# Poll: What Type of Number Would You Want to Be? (I think I got it to work this time.) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 5, 2020, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-type-of-number-would-you-want-to-be-i-think-i-got-it-to-work-this-time/914408 "2020-07-05T21:10:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-type-of-number-would-you-want-to-be-i-think-i-got-it-to-work-this-time/914408/21 "2021-06-23T17:04:59Z")
Quaternion. Maybe 1 + i + j + k. ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Sponge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dark_sponge/32/121_2.png) [@Dark\_Sponge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Sponge)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-type-of-number-would-you-want-to-be-i-think-i-got-it-to-work-this-time/914408/22 "2021-06-23T19:44:16Z")
A specific number: 37. It’s clearly the funniest number. I have cites. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-type-of-number-would-you-want-to-be-i-think-i-got-it-to-work-this-time/914408/23 "2021-06-23T20:23:30Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I’d like to be a quaternion. Maybe 1 + 2i +3j + 4k. > [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Quaternion. Maybe 1 + i + j + k. Well, at least you’re mostly consistent. ---
**Author:** ![GeneralTang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/97f17d/32.png) [@GeneralTang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GeneralTang)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-type-of-number-would-you-want-to-be-i-think-i-got-it-to-work-this-time/914408/24 "2021-06-23T20:33:20Z")
I’ve been told that I’m quite prime. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-type-of-number-would-you-want-to-be-i-think-i-got-it-to-work-this-time/914408/25 "2021-06-23T20:41:17Z")
When I saw the thread title, I said to myself “I’ll bet he doesn’t have hyperreal as an option!”. Huh. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2021, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-type-of-number-would-you-want-to-be-i-think-i-got-it-to-work-this-time/914408/26 "2021-06-24T01:26:15Z")
I’d like to be Transcendental and Rational, but there aren’t any numbers that are both transcendental and rational. So I guess I’d be Imaginary. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2021, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-type-of-number-would-you-want-to-be-i-think-i-got-it-to-work-this-time/914408/27 "2021-06-24T05:38:06Z")
42 of course! A real number with made up meaning, so probably irrational. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2021, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-type-of-number-would-you-want-to-be-i-think-i-got-it-to-work-this-time/914408/28 "2021-06-24T17:14:46Z")
I don’t associate with any of the other options, so I guess I’ll be an octonion. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2021, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-type-of-number-would-you-want-to-be-i-think-i-got-it-to-work-this-time/914408/29 "2021-06-24T17:32:26Z")
Social Security Number here. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2021, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-type-of-number-would-you-want-to-be-i-think-i-got-it-to-work-this-time/914408/30 "2021-06-24T17:57:35Z")
Some people have called me a number two. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2021, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-type-of-number-would-you-want-to-be-i-think-i-got-it-to-work-this-time/914408/31 "2021-06-25T16:28:49Z")
I’m an order-three Hermitian. ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2021, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-type-of-number-would-you-want-to-be-i-think-i-got-it-to-work-this-time/914408/32 "2021-06-25T17:57:31Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Quaternion. Maybe 1 + i + j + k. Say it a couple more times and I’ll believe ya. I chose “real” because reasons: a. “keeping it real” b. Common…there are so many (perhaps a larger infinite set than the integers…right?) c. Yet, unique, as there are so many to choose from d. I can pick an unfathomable one without it being high-falutin transcendental like pi or e I did not choose complex because it’s so two-dimensional. Quaternions are definitely cool, but since they indicate attitude or orientation (in common practice) they seem somehow…political? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2021, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-type-of-number-would-you-want-to-be-i-think-i-got-it-to-work-this-time/914408/33 "2021-06-25T18:01:41Z")
I am 13. Which is prime. That is all. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2021, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-type-of-number-would-you-want-to-be-i-think-i-got-it-to-work-this-time/914408/34 "2021-06-25T19:03:25Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > I don’t associate with any of the other options, so I guess I’ll be an octonion. But do you associate with yourself? (Are octonions power associative? I don’t know.) ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2021, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-type-of-number-would-you-want-to-be-i-think-i-got-it-to-work-this-time/914408/35 "2021-06-25T21:40:28Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > But do you associate with yourself? (Are octonions power associative? I don’t know.) They are! That’s only lost when you go to sedenions. But then, they have zero divisors, so whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2021, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-type-of-number-would-you-want-to-be-i-think-i-got-it-to-work-this-time/914408/36 "2021-06-25T22:13:57Z")
So x(x^2) = (x^2)x. The mail reason I posted this is that Ed Zotti informs me that Mathjax is now enabled. The input to the above was $x(x^2)=(x^2)$. And I escaped using backslash dollar. 4 ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-type-of-number-would-you-want-to-be-i-think-i-got-it-to-work-this-time/914408/37 "2021-06-26T15:54:30Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Ed Zotti informs me that Mathjax is now enabled. Wow! The input method seems similar to LaTeX. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-type-of-number-would-you-want-to-be-i-think-i-got-it-to-work-this-time/914408/38 "2021-06-26T16:13:10Z")
Is there a term for “number that cannot be finitely expressed in any notation system”? Sort of the next step beyond “irrational” and “transcendental”. Because the vast majority of real numbers fall into that category. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-type-of-number-would-you-want-to-be-i-think-i-got-it-to-work-this-time/914408/39 "2021-06-26T16:48:55Z")
> [@Limmin](#): > > Wow! The input method seems similar to LaTeX. Yes. Mathjax is essentially a subset of LaTeX. I’m not sure how far it goes. Simple equations for sure. Probably I can find more from Google. ---
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-type-of-number-would-you-want-to-be-i-think-i-got-it-to-work-this-time/914408/40 "2021-06-26T16:56:09Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > … number that cannot be finitely expressed in any notation system … the vast majority of real numbers fall into that category. This seems intuitively obvious. In what way should an amateur begin development of a formal proof of this statement? Note that I am not seeking a cite to a formal proof. I’m sure one is out there somewhere. I am just wondering how an amateur mathematician might approach this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-type-of-number-would-you-want-to-be-i-think-i-got-it-to-work-this-time/914408.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-type-of-number-would-you-want-to-be-i-think-i-got-it-to-work-this-time/914408.md?page=3)