# 11:34 Obession **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 5, 2004, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-34-obession/258522 "2004-08-05T22:36:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![coqHolio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@coqHolio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coqHolio)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-34-obession/258522/1 "2004-08-05T22:36:56Z")
I have a wierd phenomena that hapens to me and am wondering if it happens to other people and why it happens. When I was a child, it was pointed out to me that the time 11:34 upside down spells hell. I’ve noticed throughout my life that I find myself seeing that number a diproportionate amount of the time… Like I’ll glance at a clock, and way to often, it is 11:34. Or I’ll wake up, look at the clock, and it is 11:34, etc. etc. So my question is, is my subconcious causing me to look at clocks at the right time? Or is it that I am just taking notice when I see 11:34? Is Satan trying to tell me something? 🙂 Does this happen to other people? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-34-obession/258522/2 "2004-08-05T22:42:50Z")
> [@coqHolio](#): > > Or is it that I am just taking notice when I see 11:34? This is it. I had a similar thing when I was a kid…I noticed that 12:51 on a digital clock, seen in a mirror, is…12:51. It seemed like I caught the clock exactly at 12:51 constantly until I stopped thinking it was cool. I also see the numbers 42, 311, and 173 all the time. All relevant numbers to me. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-34-obession/258522/3 "2004-08-05T22:44:38Z")
Your digital clocks are going to hell. Convert to analogue. Then you will be haunted by 10:10 all the time, especially in playhouses. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-34-obession/258522/4 "2004-08-05T23:13:16Z")
> [@coqHolio](#): > > Or is it that I am just taking notice when I see 11:34? Bingo. The phenomenon is common enough that it’s got its own name: [confirmation bias](http://skepdic.com/confirmbias.html). Perhaps the most famous example centers on how police and emergency medical personnel “know” that life is extra-crazy on nights with a full moon, even though systematic empirical studies show no such thing. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-34-obession/258522/5 "2004-08-05T23:20:18Z")
> [@coqHolio](#): > > Is Satan trying to tell me something? Yes. He’s saying that it’s still 26 minutes until lunch, SO GET BACK TO WORK! ---
**Author:** ![Thaumaturge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@Thaumaturge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thaumaturge)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-34-obession/258522/6 "2004-08-05T23:34:54Z")
I do the same thing with the number 23, and it’s not confirmation bias, because I’ve been keeping track for ten years now. Oddly enough, as I type this, the clock says 4:23…but anyway…whenever I look at the time, it is 25% of the time (somehour) and 23 minutes. ( another 10% of the time it is :24)I just have a weird internal clock that gives me subconscious hints when to look at the time. Repeatedly, I’ll not look at the time for hours, then look up and it’ll be ( something) :23. This has happened thousands of times since I first noticed it more than 10 years ago. ( it’s not confirmation bias because I equally remember the times where it wasn’t 23, which is most of the time) Since the odd of a number appearing in the minute hand are 1/60, and I only check the time 20 or times a day, and I get a time result of :23 at least 4 times a day, I’d say that my subconscious is trying to tell me something. Somehow I can tell time internally, to an accuracy of about 2 minutes out of the hour, and sunconsciously know when the time will say :23. I have no other idea what it could be. It certainly has not brought me fame and fortune, or unlocked the keys to the universe. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-34-obession/258522/7 "2004-08-06T03:46:04Z")
> [@coqHolio](#): > > When I was a child, it was pointed out to me that the time 11:34 upside down spells hell. Satan is after you in a big way. Whater you do, never, NEVER turn your clocks upside-down, or look at one when standing on your head. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-34-obession/258522/8 "2004-08-06T04:04:35Z")
Read _Illuminatus!_ and you will discover that the number 23 is, like, _everywhere_, man. ---
**Author:** ![SnakeSpirit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snakespirit/32/7271_2.png) [@SnakeSpirit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakeSpirit)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-34-obession/258522/9 "2004-08-06T05:02:27Z")
Seek, and ye will find. Look for 11:34 and you will find it everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-34-obession/258522/10 "2004-08-06T06:36:42Z")
As an experiment, pick another time that has some kind of significance. Maybe one that’s the same number as the year of a famous historical event that interests you, or a time exactly 123,456,789 seconds after midnight. Then if it sticks in your mind, you should see it show up a lot, just like 11:34 does. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-34-obession/258522/11 "2004-08-06T07:21:10Z")
I dunno. I seem to never miss looking at a clock at 12:34. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-34-obession/258522/12 "2004-08-06T12:31:29Z")
My “magic” number is 112. It’s everywhere. I know, because I see it. ---
**Author:** ![TRUE-BRIT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TRUE-BRIT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRUE-BRIT)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-34-obession/258522/13 "2004-08-06T12:49:02Z")
For 20 years i had an obsession with the number 7. i was a builder for 25 years and all my estimates were rounded up to 7. If the correct estimate was £310-66, this went out as £317-77. And it worked. My best obssessive hunch was to charge £27 777 pounds for a job, instead of £17 000. About $22 000 dollars extra. Talking of clocks and time: We had a clock on our mantlepiece for 10 years that we never ever used or wound up. 10 years, One night it rung out, Ding - Dong, Ding Dong, Westminster chimes, then it stopped. We were so surprised, and remembering an old superstition we started laughing over it, the superstition was that if this happens someone dies, but being rational, lets face it, thats rediculous. Corny, it just can’t happen. Of course it can’t. Two days later we found out that Aunt Barbara in York.England, had died that night. I agree its stupid, i still don’t believe it, but we still have the clock and its never rung out or moved since. Not a sound in over 20 years from it - except that one night. ---
**Author:** ![marky33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@marky33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marky33)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-34-obession/258522/14 "2004-08-06T12:58:23Z")
> [@chaoticdonkey](#): > > I dunno. I seem to never miss looking at a clock at 12:34. Me too ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-34-obession/258522/15 "2004-08-06T16:48:23Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > I had a similar thing when I was a kid…I noticed that 12:51 on a digital clock, seen in a mirror, is…12:51. REDRUM ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-34-obession/258522/16 "2004-08-06T20:37:48Z")
Hey **Thaumaturge** , when you say you ‘keep track’ does that mean writing down each and every time you look at a clock, or just try and keep a kind of rough running total in your head? Because if you’re really writing each glance at the clock down, and finding :21 to :25 about 25% of the time it’s a real and interesting phenomenon (though I think there would be non-psychic explanations). If not, I’m afraid it’s more likely just confirmation bias. ---
**Author:** ![NotWithoutRage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NotWithoutRage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotWithoutRage)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-34-obession/258522/17 "2004-08-06T20:56:37Z")
I have a 3:24 thing. Whether it’s dealing with time, pages in a book, it comes up all the time. It also happens to be my birthday. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-34-obession/258522/18 "2004-08-06T22:15:13Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Bingo. The phenomenon is common enough that it’s got its own name: [confirmation bias](http://skepdic.com/confirmbias.html). Perhaps the most famous example centers on how police and emergency medical personnel “know” that life is extra-crazy on nights with a full moon, even though systematic empirical studies show no such thing. Law offices, too. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-34-obession/258522/19 "2004-08-06T23:18:26Z")
Even though I know about confirmation bias I’m surprised at how often I notice the times of 7:07, 7:37, and 7:47 on the clock. And I don’t even own any Boeing stock. ---
**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-34-obession/258522/20 "2004-08-07T00:03:24Z")
When I worked for Univac, I was programming the 1108 computer for a few years. Ever since then, I always see the numbers 1108 in many ways. I also see the 727, 737 and 747 numbers. They are always popping up someplace. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-34-obession/258522.md?page=2)