What does your favourite number say about you? Number four will surprise…

“You can tell a lot about a person by their favourite number.”

This isn’t actually a quote from anyone famous but such a ground-breaking piece of journalistic content needs a quote like the above to lend it further gravitas.

Numbers are everywhere. From train stations to leading CBeebies television programmes to even corporate stockbroking in the city, numbers are used in a variety of different ways, each of which has a profound impact on our daily lives.

BUT

Of the ten digits available to the general public, which is your favourite? We took to the streets of Wimbledon to reach out for the truth.

Below are five fun facts about numbers which we discovered on our quest.

FACT ONE

Here are the stats:

FACT TWO

A surprising number of people did not want to tell me their favourite number.

Fifteen people declined the offer to talk about their favourite number, which is a large disappointment considering everyone definitely secretly has a fave.

FACT THREE

Seven is the most popular number, with nearly half of the interview range choosing it as their favourite.

This could be down to cultural superstitions such as the lucky seven myth prevalent in Occidental culture.

However, some such as Steve Taylor, 34, decided they had ‘no idea’.

Either way, somebody – or something – compels people to choose seven.

I believe as the mainstream choice the population like seven because everyone else also likes it: perhaps the worry of being bullied for choosing a more niche digit such as four or nine forces them to select the lucky number?

FACT FOUR

The numbers nine and four were the least popular numbers, with no one choosing them in our surveyed population.

If we were to psychoanalyse this result, we could perhaps say that as these numbers are so close to the major milestone numbers of five and ten that they are ignored.

Additionally, it could be an aesthetic issue.

With four coming in many different guises – one such figure connected with a slanted line, the other straight like a poor-quality two-pronged fork – the lack of a universal image for 4 may contribute to its social downfall.

Conversely, ten is easy to write. Everyone knows what it looks like.

Poor four and nine.

FACT FIVE

Only ONE person said their favourite number was 10.

Considering that ten was the biggest number by one, we could also psychoanalyse this man.

However if we were to go ahead with this we would be sued.

Conclusion:

The definite popularity and tragic spurning of certain numbers speaks for our divided society in a way that nothing else, neither general election results nor Love Island winners, can do.

That we as the general public cannot agree on a best number attests to the beauty of individuality.

That six was not the most popular number by far shows poor taste in many things.

That two was not the least popular number by far shows poor taste in many things.

Image courtesy of Numberjacks via YouTube.