Odd about Even Numbers.

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I have this weird borderline-OCD thing about odd and even numbers. I hate most odd numbers or multiple-digit numbers that end in odd-numbers. When I go shopping for groceries and stuff I usually buy things in even numbers, like four cans of soup. Then I eat one can and now I have three left and it feels weird and unbalanced. I also dislike many numbers that are pointy and angular, like the number seven. I can almost feel its points poking me through the air. I like numbers that are round and curvy like eight. One odd number I do like is five. Maybe it's because when I display stuffed animals on my bed I like to have one in the middle and two on either side in a way that feels balanced. It's pretty weird, though and I sometimes wish I didn't have this problem with numbers.

If I happen to think about it I want things to be even and balanced too. But I don't always think about it.

What is wrong with nine then? If you have nine stuffed animals you have four on each side and one in the middle. Or seven. Three on each side and one in the middle. I would say your prejudice against odd integers is irrational. And what about 1723? It is the smallest integer that can be expressed as the sum of cubes in two different ways.

ruveyn

I know the feeling.

I was very obsessive about this when I was younger and to some extent it still interferes. Oddly (pun intended), I also am partial to number 5 as an exception to my general antipathy to odd numbers. Evidently I always try to think of odd numbers in terms of a being structured with a middle number and an even distribution to either side as this allows me to be much less anxious and antipathic toward odd numbers.

My dislike of odd numbers is correlated with a more long-standing dislike of asymetry which I was very compulsive about from early childhood onward. I do find that some asymetry is actually palatable to me now, although I had to train myself in this respect and am still somewhat compulsive about physical symetry when it comes to things like stepping over cracks between pavement blocks (I do not like it if one foot steps over cracks first more than the other foot and will adjust my walking to try to keep both feet "even" feeling), or turning my body in space (if I turn 360 degrees for instance I feel "odd' until I turn 360 degrees in the other direction.

It can be rather difficult to get anywhere without the first odd number: 1.


PS. I nearly made a stupid comment on lostonearth35's "... or multiple-digit numbers that end in odd-numbers." Of course, I quickly stopped myself, as multiple-digit numbers that end in an odd digit are only generally guaranteed to be odd when in an even base. E.g. in ternary, 12 is an odd number, but you'd still like it, lostonearth35. (A member whose final two digits, if they were being expressed in septenary, would be decimal 26).

Kronecker had a prejudice against irrational numbers. Did that make him odd?

I definitely think this way, it's not quite OCD but I do the shapes of amounts and stuff. I commend you for being able to articulate it, I don't think I'd have ever been able to put it into words.

Apparently the Romans disliked even numbers (or at least considered them unlucky).
I think if I had to choose I would agree with lostonearth35 and avoid odd numbers rather than even.

Actually, the number is 1729. It was made famous by the taxicab story between S. Ramanujan and G.H. Hardy.

I guess im in that same mindset at times, but its more along the lines of symmetry (when i play RTS games, i prefer my base to have some noticible shape rather than just wandering patches of structures. I will admit that I do get some degree of uneasiness with odd numbers >1 from time to time.

Trying to get even with the odd numbers is kind of odd....

I have to disagree with you guys, 5 is an ugly number. I like powers of prime numbers (ie powers of 2, powers of 3, powers of 7... for some reason not powers of 5 though)

What if you love pointing out that there are just as many even numbers as whole numbers?

Aleph nought cardinality is Aleph nought cardinality, infinity ftw!

Speaking as a genuine Obsessive-Compulsive, that is not borderline obsessive-compulsive. that is obsessive compulsive.

I obsess over the number 12.

I find it fascinating how society revolves around number 3. 3 seems to be perfection.

I fuse 4 and 7. I mean, I like to perform some repetitive movements in number of seven, but only counting the odd positions, so I get 4 singled out of the 7. Not sure if that makes sense.