Why is 13 unlucky

Happy Friday the 13th! Why is the number 13 considered unlucky, anyway? Here are 13 possible reasons. One of the great controversies surrounding the Last Supper is whether or not it was a Passover meal. John seems to suggest that the meal was eaten the day before Passover, which has led some scholars to date the Last Supper to the 13th of Nisan a month on the Jewish calendar , while others say that the crucifixion itself was on the 13th of Nisan.

According to historian Vincent Foster Hopper, one of the people who really pushed 13 as being unlucky was 16th century numerologist Petrus Bungus. Among his reasons? Hopper says that Bungus "records that the Jews murmured 13 times against God in the exodus from Egypt, that the thirteenth psalm concerns wickedness and corruption, that the circumcision of Israel occurred in the thirteenth year.

According to popular lore, there are 13 steps leading up to the gallows. Gallows actually varied wildly, but even then, the number was often brought up to Things like these happen and people feel no reason to believe that the number 13 is not bad luck. So they avoid it at all cost and become afraid of it. However, 13 is just a number and these events most likely would have happened regardless. It was just a coincidence. An obvious cognitive contribution to this belief system are patterns.

We, as humans, evolved through symbols and its in our nature to use those associations in our everyday life. It strengthens when we connect with other people who believe and see the same patterns.

The most notable influencer to the 13 th belief is the media. The media uses those outlets to their advantage. For example, the Friday the 13 th movie series with the killer main character, Jason. They have made over 10 movies and millions of dollars off of a fear that they took to the next level. Even though people may believe this superstition on their own there are groups of people that also believe that have a bigger impact on society. For a hospital to not have a 13 th floor someone of higher power must also believe that 13 comes with bad luck which would make my belief even stronger.

The belief that the number 13 is bad luck or an unlucky number is essentially a superstition. Superstitions thrive on confirmation bias. Once you have a belief and your mind is set on this idea its hard to change your mind. Its even harder because subconsciously we look for evidence and memories that support them rather than those that refute them. Days that bad things happen on will just be unfortunate times but if something was to happen on the 13 th day its because of the number I am always fascinated by peoples belief that 13 is an unlucky number.

Like you said, this belief is driven by a lot of confirmation bias. If we wanted to we could look for evidence that any number is unlucky. For example, there are bad things that happen on the 15th all the time, but we are creating associations between bad and this number.

What do you think is the reason people got stuck on the number 13, is it because of the biblical references? Yes, for some people it was biblical with Judas as the 13th person at the last supper. I also read that 13 has significance to Egyptians because they believe that life has 13 stages and the 13th is the last resulting in death. The fear of Friday religiously stemmed from the fact that this was they day Jesus was crucified.

I always find this idea kind of funny because when I was a little kid I used to tell people that 13 was my lucky number just to hear their reaction. My family has always believed in lucky numbers but never unlucky numbers, strictly because my grandpa had numbers that he would always play in the lottery and he always won. I felt so funny when I first heard that. Since I come from a different culture, 13 has no any special meaning in my cultural and this belief reminds me that how culture could influence people that much.

I had not heard of a few of the reasons that you brought up why people are superstitious, the Judas example was a new one for me. Why not beware of Tuesday the 13th? I mentioned in a previous comment that Friday was the day that Jesus was crucified so those who believe this because of religion might have this reasoning.

Ironically, in the Greek world Tuesday is actually said to be unlucky because it was the day the Fall of Constantinople occurred. I think that if we did enough research we could find cultures and reasons why people believe every day of the week is unlucky. I found this post to be really interesting just because of the fact there are so many people out there who swear by the idea that 13 anything is a cause for alarm.

Friday the 13th is a great example that is brought up all of the time and yes, there might be freak instances where you make a mistake or become unlucky on that day, but how do you compare that to every other day?

Over time, they begin to take on a life of their own, transforming into superstition. Superstitions impose a "one-size-fits-all" philosophy based on blanket statements and generalities, and focus almost exclusively on an external variable.

For instance, the idea that black cats represent bad luck. Additionally, superstitions prey on fear by stripping us of our individual connection to the world and taking away the critical notion that we have the power to manifest change. Sometimes, in fact, the history of the philosophy is actually quite nefarious.

One of the most pervasive superstitions is that of the number At least 10 percent of people living in the United States believe that the number 13 reverberates bad juju. Read on, cosmic warriors, to discover the history of this strange integer — that is, if you dare. Historians believe superstition surrounding the number 13 began in the 17th century , though they can't identify one singular event that sparked its bad reputation.

It wasn't until the 20th century, however, that the number 13's infamy exploded — fueled, perhaps not surprisingly, by a work of fiction. In , businessman and author Thomas Lawson published a novel entitled Friday, the Thirteenth about a rogue broker who chose that date to destroy the stock market. Subsequently, the concept of "unlucky number 13" entered the zeitgeist, and by , the term triskaidekaphobia, which means " fear of the number 13 ," was coined by a pioneering psychologist, further perpetuating the superstition.

The myth about the number's unlucky attributes continued to build throughout the 20th century, and in , its place in the collective conscious — along with its connection to Friday — was solidified by the slasher film Friday the 13th. Today, the number 13 is synonymous with misfortune and the macabre. People tend not to shop, travel, or schedule important events on Friday the 13, and according to CNBC , businesses lose hundreds of millions of dollars because of it.

And while no one really knows why the number 13 has such a bad reputation, over the years, several convincing theories have been posited as to why the figure is so haunted. Below, read the three main reasons why the number 13 is steeped in superstition.