Even people who are not "numbers people" may have a soft spot for one number in particular: 7. For various reasons, many of us find it fascinating, even magical.
Consider: Bestselling books feature it in their titles, (e.g., The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People), articles use it to intrigue readers (e.g., Seven Characteristics of Emotionally Strong People), and the mere sight of three sevens standing side-by-side can make us shriek with excitement—especially if we happen to be standing by a slot machine with a plastic bucket of quarters.
What is it about the number that causes such a visceral response? Why didn’t any slot-machine manufacturers make their jackpot sequence three ones in a row or even three fives? After all, one and five are perfectly good numbers. The fact is that, historically, the number 7 has played a significant role in society, culture, religion, and even psychology.
Here are 7 reasons we are so drawn to the number:
1. It has been significant since ancient times. It was prominent in many ancient cultures. Most famous of all were the seven wonders of the world which comprised a bucket list for every world traveler — the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria.
2. It has had significance in almost every major religion. In the Old Testament the world was created in six days and God rested on the seventh, creating the basis of the seven-day-week we use to this day. In the New Testament the number seven symbolizes the unity of the four corners of the Earth with the Holy Trinity. The number seven is also featured in the Book of Revelation (seven churches, seven angels, seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven stars). The Koran speaks of seven heavens and Muslim pilgrims walk around the Kaaba in Mecca (Islam’s most sacred site) seven times. In Hinduism there are seven higher worlds and seven underworlds, and in Buddhism the newborn Buddha rises and takes seven steps.
3. It is associated with luck and magical properties. Seven not only represents the jackpot on slot machines, but it s also the basis for many myths and folklore. For example, various parts of the world had beliefs about the seventh son of a seventh son, legends that endowed him with magical powers of both the good and evil variety (e.g., the child was believed to have healing powers according to Irish folklore).
4. It matches our memory capacity. In 1956, George Miller of Harvard University wrote what is today considered one of the classic papers in psychology in which he demonstrated that most people can retain roughly seven items of information in their short-term memory. That is why phone numbers in the U.S. and many other countries tend to have seven digits (area code not withstanding) — as it is the most digits most people are likely to recall (although cell phones have done away with the need to recall anyone's phone number, even our own).
5. It fits our attention spans. Because of our mental capacity favoring seven items, seven is also a good fit for our attentions spans, as long as the information is presented in seven groups. While bloggers and authors tend to take advantage of this fact, some seem to take more advantage the others. For example, the book: 7 Pages to Success: The Ultimate Short-Attention-Span Guide to Unlock Your Full Potential! is only 7 pages long, which is fine, but it costs $7 (!), which leads me to believe the only real potential being unlocked is that of the author’s bank account.
6. It is a prime number. Prime numbers are those that can only be divided by themselves and by the number 1, and have long been considered special to mathematicians and non-mathematicians alike. Seven is considered by some to be the most ‘prime’ number within the first 10 numbers as you cannot multiply it within the group, making it a kind of optimal-prime (not to be confused with Optimus Prime, who is a Transformer).
7. It is the most popular number. The mathematician Alex Bellos asked 44,000 people to name their favorite number and over 4,000 of them named the number 7, far more than any other number. Indeed, ask people to name a number from one to ten and many will name the number seven — as many magicians know.
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It is this combination of cultural, historical, religious, numerical, and psychological factors that contribute to the allure of the number 7 and the sway it has over our decisions. For example, my book, Emotional First Aid: Healing Rejection, Guilt, Rejection, and Other Everyday Hurts, was initially supposed to have eight chapters (one for each psychological ‘wound’) but after consulting with my editor, I decided to reduce the number of chapters (and wounds) to seven (loss, rumination, loneliness, and low self-esteem, in addition to the three in the subtitle) as I believed focusing on seven psychological wounds would be easier for readers to absorb and to recall rather than eight. Was I correct? Check out the book and let me know.
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Copyright 2015 Guy Winch
FAQs
Seven is also an important number of spiritual significance in Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. In the Old Testament, God had created the world in six days while resting on the seventh day. There are seven deadly sins in the Bible, seven layers of purgatory, and seven sacraments in the Catholic church.
Why do humans like the number 7? ›
It has had significance in almost every major religion.
