism (e.g., the
Lemmings level featuring three 6's built upon "hellish" lava
terrain) are mainstream. An appearance of the number 666 in
contemporary Western art or literature is more likely than not an
intentional reference to this number of the Beast symbolism. Such
popular references to 666 are too numerous to list here.
It is not uncommon to see the symbolic role of the integer 666
transferred to the digit sequence 6-6-6. Some people take the
satanic associations of 666 so seriously that they actively avoid
things related to 666 or the digits 6-6-6. This is known (more or
less tongue-in-cheek) as hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia. |
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Number 666
In mathematics 666 is an abundant
number. It is the sum of the first 36 natural numbers (i.e. 1 + 2 +
3 + ... + 34 + 35 + 36 = 666), and thus a triangular number. Since
36 is both square and triangular, 666 is the sixth number of the
form n2(n2 + 1) / 2 (sequence A037270 in OEIS) and the eighth number
of the form n(n + 1)(n2 + n + 2) / 8 (doubly triangular numbers,
A002817).
666 is the sum of the squares of the first seven prime numbers (i.e.
22 + 32 + 52 + 72 + 112 + 132 + 172 = 666).
The harmonic mean of the decimal digits of 666 is (trivially -- all
repdigit natural numbers have this property) an integer: 3/(1/6 +
1/6 + 1/6) = 6, making 666 the 54th number with this property.
In base 10, 666 is a palindromic number, a repdigit and a Smith
number. A prime reciprocal magic square based on 1/149 in base 10
has a magic total of 666.
The Roman numeral representation of the number 666 (DCLXVI) uses
once each the Roman numeral symbols with values under 1,000,
occurring in descending order of their respective values (D = 500, C
= 100, L = 50, X = 10, V = 5, I = 1).
666 is a member of the Indices of prime Padovan sequence, 3, 4, 5,
7, 8, 14, 19, 30, 37, 84, 128, 469, 666, 1262, 1573, 2003, 2210, ...
(sequence A112882 in OEIS). |
