Nov. 11, 2011 is turning out to be a notable date for two reasons: The fact that it will be celebrated in the US as Veteran's Day and because when it is written numerically it comes out as 11/11/11.
2011年11月11日成为重要日期有两个原因:一是当天为美国老兵纪念日;二是这一天用数字写起来是11/11/11。
The date is also proving to be a big one for weddings.
It sounds lucky to marry on a day with multiple elevens, but not necessarily, according tonumerologist(算八字术的人) Hans Decoz, who says the date may not be as lucky as some people are presuming.
"Yes, there are lots of 11s, but all the numbers added together equal 8," Decoz told The Huffington Post. "The energy from '11' is very family-oriented and it conflicts with the '8' energy, which is more financially-oriented.
As a result, Decoz claims emotions will be running high on 11/11/11, bringing about a tendency to be possessive or melodramatic(夸张的) .
"Our feelings will be floating right on the surface, so they could take a turn for the worse at any moment -- small misunderstandings can turn into huge catastrophes if we don't keep this in check," he said. "Definitely, don't deal with money any more than necessary."
While the numbers game makes for a good story, Eric Carlson, a physics professor at Wake Forest University and an admitted numerology skeptic, has a number of reasons why 11/11/11 is not particular special, other than the fact that writing it out numerically might look neat.
"There is nothing supernatural about this date," he emphasized to The Huffington Post. "Our brains are just pattern matching machines, so we tend to notice patterns like that. If you happen to glance at the clock and it's 11:11, you will remember that --these patterns stick in our minds. But I don't think there is any mystical significance to it."
Still, Professor Carlson does concede(承认,退让) there are two significant aspects about 11/11/11 that can be construed as lucky even by people like him who don't believe in numerology(命理学) .
"It is a Friday -- a day hailed by workers," he said, adding that many people will have the day off because of the Veteran's Day holiday.
Even Decoz concedes that numerology probably isn't the real reason why some couples are picking the wedding date.
"I think they just want a date that's easy for the man to remember," he said.