In the Old Testament the world was created in six days and God rested on the seventh, creating the basis of the seven-day-week we use to this day. In the New Testament the number seven symbolizes the unity of the four corners of the Earth with the Holy Trinity.
Why is 7 the most liked number? ›
Seven, then, is the only number between two and ten that is neither a multiple nor a factor of the others. In this way, “lucky number seven” stands alone—and we grasp this implicitly. “It's unique, a loner, the outsider. And humans interpret this arithmetical property in cultural ways,” Bellos says.
What is the number seven theory? ›
In a famous paper, “The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information” (1956), Miller proposed as a law of human cognition and information processing that humans can effectively process no more than seven units, or chunks, of information, plus or minus…
What is the purpose of life number 7? ›
Someone with life path number 7 is the logical mystic, the spiritual analyst, the lonely humanitarian, the truth-seeker. 7s are super smart, curious, and eager to and create progressive resolutions to worldly problems. They will use any form of knowledge or insight to reach their goals.
Why is 7 a unique number? ›
Seven is the only number below ten that you cannot be multiplied or divided and still be a whole number under 10: The numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 can be doubled and always between 1 – 10. 6, 8 and 10 can all be halved.
What is the power of number 7? ›
Number 7 is regarded as mysterious and spiritual, ruled by the planet Ketu, and is associated with creativity and intuition. It is also an unfortunate number, indicating moodiness and anxiety issues. Number 7 people can be great healers, teachers, and spiritual gurus and are advised to wear brown or green.
Why is 7 the perfect number? ›
In Scripture, seven often symbolizes completion or perfection. Genesis tells us that God created the heavens and the Earth in six days, and, upon completion, God rested on the seventh day (Genesis 1; 2:1-2). Numbers in Biblical times were often symbolic of a deeper meaning and siginifcance.
Why does everyone choose 7? ›
The numbers 1 and 10 don't feel random enough, neither does 2, nor the other even numbers, nor 5, which is right in the middle … So we quickly eliminate all the numbers, leaving us with 7, since 7 is the only number that cannot be divided or multiplied within the first 10. Seven "feels" more random.
Why is No. 7 so special? ›
There are Seven Colors in the Rainbow, Seven Days in a Week, Seven Wonders of the World, Seven Major Seas, and even the total number of Continents Are Seven! No other number is having so many connotations and references in many different fields like the number Seven. So, it's a very important number indeed.
Seven was symbolic in ancient near eastern and Israelite culture and literature. It communicated a sense of “fullness” or “completeness” (שבע “seven” is spelled with the same consonants as the word שבע “complete/full”). This makes sense of the pervasive appearance of “seven” patterns in the Bible.
Why is the number 7 magical? ›
The number seven represents the pure spirit and the great explorer. Seven is a “perfect number”, an emblem of the totality of space, time and the movements of the universe. As well as change and evolution. It is also the number of completed cycles.
What is the rule of 7 in psychology? ›
Also called 'Miller's Law' it explains that people can only hold seven plus or minus two items, in their short-term memory at any one time and that the magic number of seven itself is the best for memory recall.
What is the rule number 7 in life? ›
Rule # 7 Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient) We know that suffering is a big part of life, if not the only thing. Regardless of your level of success or fame, the suffering will attend to you.
What is the magic rule of 7? ›
It is often interpreted to argue that the number of objects an average human can hold in short-term memory is 7 ± 2. This has occasionally been referred to as Miller's law.
Why is 7 a powerful magical number? ›
The number seven represents many things, but today it is viewed as the magic that lives within us, the divine soul that makes each of us individual and unique. The number seven represents the pure spirit and the great explorer.
Why 7 is the most mysterious number? ›
Number seven is the most mysterious. Seven denotes continents, seven wonders of the world, seven seas, seven colours of the rainbow, seven musical notes, seven days in a week, seven chakras, seven pheras, and more. Understanding seven is a mystery: Reaching and attending to the unknown, unfurling the truths of life.
What is the significance of the number 7 in nature? ›
On planet Earth there are seven seas. Every week has seven days. There are only 7 ancient sages or Saptarishi. In our solar system there are 7 physical planets that have influence over humanity.
What is the significance of 7 years in the Bible? ›
In Leviticus 25, we find the first reference to Jubilee, as part of the law given by Yahweh to the Israelites. These verses describe God's intent that the Israelites should remain free from slavery for all time by instituting a Sabbath year every seven years.
