MISTER MYSTERY RESPONDS

Someone asks me why the eight is such a paranormal number. The answer is simple but transcendent. The 8 is the symbol of infinity only that standing up in order to pass unnoticed. We all know that standing up is the best tactic when you want to infiltrate somewhere. Eight is a supernatural number camouflaged in the universe of natural numbers (colloquially called “cardinal numbers” or “ordinal numbers”). This paranormal essence of number 8 is the reason why so many mathematical operations where the 8 intervene give such crazy results. That is why mathematicians tend to avoid this number as far as possible, either by taking a detour or by vaulting over it by means of a pole. The latter, of course, implies obvious risks. The famous mathematician Martin Trollope broke his neck trying to vault 8 in this way. However, it is not always possible to avoid 8, for example when you try to add four and four. Unless you do not mind making a sucker out of you by claiming that four plus four equals n...

In one of the halls of the headquarters of the Society for Psychical Research in West Kensington, one of the most conspicuous debates of the celebrated Society took place. The subject of the debate was Numerology, and to elucidate it two prestigious mathematicians were invited: the English Professor H. D. Killyar and the American Daniel Sokorovitzi. In the hall only the presence of the secretary of the Society was allowed with the order to record all that was said. The senior staff of the SPR would have preferred to attend the debate, but Mr Sokolovitzi alleged that he miscounted in the presence of more than three people, so this format was decided. It would be long to transcribe the debate in its entirety, so here we will stick to its highlight. At one point, Professor Kylliar expressed the distrust that the number 8 inspired to him. Mr Sokorovitzi laughed openly at that prejudice, "typical of individuals with the intellectual coefficient of a shrimp", and confessed for his...