Pick a random number between 100. You probably chose 37, and there's a big reason for that.
Why are people seeing the number everywhere?
Why is number 37 everywhere?
When we think of randomness, something chaotic and unpredictable often comes to mind. The funny thing is that when people are asked to choose a random number between 1 and 100, they will most reliably select 37. That doesn’t feel very random.
So why do people seem to have a strange subconscious affinity for such a seemingly random number? Derek Muller and his team at Veritasium investigated this intriguing phenomenon in a video entitled, “Why is this number everywhere?”
To unravel the mystery surrounding 37, Veritasium surveyed 200,000 people, asking them to select a random number. The ones that came up most often were 7, 73, 77 and 37.
Participants were then asked to choose a number they thought would be the least selected. Setting aside the extreme values and the number 50 for being positioned centrally, the numbers that emerged as the most chosen were 73 and 37, almost at a tie.
In reality, the least-selected numbers were 90, followed by 30, 40, 70, 80, and 60.
Why is this number everywhere?
One reason why people choose 37 is because it’s a prime number. Muller says that primes “feel like the most random numbers,” adding that they “don’t appear that much in our lives.” The show’s director Emily Zhang, noted that as a child, she had a book that counted to a hundred and it had a story for every number, but it had little to say about 37.
“So for 26, that's how many letters in the alphabet,” Zhang said. “Or for 30, they give the days of September. Or for 52, that's how many cards are in a deck.” But there isn’t anything notable about 37 besides the fact that it’s a prime number. The fact that little is attached to the number gives it an extra quality of randomness.
On a deeper level, the number 37 seems to coincide with how we’re wired to make decisions when choosing from a large number of options.
Using some rather complex math, Muller demonstrates that when people are given a large number of choices, they will explore and reject 37% of them to get a sense of what's available. They will then elect the first option that's better than all of the ones they’ve seen.
Muller used how we choose partners to give an example of how this works.
“So if you want to get married, say, in 10 years, then spend the first 3.7 years seeing what's out there and then select the next person who's better than anyone you've seen,” Muller says.
The video does a great job of revealing people's blind spots when they try to be random. It’s a lot like when parents choose a unique baby name, but on the first day of kindergarten, they realize other people had the same “unique” idea.
“We can argue special coincidences for many numbers, but we need to finally address the elephant in the room,” Muller concludes the video. “The sheer amount of brain power 37 secretly takes up in our collective minds. It's humanity's go-to random number, one of our most prominent prime numbers, and most of all, our ideal number for making decisions. Maybe that's why we're inclined to it naturally. It feels right to us as where to settle and what to pick.”
Now that you’ve seen this video, you’ll probably see 37 everywhere.
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
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Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."