# Do you assign personalities to numbers? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 3, 2015, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-assign-personalities-to-numbers/729796 "2015-09-03T08:12:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-assign-personalities-to-numbers/729796/21 "2015-09-03T19:47:47Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > There are 10 kinds of people? Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-assign-personalities-to-numbers/729796/22 "2015-09-03T19:54:44Z")
By the way, this is all a form of [synesthesia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia). I assign colors to numbers and letters (4 is green, 1 and 3 are blue, 2 is yellow), but not so much personalities. Except 9 - he’s a tall, gentlemanly type, overly formal with a top hat and British accent. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-assign-personalities-to-numbers/729796/23 "2015-09-03T19:55:56Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > I did when I was little. I liked the even numbers better, and thought nine was just mean. I think it’s because I was learning about addition, and had found out that adding nine to a number made the ones digit decrease by one. So 15 + 9 was 24, and the ones digit in the answer was now a 4. > > Well, it made sense at the time. I totally get this. I said “matronly and sensible” but I could have added “party pooper” for the same reason you describe. With 10 you get a nice even decrease / increase but 9 makes it feel like you lost something, even if it can’t be helped. Like your mother used to tell you. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-assign-personalities-to-numbers/729796/24 "2015-09-03T20:18:47Z")
I have long considered _π_ to be pretentious, trying to convince us that it is far more mysterious and interesting than it really is. _e_ exudes a sort of strong self-confidence. That _τ_ number (or what ever the right symbol is, for “1/_τ_ = _τ_ + 1”) is playful. c is bold and likes to play with itself. Avogadro’s Number is stoic and indifferent. _ħ_ is shy and retiring. א is daring and challenging. This is fun, in an irrational sort of way. ---
**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-assign-personalities-to-numbers/729796/25 "2015-09-03T20:30:24Z")
I got on a Sudoku kick for a while, so I bought a book of them. In that particular book, 6 was a sneaky bastard that made me use up my eraser, every time. I was fond of 4, but didn’t care much for 8. And 9 was so funny, it wasn’t funny. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-assign-personalities-to-numbers/729796/26 "2015-09-03T23:17:59Z")
Interesting. One of the reasons I started this was to see if anyone had similar perceptions of the digits to myself. The answer seems so far to be that there’s not much correlation. Which on one view is not unexpected. On another view I wondered if my perceptions were influenced by objective traits such as the fact that some digits are prime, some are even and some are odd and some are factors of others. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-assign-personalities-to-numbers/729796/27 "2015-09-04T00:20:00Z")
To be exact, the kind of synesthesia you have is ordinal linguistic personification: > **[Ordinal linguistic personification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordinal_linguistic_personification)** > > Ordinal-linguistic personification (OLP, or personification for short) is a form of synesthesia in which ordered sequences, such as ordinal numbers, days, months and letters are associated with personalities or genders. Although this form of synesthesia was documented as early as the 1890s, researchers have, until recently, paid little attention to this form (see History of synesthesia research). > In Flournoy's 1893 reports on OLP, one synesthete identified as Mme L. reports that "1, 2, 3 are chi... ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-assign-personalities-to-numbers/729796/28 "2015-09-04T01:12:24Z")
Actually I think I just had ordinary amounts of childhood imagination and the vague anthropomorphisms I assigned to the numbers as I learned about them still come to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-assign-personalities-to-numbers/729796/29 "2015-09-04T01:28:54Z")
> [@chowching](#): > > Not personalities but colors. > > 0 is white > 2 is red > 3 is green > 4 is blue > 5 is yellow > 6 is red > 7 is blue I like that. I tried it (played ‘what’s the colour that pops into my head?’). 0 - green (not sure whether based on roulette or ‘being neutral’ - suspect neutral). 1 - black 2 - red 3 - yellow 4 - blue 5 - red 6 - Yellow 7 - green 8 - Orange 9 - nothing 10 - white ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-assign-personalities-to-numbers/729796/30 "2015-09-04T02:01:26Z")
I think I used to, when I was younger. I also had, and still do a bit, associations with some letters. Like I think of C as a yellow letter. I think of it as being lemon or lemon cake tasting. And B is brown and kind of chocolately tasting. Like a brownie or chocolate cake. A is red, but more flavorless. E is green. I think M is red, too. N is orange. Maybe a little nutty tasting. W’s blue, kind of watery. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-assign-personalities-to-numbers/729796/31 "2015-09-04T02:31:44Z")
I don’t do this for 0-9, but I do it for some two-digit numbers. 25 is weak but determined, it never stops fighting for what’s right. It seems inspired by its cousin 75, a stronger version of the same. It needs to be strong, surrounded by shifty numbers like 71, 72, 73, 74, 76, and 77. 78 is okay, though. There are others, waaay too many to list, and not every number has an associated personality. Also the personality associations seem to pop into my mind more readily when I’m tired, but hardly ever when I’m drunk. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2015, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-assign-personalities-to-numbers/729796/32 "2015-09-04T09:12:17Z")
> [@chowching](#): > > Not personalities but colors. > > 0 is white > 2 is red > 3 is green > 4 is blue > 5 is yellow > 6 is red > 7 is blue 0: white or clear 1: black 2: red 3: yellow 4: blue 5: green 6: dark blue 7: yellow-green 8: red 9: black It was many years before I realized that there’s a sort of symmetry to my association. 1 and 9; 2 and 8; 3 and 7; 4 and 6. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-assign-personalities-to-numbers/729796/33 "2015-09-04T09:50:51Z")
Only when it comes to hockey players. I have a strong association with numbers and who wore which. 27 99 93 66 19 21 4 9 14 17 ETA: Etc. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Angry\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b38774/32.png) [@The\_Angry\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Angry_Badger)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-assign-personalities-to-numbers/729796/34 "2015-09-04T10:34:29Z")
No. As I’m an accountant and work with numbers all day, I kind of wish I did - it would make my work day so much more enjoyable. But no - to me, numbers are just numbers. Except seven. Fuck that guy. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2015, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-assign-personalities-to-numbers/729796/35 "2015-09-07T12:12:01Z")
For me, single-digit numbers are on somewhat of a light-dark, cheerful-to-morose scale. For me, 5 is the most cheerful, sunny number, followed by 1, 2, 4, and 9 in no particular order. 0 and 6 are neutral, but 3, 7, and 8 are kinda moody and sometimes depressed. The personalities of two-digit numbers are for the most part the personalities of their component one-digit numbers, put together. But sometimes other uses of the numbers, usually having to do with sports, dominate. For instance, when I was 60 last year, that was Babe Ruth, 1927. And 61 is of course my Roger Maris year. And 44, which has been worn by many stars, will forever be John Riggins pulling loose of Don McNeal’s grasp in Super Bowl 17. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2015, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-assign-personalities-to-numbers/729796/36 "2015-09-07T21:47:53Z")
No, not at all. I knew that the OP’s outlook existed though and thanks to **Machine Elf** I now know that it [has a name](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideasthesia). (I thought it was synesthesia, which is apparently something related but different.) Judging from this thread and the wiki page ideathesia is more common than I thought. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-assign-personalities-to-numbers/729796.md?page=1)